GeekBear80

You get everything right with this post. It is the exact reasons I dumped Android and went with an iPhone SE/2020. By using the iPhone as a wallet since neither Android or iOS is even remotely close to be a viable system for anything else, the limitations can be mitigated. They are there but it is possible to live with them by realizing that we are talking about a dumbed down toy and simply treat it as such. Banking apps and Apple Pay work really well on iOS and it is OK as a basic phone in general when it is judged as a "Sony Ericsson K750i that can do payments" rather than a "smartphone" as in a rooted and flashed Lollipop device with Xposed. Camera wise I would say that the iPhone SE is OK and that I rather use a dedicated camera for anything else since I just don't see any reason to pay top dollars for a crippled device using such a basic feature as an argument. It just doesn't matter "how good pictures it takes" when there are a lot of excellent cameras in the market that doesn't have all this restricted BS that smartphones offer, while they also outlast them by a wide margin. Since there are micro PCs such as OneNetbook A1 and GPD Pocket in the market, going Windows is a viable option, which also means that the small battery in an iPhone SE isn't that much of an issue since the battery life is OK for a basic phone scenario (Internet browsing et al are done on the PC so the screen time is limited). I was very much against the iPhone during the period of 2007-2018 but reached the conclusion that the SE is the "least evil" out of the options in 2022 when it is supplanted by a Windows device. Google Voice is a blessing here since it work really well on Windows and is an excellent service overall. I dumped carrier talk/text for it in 2014 and haven't looked back since. Since the iPhone SE offer eSIM, I use a plan that give me approx. 3 GB of data per month and I pay approx. $2.50 for it, thus making it the most "cost effective" phone I have ever used when I look at the yearly cost of service.

My "daily driver" is an iPhone SE/2020, which I got when I gave up on Android out of pure frustration with Google and their constant degradation of the system. I use it for two things: Apple Pay/payment and banking mostly. For bedside browsing I still use my Xiaomi Mi Max running Nougat since it is the last Android version I consider acceptable (no version or device released after 2018 gets a passing grade from me, the iPhone SE/2020 was selected for Apple Pay and it works really well as a wallet, which is what I consider it to be). I have given up on smartphones as anything but a "wallet" so I only use communication services that can run on Windows nowadays and have no desire to get any device other than replacing the iPhone when it reaches EOL (i.e. when banking apps stop working because the iOS on it doesn't receive any more updates). The OneNetbook A1 attract me as a future "smartphone replacement" and I have concluded that the only way forward is those small PCs. Scoped Storage is something I just don't accept, which is also why I left Android and moved all media needs to Windows.

Nice to see the Xperia X1 in the thread. It was the device that got me into custom ROMs back in the day and it also make me realize that my appreciation of WM is stronger now than ever before. If there would be a newly made device running the system I would be happy to return since I find Android (post-Nougat) to be unacceptable (the GUI is drastically degraded into filth, anti-root and anti-ROM measures commonplace, SafetyNet compound this, lower price/performance/quality ratio of devices, lack of diversity in the market et al) while iOS is OK as a dumb terminal (Apple Pay is excellent and the system is perfectly fine for simple tasks such as talk/text and shopping apps, banking/payments and the like). Windows Mobile together with XDA and devices like the X1 and Touch Pro 2 were as close as we ever came to being "laptop replacements" before the development went the wrong way. The main issue is that smartphones has turned into terminals/feature phones with "apps" that are more akin to "Java Midlets" rather than the fully featured applications offered for WM. It is also interesting to note that mobile devices are the only pieces of electronics that have seen drastic price increases, thus breaking the normal "rule of electronics" where "specific performance level become cheaper as technology progresses while performance increase at a given price point". This is also why a $1500 smartphone in 2022 feels like a toy (and is a toy as far as capabilities goes) in comparison with something like a Nokia 9210 Communicator or (more recently) HTC Touch Pro 2 or HD2. The only "tangible" areas where progress has been made is mostly camera and display but feature set and flexibility not to mention quality and sophistication of apps and the operating system is seriously downgraded and dumbed down. My conclusion is that the only viable "successor" to Windows Mobile is Windows on a device like the OneNetbook A1 or GPD Pocket supplanted by something like an iPhone SE (banking and Apple Pay/digital wallet).

