Spyke
lemmy.world

HP laptop: please remember to log out of your the laptop in case someone else needs to use it.

Edit: Management took offence at the language of the previous memo.

188
Malfeasantreply
lemm.ee

Always "a" dildo, or "the" dildo, never "your" dildo...

3
lemm.ee

HP laptop: your company has no idea what it's doing for it's entire technology department

154

Boot up from external device and watch it wipe non-windows boot entries (yes, even with secure boot off) and then not automatically find any other EFI files so you have to navigate to them manually. Oh, and the only way to add them back is efibootmgr tool, or if you want GUI, Bootice in Hiren's boot (yes that's still a thing).
At least that was experience with HP 255 G7.

As for another one, a mini PC, the UEFI setup seems to have limited HID driver support. Basic cheap keyboard seems to be a must. DO NOT DISABLE SECURE BOOT IF JUST THE MOUSE WORKS!!!!! Upon reboot, it will ask you to confirm disabling secure boot by TYPING in something. Every time. Even if you reset UEFI with the motherboard pins.
At least that was experience with HP ProDesk 400 G3 mini.

But hey, I also had issues with Dell, I think Optiplex 7020. It was unable to boot via internal DVD drive. I tried 2 of them, both fared the same, no problem reading and burning discs in OS. I tried a USB DVD drive, that magically worked. What?

15

Yeah but a random (non IT especially) probably wouldn't need to boot from an external device, would they? As for the UEFI changes, a random employee shouldn't be in the BIOS either I would think.

I'm really curious on those, I don't do that sort of thing these days so sort of wondering how impactful it could be. Outside of the random person who thinks they should change them but that's got to be pretty minimal and IT should lock it down anyways.

10
danc4498reply
lemmy.world

Worst thing that happened with my HP work laptop is somebody knocked my water over onto it and it died. That was 2 hours after I got it and spend 2 hours installing everything onto it.

8

I spilled coffee on my thinkpad once and it was fine ... I honestly believe that it would take a tsunami of saltwater before it died

1

It's actually pretty useful when you have to move around with it in your workplace. Tbh, I am so used to the handle that I'd miss it if my next computer didn't have it.

33
sh.itjust.works

Oh, that's actually kind of cool. Is that for the primary drive or for swapping additional ones in and out?

13

For the primary. It is really useful when your ssd dies (happens more often than you'd think) and you need to keep working because you are operating in a situation where you can't afford to lose the time that would be required to swap disks opening the laptop. We have at least one spare ssd in my office always ready to be swapped in case of emergency.

There are also a lot of cool features on them:

They come with 4 usb ports, 2 ethernet ports + wifi, 1 dvi port, 1 dp, 1 serial port, 1 mpi/profibus port, pcie expansion, dvd unit and bluetooth (which is a given). They also, as per manufacturer warranty, can stand a fall from 1-1.5m without suffering damage.

20
slrpnk.net

If it’s the primary, do you keep those drives with OS pre-installed on them, or is there like… some sort of bios-like built in to hold the ummm… OS image..? And what about the programs and files and stuff? All vpn/network accessed?

Hopefully you can sort out what that is asking.. I know just enough about computers to fix Linux problems.. if other people have posted about them… usually… with significant effort.

10

I had an old cf-27 toughbook with a handle. Handles on laptops are wicked handy!

9
boonhetreply
lemm.ee

There was a point where I really wanted a decent laptop with one to run STAR C3. Never bought the laptop nor the kit but never knew if I'll need it again. I don't own a Benz anymore but it could literally change on a whim because I do still love them lol

1
lemm.ee

You can get USB to RS232 cables for very little, so any laptop should work.

0
lemmy.ca

And how cool would you look carrying your laptop like an attache case, with dongles and wires hanging off it? No thank you. If I need to interface with cold war era serial hardware, this is the way I'm going to do it.

2
lemm.ee

You do realise there is equipment being manufactured today that uses RS232?

