dontknowme

Absolutely, even when the active compounds are the same but there are changes in composition.

For instance, I'm an asthmatic and I need to use a spray inhaler. The no-brand equivalent is exactly the same, and does work the same in normal circumstances, except has roughly 1/2 of the propellant. But I can tell you that the missing propellant makes all the difference when you're having a stronger attack and cannot inhale.

I've been using company a provided X1, X1 Yoga 1st and now 3rd gen.

I had several issues with the arrow keys on the X1 Yoga 1st edition.

Tactile feedback while pressing but without actual keypress action on the up arrow. We had a lot of 15 of those, and the issue was present on 8 of these.

3rd edition now has the same issue on the left/right touchpad buttons (the physical ones). If you press don't press on the dead center of these keys, you feel the physical feedback, but there's no keypress action. Again, we got a batch of 15 of those, out of which 10 had this issue.

For the 1st edition the shape of the key was the issue (slant on the membrane), while for the 3rd the key is just too soft (plastic bends before pushing on the membrane).

This is the most brutal behavior a button can have. What's the point of physical feedback if it's broken?

The monitor backlight on all the X1 laptops we have (we're using them since 5 years) developed bright spots. The black level of the screen degrades pretty quickly too, settling after 3 months of normal usage. If you turn on a "fresh" X1 it has significantly more contrast than what you'll typically get a few months on.

Overall, it's still a great line (up and beyond than the HP "elitebook" series), but the keyboard and button issues are really irking me up and the Yoga 3rd edition IMHO has a worse keyboard then the 1st overall.

I sadly cannot compare with the XPS series as I never used the series long enough to judge.

Likely. Kitchen ovens and small ovens in general do not have the accuracy required to reflow. As you say, they will cycle between full power and no power and rely on the large oven hysteresis to get an average temperature which is OK for cooking, but can be easily off by 10+C at times, even if ventilated.

One solution is to wrap the item in something which acts as a dampener. A couple of layers of crumpled tinfoil will help.

Note that you definitely can reflow in a low-end kitchen oven with the appropriate changes ;). I built two small ovens for reflowing. Search for "arduino reflow" for some pointers.

I'm a similar situation. My current position has excellent work/life balance, excellent colleagues, interesting work in itself and I'm basically having fun most of the time. I would not switch under normal conditions. The salary though has been stagnant for years and it has been my main crux for some time now. Being handled by HR, I also know it's essentially non-negotiable, despite not being an economical limit for the company. If I had a family or some bigger expenses (like a house or a new car) I would have to quit.

I'm actively looking, but no other job was interesting enough for me to consider yet. I won't switch for a job I'm "forced" to do unless it was paid at least three times my current salary, which would only be possible if I would relocate too.

It's sad really. A 10% bump in my net salary would keep me glued here for several more years.