The new Slim 7 is said to be approx. $1519 for the AMD/AMD version and $1586 approx. for the 7i Intel/nVidia ditto. It is obvious that the new Slim will become the ThinkBook 16p gen 3 further down the line even if the Legion version is perfectly fine (discrete design). The "regular" 7 has way too much RGB while the sibling is pleasant to look at to me. Moving to a 3070 is also a step forward (I guess it will be possible to reflash it to a higher TGP). It says "100 W" at this time without info on boost (such as 100 W base with boost to 115 or 130 W).

What I do is to disable Windows Update using WU10Man and then enable it temporarily when the "need" arises (in case there is a security update available). It make a huge difference in terms of system resources. In terms of antivirus and "risky" behavior online: The most appropriate approach here is to use a VM with Linux for those things in order to isolate those activities from the rest of the system. If there is a risk for malware due to [whatever activity], isolation using a VM with a different operating system is a good idea since it also allow the simple restoration of same in case of serious issues. I use SophiaScript for debloating and also disable services that are undesired using supplementary checklists. GPO is also useful to tame some of the less-than-optimal behavior of the OS.

My thought a few months ago was that Windows 11 and the new scheduler for Alder Lake/Big.Little gave improvements over Windows 10 but it turned out to be a misdirected view since independent benchmarking told a different story: No performance improvement could be noted when running 10 and 11 on the same Alder Lake system. It made me realize that running Windows 10 LTSC 2021 is a perfectly good option on a new PC (where "new" in this case means that LTSC 2019 is problematic due to drivers requiring newer hardware). I would be happy to hear different, though - i.e. successful installation and use of LTSC 2019 on [whatever 2021/2022 PC]. LTSC 2019 with Classic Shell and "Windows 7 tweaking" including Aero theme via WindowBlinds is the best Windows environment I have ever used on this side of 7 Ultimate and I feel that its qualities are very much on par with Mac OS X Snow Leopard (my favorite system beside Mac OS X Panther) in terms of operation and reliability. Optimum would be to successfully run it on 2021-2022 hardware (without running into issues when installing drivers). I did play a bit with Windows 11 when checking PCs lately and my conclusion is clear: It's not my cup of tea unless the PC is a 2-in-1. Windows 10 LTSC with "7 tweaking" all day long for me. The start menu (Windows 10X Launcher) and dumbing down of the contextual menus are showstoppers. It is also interesting to note that people are so afraid of installing Windows from an ISO in 2022. It is an indication of a serious degradation of computer knowledge in general considering that the procedure is pretty much similar to installing Mac OS 8/9 or Mac OS X from a disc. We are not exactly talking the "less than good" times of installing Windows 95 or even more 3.1. This is also an indication of a societal problem where the population are out of sync with knowledge about the technology driving the same, thus making it necessary with an aggressive ramp up of education (everything from improved IT learning in pre-school and grade school via study circles and so on).

I have been looking at those Precisions; the only thing I miss personally is 2-in-1 functionality since I like that flexibility, though. Conservative TDP isn't a turn off to me since I am very much in favor of efficient cooling and quiet operation. It is better to have sustainable performance rather than something that boost high for a short period and then throttles heavily (such as boosting to 3.5-4 GHz for one minute and then goes down to 1 GHz or something after that due to overheating).