1

We have brand new machines that use RS232 and RS485. We just did some configurating on one of them last week.

2

Yes. Cold war era tech being manufactured today. You do realize there are plows being manufactured today that are intended to be drawn by oxen?

It was a tongue in cheek comment and you've already displayed elsewhere in the thread how much you know about RS232 but you couldn't let it slide.

1

People have reported those not working very well with STAR / DAS I believe. You can usually buy the kit with a laptop included, I just figured I'd wanna try if it runs on something made less than 23 years ago.

2

Finally! Something I can relate to, I had one of these in my last workplace. Was older than my manager and it was only used to fix those 20 year old machines we had lying around.

To anyone wondering, this is a industrial PC which is meant to withstand the hardest of environments. The handle is a boon when you have to run around the factory and your hands are full.

6

Finally! Something I can relate to, I had one of these in my last workplace. Was older than my manager and it was only used to fix those 20 year old machines we had lying around.

To anyone wondering, this is a industrial PC which is meant to withstand the hardest of environments. The handle is a boon when you have to run around the factory and your hands are full.

2
adminreply
sh.itjust.works

I've seen them using them at In n out for the drive thru.

10

Thoughts and prayers book is a whole other technology with paper and ink and shit.

2
lemmy.world

Lenovo replaced with Dell when the startup I work at was purchased by a multinational a year and a half ago. They’re closing our office down and moving operations out of state in June.

60
ch00freply
lemmy.world

I got a decent windfall when my stock vested instantly, but I don't think I'm going to make it to the final payout of my retention bonus. As soon as annual bonus hits in March, I'm donion rings.

7
blazeknavereply
lemmy.world

Think about the sink cost. It's not fallacy. You have the numbers in front of you. You're at the finish line, you can do this.

1

It's not enough money to make up for immediately being unemployed after.

I'd rather just continue to have a job.

1
slrpnk.net

Did they ask you to make a western union transfer in order to secure your application?

127
Towerreply

I'm not getting that money back, am I?

45

They will also need a $500 deposit to ship you the chromebook, refundable after three months.

6
lemmy.world

This.

Please kill me, these things suck so fucking bad.

They crash regularly during regular office work operation.

I had a coworker try to help me with something but his chromebook crashed 5 times in the span of 3 minutes.

5
AtariDumpreply
lemmy.world

Why should I believe you when you’re a trash girlfriend?

1
lemmy.world

I do not see how my trashness or girlfriendness relates to the quality of chromebooks.

1

Year 12. Started issuing Microsoft Surfaces at some point. I got an exception made for me.

7
lemm.ee

My last tech job gave me a Microsoft Surface, which possibly explains why I was hired with the promise that things would be really busy, barely did anything for a year, and then got let go because there just wasn't enough work to justify retaining my position.

38

Imagine getting a new job. You come into the office on the first day. Instead of handing you a laptop, they just give you a chair in the break room. You'll be working off a linux distro that's been installed into the door of a smart fridge.

30
SkaveRatreply
discuss.tchncs.de

But you're not allowed to sit directly in front of it. Don't block the fridge

5
sh.itjust.works

Nah, you will be allowed to sit in front. Part of your job will be cleaning out the fridge, keeping track of how long items have been there, and storing and retrieving items for people. You'll basically be a fridge librarian.

6
lemmy.world

Used to have a ThinkPad decades back. Still remember Howard comfortable the typing was.

29
lemm.ee

Fucking Howard is someone different but I can't post a picture of him here.

7

On the other side of his chair, lying open on its side while Gentoo compiles.

4
lemmy.world

I was able to choose my own Lenovo. Twice. 14+ years at the same place.

27

Oh, hey, 15+ and on my second Lenovo here too 👋

Albeit I had a desktop at first. Don't remember which brand.

5
slrpnk.net

Seems like you chose wisely! I kind of want you to choose a dell for science next time, but it would definitely be against your best interests according to the laws of physics that mysteriously underly this phenomenon.

