Solved Wrong info, wrong laptop, wrong OS!


Bigger Questions

I'm just gonna blue-sky here about all this, and your reply is a good way into it, imanlien2020.

What's happening right now is about the same as when ALL tvs went from Analog to Digital signal. Everyone felt, thought and believed that they had to go out and buy a brand new TV..lol..
Well there are a lot of similarities, and there are similar pressures to go out and buy a brand new PC, lol. Old TVs were entirely useless until you got a digibox of some kind, and often a new aerial and/or signal booster. If I'm not mistaken, you had to buy those yourself, even if you got the free channel service.

But it's worse. Windows is moving towards a model where you basically rent a PC as a node to access the Net through their security layer and approved apps, etc., and it seems to me they're hell bent on "forcing" users to do that. I'm not an expert and am happy to be corrected.

You can, of course, "use" older versions, but they'll stop being supported, and the security of later versions is tied more and more to Microsoft's Trusted Platform Model, which will eventually have no workarounds or alternatives. I suspect you won't even be able to install another OS.

They pretend it's in the interests of security for the user, but the encryption keys are on their servers, and god knows what backdoors there are, so it's not really our privacy they're interested in. You keep getting your updates as long as your machine can cope with the bandwidth, which they increasingly can't, so by default you're "forced" to upgrade, and the updates are "free" in the totally contrary sense that you've already paid for them once with money and are thereafter constantly paying with your personal data, through which you receive any advertising they deem profitable enough to target you with.

It's depressing. All the big OS companies are locking us into this situation where we just become consumer robots and data mine nodes for big tech to churn through to sell us more stuff. It's set me a real question about my programming project, because I've been taking the relatively easy route of using AutoHotkey, which only works in Windows environments. It's a fairly easy scripting language and has a big community to get help with issues. I knew it might be better to learn another language and write a web app for platform independence, but I couldn't face the hassle.

I don't want to support this abusive model, and I'm starting to think I don't want to be a Windows customer myself. It's bad enough having an Android phone and Google account.

Where I go to from here I don't know. Linux is obviously one direction. I've used it before and found it pretty good - just needing a bit more nerdy noodling to set it up and fix any issues - and I only went back to Windows for the easier (or rather, more familiar to me) programming route. I've got boxes that I can switch to right now, but the app project really requires a tablet or convertible format and touch screen to take much further, and I ain't got one of those. It's an alternative music notation app, so people will need to read music from a music stand and, at a minimum, tap a button to turn pages. If I ever get there, it'll be freeware, or just possibly have a small fee for a pro version.

In the immediate question of shopping for a new laptop, therefore, little has really changed, except that if I decide to quit being a Windows customer I don't need to worry about the gen-8+ issue or compatibility with W11, just find a good 360-degree touchscreen laptop. I'm making enquiries about that L390 Yoga, and I'd have a few years to transition to Linux or whatever and learn JavaScript or something.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad L390 Yoga
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Motherboard
    20NT0019UK
    Memory
    8 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14"
    Hard Drives
    500 GB SSD
Hey Bree,

I just want to thank you again for your advice, especially spotting this:

Try Cash Converters. A quick search found this (and others)...

£300: Lenovo Thinkpad L390 Yoga Core i7-8565U 8GB 512GB SSD 13.3 Inch Full HD Touch Screen Windows 10 Pro 2-In-1
(although they say 'Windows 10' in the description, the screenshots show it has been upgraded to Windows 11)


Specs: ThinkPad L390 Yoga | 2-in-1 business Laptop with Pen | Lenovo UK

With an 8th Gen i7 and TPM 2.0 (according to the User Guide manual) it should be a supported device for Windows 11.

Manuals: laptops and netbooks :: thinkpad l series laptops :: thinkpad l390 yoga type 20nt 20nu - Lenovo Support GB

I did a lot more research and looked at various others, wavered for a while between this and an X380, but I bought this, just got it two days ago and all seems fine. I only just noticed now that you said it's updated to Win11, which I hadn't noticed, so Win10 was another plus, but hey ho, can't have everything and I dare say I'll get used to it. So I guess it means I'll be sticking around (like I say, you can't have everything ;-)).

All the best,
John
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad L390 Yoga
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Motherboard
    20NT0019UK
    Memory
    8 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14"
    Hard Drives
    500 GB SSD
I did a lot more research and looked at various others, wavered for a while between this and an X380, but I bought this, just got it two days ago and all seems fine....
Glad you like it. Cash Converters have a 14-day no questions returns policy if you change your mind....
I only just noticed now that you said it's updated to Win11, which I hadn't noticed, so Win10 was another plus, but hey ho, can't have everything and I dare say I'll get used to it.
The first thing I do when I receive a used PC is to boot it from a Macrium Reflect recovery usb (I have Reflect installed on other machines, so have already made one) then use that to make a system image of the PC. Once I have a system image and could easily put it back to 'as received' condition I'll usually do a clean install.

If you really want Windows 10 you could take a system image then try a clean install of W10. The PC's digital licence is valid for Windows 10/11. Personally I use W10 on some of my machines and W11 on some others. I found W11 was easy to adapt to, and now prefer it. As far as software compatibility goes there's no real difference.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
Glad you like it. Cash Converters have a 14-day no questions returns policy if you change your mind....

The first thing I do when I receive a used PC is to boot it from a Macrium Reflect recovery usb (I have Reflect installed on other machines, so have already made one) then use that to make a system image of the PC. Once I have a system image and could easily put it back to 'as received' condition I'll usually do a clean install.
Sounds like a great idea, but I've not got into Macrium yet, and it's too late. With the other one I sent back, I'd set up a second account, so I just used a secure delete on files like my Firefox profile, switched to the shop's account and deleted mine. I'm following a similar method with this. I'll read about what bloatware to get rid of and clean things up a bit after the 14 days - I know it's not as clean as a clean install, but probably good enough.
If you really want Windows 10 you could take a system image then try a clean install of W10. The PC's digital licence is valid for Windows 10/11. Personally I use W10 on some of my machines and W11 on some others. I found W11 was easy to adapt to, and now prefer it. As far as software compatibility goes there's no real difference.
That's good to hear. I probably won't bother, given my slow setup process - I mostly resist online accounts and sync'ed data, so it's pretty slow. Download apps, transfer profiles and settings by thumb drive, that kind of thing. I learn more that way than clicking buttons, and leave a mass of older data on the older machine, which otherwise I'd probably never get round to deleting.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad L390 Yoga
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Motherboard
    20NT0019UK
    Memory
    8 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14"
    Hard Drives
    500 GB SSD

Latest Support Threads

Back
Top Bottom