A trend that really must die is the GPU chaos with all confusion related to TDPs and so on and so forth. It is also pretty fascinating to see the complete and utter chaos that is the "GeForce 3000 series" where laptop A with a "higher end" GeForce 3080 is slower than laptop B with a 3070 due to the TDP/power budget. The same goes for the whole situation with "mobile 3080" and "desktop 3080". It is pretty evident that the naming has to change and logic being implemented - one way would be as follows: 1000 series. Entry level cards, laptops use 1000M series and desktops use 1000D. 2000 series. Mid-range cards, M and D designations as above. 3000 series. High-end cards. 4000 series. Top of the line, desktop cards. TDP should be added to the name of the card and a 150 W model in the 3000 series in a laptop would be something like "RTX 3080M-150". As it is now, getting a laptop with nVidia GPU is a matter of researching TDPs of different models and then find something with a high TDP, a recent GPU and decent benchmarks and hope for the best. It is also interesting that "3000 series" cover a lot of different bases to such an extent that BOTH mid-range AND high end are included together with the TDP chaos. This chaos has to end. Another laptop issue is the whole separation between "gaming laptops", "business laptops" and "UltraBooks" where it seems very problematic to combine the styling of a "business laptop" with the performance of a "gaming laptop". If I want high performance and generous warranties I am in trouble since I am now trying to combine two different categories. This is because if I buy a "business laptop", I tend to have to make do with Iris XE/Vega since dGPU is "for gaming" and if I buy an "UltraBook" I can get a dGPU but the inefficient cooling hamper its performance. It is also interesting to note that we also have "consumer laptops" in the mix where the "interesting" situation arises that you can buy a model with stylus and 4K screen with touch (Dell Inspiron 7306/7506 for example) but when moving up toward "business" (Latitude for example) you have to kiss goodbye to those features. You can't even get the XPS with a similar stylus integration as the aforementioned Inspirons either. The more I look at it, the more I realize that the industry really has to get their act together and start to merge the artificial "categories" in order to create high performance laptops where it is possible to get 4K (aka high pixel density), dGPU, efficient cooling, 2-in-1 AND garaged stylus paired with repair friendliness in ONE package together with "business grade" warranty. Another issue is the quality standards of the "consumer premium" lines such as the XPS where it is evident that you pay extra to get a "premium" laptop and yet are playing the "XPS lottery" with Killer WiFi, keyboard and touchpad issues further down the line. When I look at it my conclusion is that an upgradeable laptop with XPS styling, efficient cooling, 2-in-1 form factor with Inspiron 7306/7506 stylus garage and a 4K screen together with dGPU paired with similar warranty/service options as the Latitude is what I would like. A thicker chassis is perfectly fine (reference would be a MacBook Pro 2011 13 inch) if need be for efficient cooling, aiming at quiet operation and lower temperatures.

Since I lost all interest in smartphones due to Android 9 and later I stick to a Xiaomi Mi Max 2016 for bedside browsing using Kiwi Browser under 7.1.2 and an iPhone SE/2020 for two specific purposes: Apple Pay/store apps (for coupons in some specific cases) and identification apps including 2 FA-solutions. It is Windows and Linux all-the-way for everything else and I keep the smartphone use to a minimum. A smartphone to me is like a basic pocket calculator and I stopped reading news and other similar things about them in the process since I got fed up with the whole thing (restrictions, carrier restrictions, artificial restrictions regarding band compatibility, Huawei panic, the whole debate whether device X is useable on carrier Y, the "luxury" of headphone jacks and microSD card slots, less features for more money and so on. I just don't see anything positive about smartphones nowadays and only associate them with different negative properties and effects. Using the 7.1.2 is still a bit of a pleasure since I configured it to my liking with Xposed Framework and everything, thus creating a pleasant user experience that hark back to the "earlier" era when devices were exciting (before Android 9, which ended everything).

I am mostly leaning on running Windows 11 for smartphone replacement purposes (WSA) and in tablet mode on a 2-in-1 system paired with Windows 7 Ultimate in a VM for desktop mode with external monitor, keyboard and mouse. The changes in 11 isn't appropriate for such a use case and the more I look around, the more I realize that it is the most optimum setup going forward, especially on Alder Lake/Big.Little systems. What I really like with Windows 11 is WSA since it enable the dreadful electronic waste called "smartphone" to be eliminated in most cases, while it also provide a decent tablet mode for those specific purposes while Windows 7 take care of the rest including the fact that I very much prefer older applications that have the "ribbon" Aero styled UI (I insist on using Office 2010 for that very reason). Windows 11 LTSC is what I really want to see before feeling relatively "comfortable" using Windows 11.

Sony Ericsson had excellent Symbian devices in the P800, P900 and P910i but it went downhill with the P990i (64 MB RAM paired with Symbian 9.1 gave 18 MB available for applications and memory leaks made multitasking problematic). P1i had 128 MB RAM and worked pretty well but didn't get GPS or a faster CPU, which were major letdowns; those issues eventually led to the downfall of the system (the last major hardware revision was the 208 MHz P990i and they kept using the very same CPU until the end in 2008/2009 with the G700/G900). Symbian OS was excellent and very much a preferred option over Android (8.x and especially 9.x and newer) or iOS. It is ironic but I still very much prefer a P910i software wise over any smartphone released after 2016 and the same applies to Windows Mobile 6.x. I have given up on smartphones, though since the regression of the operating systems and "apps" are too much for me. Symbian Series 80 is another favorite - excellent system and interface. I still miss the system,