4

The laws of thermal- and accoustic physics are surely warped within Dell hardware. Otherwise, I have no explanation why it acts so much worse than other laptops with similar specs.

2
discuss.tchncs.de

Sadly Thinkpads no longer are what they used to be. I got the X1 Extreme Gen 5 couple of years back and have had all kinds of problems with it. Blue screens, problem with fans sometimes getting stuck at 100%, constant problems connecting to the dock, not to mention bad battery life... My coworker had to get a warranty replacement when the usb-c port stopped working without any apparent reason only after a month of use. And other coworkers with newer models are also reporting issues.

25

It's a damn shame too. I love my T530 so I got a T460 and it is so shite. Although I did get unlucky with a cracked mobo but still. Even the x260 I have feels slower than my 530

6

They may not be as good as they used to be but my T14 is so much nicer to type on than anyone else's laptop.

3
tempestreply
lemmy.ca

What OS do you run. My last three x1 carbons have not had much of an issue running Linux.

1
tempestreply
lemmy.ca

At the risk of falling into a trap.... I use a downstream arch distro

1

You get better reliability from Apple than ThinkPads now. At way more money and with restrictions on what operating systems you can use.

0

Union.

HP but it switches with Dell every 5 years.

My peers have been there 20+ years. No one's dumb enough to get fired. I only got this job because someone retired.

The people are awesome. I hope to God I can work here another decade.

21

Bonus security because you're clearly developing for legacy code.

33

Hmm I don’t think you have to make a sacrifice to yourself, but you should probably buy yourself a sweet treat once a month just to be safe.

6

My company is using Lenovo, and a bunch of my colleagues were already working there 20+ years ago, now I've got a permanent contract too... I think it might check out.

12
uisreply
lemm.ee

My company is using Lenovo

Someone died in front of it! And that's how you got hired.

5

Actually, my position was newly created in a company just now fostering overdue digitalisation. Some bloke came up with the idea of actually trying to figure out what they're doing and justifying their effort at progress with figures because that's what upper management likes to see, so they brought me on to do just that.

People definitely died for the company, but that's not my fault. Or so I tell myself to sleep at night.

2
lemmy.world

Special rule:

Thinkpad but with 1600x900 resolution on the 24" screen and full hd on a 22" screen in the office.

That buys you only around 2 years from personal experience.

11
lemm.ee

That job ain't right.

I would instinctively start to strangle anyone who gives me a 900p screen that isn't a CRT.

900p on an any LCD monitor at any point in history was always very wrong, something that should not be. Even 1080p is torture for office-ish work.

4

It was crappy monitors too so everyone was dealing with it differently like cardboard cutouts against incoming light or special glasses etc.

I worked in the office only 1 day per week but even that was too much. Christ.

2

From a sample size of one other commenter, you will be employed for 1 year until they can’t find enough for you to do and have to let you go.

25

I'm in a weird unicorn org where we were issued MacBooks, but some of the people on my team have been there >20 years. The broader org issues Thinkpads, my dept picked MacBooks because apparently that's what developers use and we didn't want to deal with corporate's locked-down images.

I've been there about 4 years now, which is almost as long as my dept has existed (we started w/ a contractor group for 1-2 years before I got hired on).

I hate macOS, but I really like the dept. We'll see what happens.

9
feddit.uk

We get macbooks at my work because we develop for linux servers but IT don't want to have to deal with linux clients on their network.

The corporate surveillance infrastructure is there for MacOS and it's nix enough for the development we need to do.

We had them complaining a few years ago that all these macbooks were too expensive (which they are) and we said to them "We're happy to take good quality Linux laptops..."

IT were like "Nah"

My first laptop with this company was a £3000+ MBP with an I9 which got too hot to touch. TBH since they replaced it with an M3 one i've actually enjoyed using it. i can spend all day in bed on a single charge

1

Are you British me? That's pretty much exactly how things went down for us as well. As we've been upgrading from the crappy Intel Macs, the complaints have gone down as well.

