Paul Thurrott and ZDNet Independently Slam Microsofts Newest Surface, Surfacegate Has Begun
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@scottalanmiller said:
@travisdh1 said:
TL:DNR: Would you rather listen to news about tech, or the mainstream media?
Why either?
Because I can't concentrate as well without some noise in the background. Tinnitus sucks.
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I recommend some shows like A Prairie Home Companion or Rick Steves' Europe.
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@travisdh1 is right - Leo isn't peddling to IT Pros, He's peddling to the home user, occasionally the Prosumer, but never to the IT Pro.
Again as @travisdh1 mentioned, Security Now! is their only show that seems to really delve into business dealings, but even that is only surface deep, and rarely with a recommendation toward a technology.
Steve Gibson, the host of Security Now! also hasn't been in corporate IT in a very long time if ever. He considered among the Security Experts, but probably not to the level of many that we hear about like Brian Krebs.
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@scottalanmiller said:
How long ago was that? Before the network shim or after? After, zero excuses and I think any apologizes are unthinkable. Before, sure, but I think shows poor insight. Lenovo had a decade of being pretty bad before the poo hit the fan. Then it is one thing after another. They had zero track record of being good, so supporting them based on a middling at best record then followed by many of the worst reports in the industry.... what could be his basis for telling people to buy them? Seems awfully fishy.
Saidly it was after the shim.
I don't recall what episode it was, but Leo asked Steve Gibson point blank - So does this mean we should stop recommending Lenovo? Steve didn't really take a stance and Leo more or less ran over him and felt that Lenovo was is probably an OK purchase.
As for recommendations - I can't recall Leo ever actually recommending a Lenovo on the two shows I listen to (Windows Weekly and Security Now!), instead Leo is often recommending Dell and occasionally the Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3 depending on need.
So I don't think Leo is actively pushing Lenovo's, but at the time, he probably won't poopoo it either.
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@Dashrender said:
@travisdh1 is right - Leo isn't peddling to IT Pros, He's peddling to the home user, occasionally the Prosumer, but never to the IT Pro.
Makes more sense. He always seemed like a "bench" guy, like Geek Squad Radio.
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@Dashrender said:
So I don't think Leo is actively pushing Lenovo's, but at the time, he probably won't poopoo it either.
So not even at the Geek Squad level, sadly.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
So I don't think Leo is actively pushing Lenovo's, but at the time, he probably won't poopoo it either.
So not even at the Geek Squad level, sadly.
You're kidding right? Geek Squad sells Lenovo - so of course they are pushing it... that I would make Leo better in my mind, but the question is.. is the better really even worth mentioning?
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Leo is essentially a hobbyist, and Paul is on the edge of hobbyist/prosumer/SMB. Mary Jo on the other hand has some excellent insights into what is going on inside MS outside of their desktop/laptop/services arena.
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@Dashrender said:
You're kidding right? Geek Squad sells Lenovo - so of course they are pushing it... that I would make Leo better in my mind, but the question is.. is the better really even worth mentioning?
LOL. Well at least with GS I can see that they are making money from selling Lenovo so their advice there was always moot. Anyone getting advice from a sales person is a fool unto themselves
That would be exactly like being shocked that the Chevy dealer recommended a Chevy - at that point, it's the customer at fault for having unreasonable expectations.But if Lenovo does not sponsor Leo and or it does so secretly (unlikely, just not ruling it out) then we trust him to attempt to give advice honestly because that is his job - he makes his money by people thinking what he says is valuable. So unlike a sales person where we know their motivation, it sounds like he's just not qualified to talk to grandparents about computers.
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I like FLOSS weekly... but I rarely listen to it, instead I look at the software being shown and take a look myself.
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Agreed, and to that end I've never heard him recommend Lenovo - only Dell and Surface devices.
As a radio person who cares about ratings, he doesn't take a dump on Lenovo so customers who call into his radio show doesn't feel bad about their purchases.
I think for the most part he's walking a fine line.
