Which option is more reliable: Lenovo or MS Surface

Posted by oopspruu@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 14 comments

We have about 700-800 laptops deployed. We are currently exploring other options as the current oem , Dell has many issues, especially too many hardware failures. Based on you folks' experience, what's your opinion about Lenovo and MS Surface for a 700-800 laptop organization?

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14 Comments

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IllustriousRaccoon25@reddit

Surface Laptops, but only the metal version. Not Alcantara. Have had issues with battery bulging on the Alcantaras, aside from the fabric getting gross with heavy use. And despite MS having a next-day replacement with accidental damage coverage business warranty for 3 or 4 years, you need to have some spare machines on hand. They usually take a couple of days to actually ship out. We switched from X1 Carbon to the Surface because users liked the Surface better, and they were quicker/easier to get a hold of.

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oopspruu@reddit (OP)

So for you it was the aestehics? All of our users are provided TB4 docs with 2 monitors. So they rarely use their actual laptop.

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IllustriousRaccoon25@reddit

It was a mix of aesthetics and functionality. Users kept complaining about the ThinkPad pointer, also said the Surface felt more “Mac-ish.” Had bad experiences with Dell and HP, so it was also worth giving MS a try. People whether home or the office are usually using one external monitor and the Surface monitor, maybe 50/50 if they use an external keyboard and mouse.

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Tomski3@reddit

Lenovo is a Chinese spyware. Beware. [Gallagher Urges U.S. Navy Exchange to Remove CCP-Linked Computers From Stores | Select Committee on the CCP (house.gov)](https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/gallagher-urges-us-navy-exchange-remove-ccp-linked-computers-stores#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20not%20only%20is%20Lenovo's,)%2C%20and%20the%20PRC%20government.)

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CrudProgrammer@reddit

You can buy HP/Dell instead but they’re all made in the same factories mate.

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CrudProgrammer@reddit

Lenovo by a fucking mile lmao

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EnterpriseGuy52840@reddit

The Surface machines... Aren't great. Had 4 units in the family; 2 died. But the general rule for me for Tier 1 is that everyone makes bad consumer machines, everybody makes good business machines. Apple is somewhere in the middle just for completeness.

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gogumonus@reddit

Run away from surface! We have a few. Those things are uncontrollable demons, acting weird whenever they get the chance.

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polypolyman@reddit

Surface is a consumer product, and not fit for a commercial environment. Same thing with any non-Think Lenovo product, any Dell besides Optiplex/Latitude/Precision, etc.

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Glittering-Camel4518@reddit

If I had to choose between the two options, I'd go with Lenovo. But in general, I prefer Thinkpads.

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dexvision@reddit

At scale you have to treat devices like a commodity somewhat. There's always going to be people aping on machines and having hardware failures. Haven't worked with Lenovo devices much, but MS Surfaces (laptops or tablets) are just awful for hardware failures. Any repairs are going to be "replace the whole device" 100% of the time with MS and of course they'll fight it every step of the way because it's a whole device. Driver issue on a Surface? Run windows updates and pray it gets fixed since MS doesn't supply single-driver downloads, or large, somewhat obscured, pack downloads that are typically only certain release "snapshots". Also if going the Surface route - dodge the Alcantara models if you are planning on redeploying those devices eventually. Impossible to clean hand grease and makeup out of it.

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Which option is more reliable: Lenovo or MS Surface

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14 Comments

IllustriousRaccoon25@reddit

oopspruu@reddit (OP)

IllustriousRaccoon25@reddit

Tomski3@reddit

CrudProgrammer@reddit

CrudProgrammer@reddit

EnterpriseGuy52840@reddit

gogumonus@reddit

polypolyman@reddit

Glittering-Camel4518@reddit

dexvision@reddit

Stringsandattractors@reddit

tch2349987@reddit

Kreppelklaus@reddit