[GTALUG] brands matter; Lenovo's brands

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Evan Leibovitch via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
| On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 1:12 PM Peter King via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

| > I didn't even consider ThinkCentres, which word-of-mouth had rated as
| > overpriced and underpowered,
| >
| You had me at overpriced.

There's a robust resale market.  That's where I've bought all but one of 
my ThinkCentres.  Prices vary (not an "efficient market").

| To some people the value of the brand is worth the premium, which takes us
| back to the original subject.

I actually appreciate support.  I've had updated firmware released for 
8-year-old ThinkCentres.

I also like the mechanics.  How it is easy to disassemble and reassemble 
the boxes.

| >   I suspect this list of desiderata would apply to many in this group:
| >
| >  - reliable and long-lived
| >
| This is usually measured by warranty length. For instance: typically cheap
| storage drives will have a year or two warranty, high-end drives (that
| might otherwise have identical specs) five years or more. All part of the
| value tradeoff.

The warranty length is a hint, just like the branding.  In fact it often 
follows the branding.

I cannot imagine returning a storage drive.  The security and privacy 
risks are obvious.  (Without Secure Erase, you cannot be sure that all 
your data has gone from the drive.)

So I take the warranty as an unreliable signal of the manufacturer's 
confidence in the product.

There are also lots of very technical issues that probably affect 
reliability.

- CMR vs SMR

- SLC vs MLC vs TLC vs QLC vs ...

- DRAM cache vs pseudo SLC cache vs HMB

- over provisioning

| >  - user-upgradeable and user-fixable
| >
| I find a remarkable amount of PC hardware not user-fixable.
| User-replaceable may be as good as it gets.

One question is: how large is the module that needs to be replaced?
Also: how much skill is needed to do so?

The same is true of cars and many other appliances.
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