1

Yeah i'm london based (although almost exclusively work from home). the company is a huge multinational though, offices all over the world

2
CgH10N4Co2reply
lemmy.cafe

Your boss is constantly micromanaging you, but you can't get anything done because thin clients suck.

9

Haha, I set up a few hundred for a transition happening at a college years ago. They also got a few laptops that were thin clients. For a full time machine id assume it would be problematic. But when it's constantly rotating users like that, it makes management pretty simple / cheaper long term. I assume they took some of the market away from products like deepfreeze. (Not saying it's a better solution than deepfreeze, just that they likely stole some of the users)

I've heard Wyse has gone downhill since Dell bought it though, not sure if true.

1
Malfeasantreply
lemm.ee

Layoffs will be a regular occurrence. Think you're safe because you have a lot of seniority? My wife was laid off by Chase just a couple weeks before her 20 year anniversary. Funnily enough, they had just switched everyone to thin clients a year or two before.

8

Lol I got a layoff notice last Thursday at another financial institute. Our whole environment is Lenovo. I noticed at the end of last year that 2025s upcoming EOL refresh was going to be all thin laptop conversions.

But don't worry guys, I can apply for 10 dollars less an hour to the new contractor they are bring on to delay the inevitable.

4

It was a sign they were trying to cut long term costs over user convenience long term when they switched to thing clients. Budget cuts are never a good sign in business that are "supposed" to be growing

3
lemmy.world

We got lenovo's in my last job. I did support software tools for internal usage. Pay was low but work was not overbearing and I could have spent my whole life there. Current job, I got a MinisForum mini PC, what does that mean?

7
lemmy.sdf.org

What about a Framework laptop?

Edit: or a desktop that you can remote into from your personal machine if you want to work outside the office?

7
Omegareply
discuss.online

Wouldn't it either be a really new start up or a non profit foss group? Talking about framework

7

In my friend's case, it's a web development company that's been around for at least a decade. His previous machine at the same company was a Dell, I think.

3

Just got a framework 13. Can't imagine going back to anything else right now.

3

Yes, having a work desktop (or a virtual insurance somewhere) is great.

Especially if you need to run some intensive jobs.

2
lemmy.world

My company switched from Lenovo to Toshiba... what does that mean?

Now we're switching to Dell

5

:( RIP if so. My work recently upgraded to a newer thinkpad and they still have it. I don’t think I’ve ever reached for it though.

2

No, they announced one model is now available for those people who grumble about the nupple

2

I see some news about it but my work just upgraded ours recently and they still have it! Must be the version right after. RIP trackpoint.

3
lemmy.world

You are getting paid for 40hrs of work per week, but expected to put in 80hrs

3

Haha.

I know this was a joke but I like to shout out that my employers are amazing.

I’m a software developer for a small company, less than 10 employees. Recently we got given a pay rise and a reduction in hours at the same time. They started the business to have a good life, not to work their employees to death.

We get so much support when needed and there is never an issue if you’re sick or just need a mental health day. We don’t get targets and the work just gets done. We are fair with our clients and they come back for repeat work and recommend us.

3
lemmy.today

Joke's on you, I have a trackpoint on my Dell Latitude

2

I work on a GPD Win Max 2, so what does that mean? 😃

...probably gonna get fired when my employer catches me playing Cyberpunk.

I had a Thinkpad L390 Yoga before. Constant overheating, the logo sticker just came off one day and stuck to my hand and the battery barely lasted through a meeting. Absolute garbage, never again. The Thinkpad brand is dead to me.

Now I have eight cores, 64GB RAM, a GPU with raytracing support and a 2K IPS display...all in 10 inches with 8-10 hours of battery life. GPD is insane and those specs would cost me an arm and a leg if I stuck with IBM brainfart, Lenovo of course.

1