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@Dashrender said:
I think for the most part he's walking a fine line.
Yes, a fine line where he knows he makes money by putting people at risk.
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My wife works for a very large company (largest of its type in the US) They've standardized on Lenovo. Her father works for a different company (again the largest of its type in the US)... they are Dell now but apparently the next cycle there are plans to implement Lenovo laptops and workstations. Just seems crazy to me from the outside looking in.
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@coliver said:
My wife works for a very large company (largest of its type in the US) They've standardized on Lenovo. Her father works for a different company (again the largest of its type in the US)... they are Dell now but apparently the next cycle there are plans to implement Lenovo laptops and workstations. Just seems crazy to me from the outside looking in.
They are looking to MOVE to Lenovo? WHY? Clearly that CTO doesn't care about security (at best he hasn't heard about the issues they've had - at worst he doesn't care and only cares about what he thinks will save the company a few bucks).
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@coliver said:
Just seems crazy to me from the outside looking in.
I'm sure it seems crazy from the inside too.
Lenovo is smart, though, they know that the American small business just is so clueless that they can do anything they want and the average American isn't going to catch on. I guarantee they are just laughing and laughing about it. It must blow their minds that they get caught over and over and yet... no one cares.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Just seems crazy to me from the outside looking in.
I'm sure it seems crazy from the inside too.
Lenovo is smart, though, they know that the American small business just is so clueless that they can do anything they want and the average American isn't going to catch on. I guarantee they are just laughing and laughing about it. It must blow their minds that they get caught over and over and yet... no one cares.
It's just odd that these aren't small companies. These are multi-national entities with operations all over the world. Although that doesn't mean they are any more informed then the average SMB.
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@coliver said:
It's just odd that these aren't small companies. These are multi-national entities with operations all over the world. Although that doesn't mean they are any more informed then the average SMB.
I've worked for some pretty small companies like that. Are they corporations with boards and trained management, or just one guy running everything based on emotion?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
It's just odd that these aren't small companies. These are multi-national entities with operations all over the world. Although that doesn't mean they are any more informed then the average SMB.
I've worked for some pretty small companies like that. Are they corporations with boards and trained management, or just one guy running everything based on emotion?
That I don't know. I believe that they are corporations with an actual management structure but I haven't seen that side of it.
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The Surface Pro 3 and 4 have had so many issues in our organization... Problems mostly to do with display issues; though there are a ton of other issues too. With the SP2 and 3, we've seen numerous Wi-Fi issues, despite the machines being fully updated. With the SP3 we've seen the screen flickering issue still happen even with the latest drivers and updates.
But the Surface Pro 4....This machine is truly testing my patience. I am fully up-to-date, I'm running Windows 10 Enterprise, so we're just at build 1511 (10586) and the Cumulative update for 1511 (10586) just came out. I have the latest drivers from Intel, which are unsigned by Microsoft and had to be installed manually.
While docked, the monitors will be turned off when I have to step away to assist someone in the office (or for whatever reason), most of the time when I come back, I hit a key to wake up the computer.....only to find that the SP4 screen comes on and not my 2 U2415s. This has been happening since I first got the machine, to fix it, I simply used to be able to just unplug the mini-dock cable and plug it back in and POOF! Everthing goes back to normal.
I've also had a couple of Blue Screens that have since not happened (updated drivers, removed display driver and reinstalled a few weeks back)
The hot bag issue is definitely still happening....
Where is Microsoft? Is the company that cocky that they won't lose people that they just sit on their hands? Or are they truly working on these issues alongside "...3rd party companies..." like they say... (Don't have the source, sorry hah)
I've been testing the SP4 before we roll them out to people in the field and to shareholders...we've given three out, so far so good, but I'm still a bit nervous about a full on deployment, especially if they have to dock. -
As far as Lenovo, that secret chip or whatever it was they sneaked into machines should have bankrupted them.... Though the reality is, it obviously hasn't done much. Am I missing something though, has Lenovo done anything more than the first incident I'm aware of?
