Prof. Sam Lawler
I HATE buying new stuff. But I am absolutely dependent on a computer for my job, and my workhorse laptop is finally doing enough scary things that I really do need a new one.
My current laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad T480, and I really love it. I want basically this exact same laptop, but newer. I want all the ports, and no biometric or touchscreen. I'll be using Linux. Recs?
(I got totally overwhelmed browsing the way-too-many options - going to try crowd-sourcing!)
pretentious7
@sundogplanets I got a reasonable refurb dell latitude from a nearby micro center a couple months back (12th gen i5, 16g ram, 1080p) for 300$. I'd look at similar refurb deals.
It's fine, btw. Drains too much power on standby, but ah well.
valhalla
@sundogplanets @yvan I'd second the “whatever used thinkpad has the price you want to spend on a laptop”, with two caveats:
* I'm used to the european market, where used thinkpads are easily available at all price ranges
* my current “new and shiny” thinkpad is a T460, an upgrade from a X200 :D
but in my experience, and in the reported experience from a number of debian developers I know, thinkpads are pretty good workhorses, last a long time, they tend to work well under linux and once they hit the second hand market they tend to be good value for their price
Prof. Sam Lawler
@yvan I've bought several refurbished ones for students and they've been great. For my workhorse every day research/teaching laptop I was leaning toward getting a fancy new one (with grant money)... but maybe that's unnecessary?
Yvan
@sundogplanets I don't know about the market in your location, but I think in most places the second hand market for ThinkPads is particularly strong due to the number of them second hand from the business market. In the UK there are loads of refurbished ones sold on Amazon marketplace for very good prices. I've not bought a new one in well over a decade. A bit like new cars, new laptops are a bit of a rip off.
It may be worth investigating that to narrow down your options and find a ThinkPad that fits your specs.
pretentious7
@bencc huh. Will that mess with anything such that I've to reinstall the os? Will likely attempt soon
Ben C
@pretentious7 if you’re running Linux it’s worth checking if the storage is in raid or ahci/nvme mode in the bios. Switching that solved the standby power drain on my 11th gen xps. Seems to be a common dell issue. (I should add if you’re also still using windows that might make it angry)
Quark Maker
@sundogplanets Also, you might want to look at Only Office if Libre Office isn't sufficient in trading back and forth in MS Office documents. Personally, I've used Libre Office for years and been very happy with it, but sometimes there's cases where it isn't perfectly compatible. Only Office is supposed to address that.
Any idea which distro you're going to use?
Also... highly recommend you check out both the Destination Linux and Linux Unplugged podcasts. Both are enjoyable and professional.
pretentious7
@bencc that worked! Seems to last a few days on standby now. What a relief. Thanks a lot.
Ben C
@pretentious7 probably be fine in linux (worst case is having to switch it back), might make windows angry though if you're still using that. I'd make sure to test your backups first though, just in case.
Prof. Sam Lawler
One of the coolest things about this laptop is how you buy a bunch of ports and you can extremely easily swap them out as needed.
I bought an ethernet port and it's ENORMOUS and hangs over the side of the laptop! Annoying! But I realized I only use ethernet on campus, so I can just leave it with the ethernet cable at my desk. Cool.
95% of the packaging is cardboard, which is delightful.
Weird: both my cats desperately want to lick the metal laptop case. Why?!
Prof. Sam Lawler
Ubuntu *finally* downloaded, got it onto a bootable USB, and it's installing!
Now the not-so-fun process of figuring out what files to transfer over from my current workhorse laptop to my new fancy workhorse laptop.
Fortunately the weather outside is absolute shit (freezing rain and super windy), so it's an excellent day to stay inside and mess around with computers all afternoon!
Prof. Sam Lawler
Posting from new laptop, with lots of files and stuff from my old laptop. Cool.
(Now time to venture out into the still-incredibly-shitty-weather to walk the dogs and feed the animals)
Prof. Sam Lawler
I should really acknowledge that I'm extremely privileged to have a decent research computer grant that I needed to use, that was the whole reason I was able to afford this fancy-pants laptop. It continues to be great! I've gotten almost all the software I need installed on it, no major hiccups yet.
My old laptop still has some life left in it, and will get used by undergrad research students, and I hope this Framework one lasts me well over a decade.
Prof. Sam Lawler
Wow, Framework laptops look awesome!! Thank you for the multiple recommendations, Fediverse! I'll look at this more tomorrow when I (hopefully?) recover from decision fatigue.
Prof. Sam Lawler
I assembled my new Framework laptop this morning! I was SUPER nervous about assembling a laptop, but they have great video and written instructions on their website, and it booted into bios with no issue! I'm really excited about having a laptop that is designed to be repairable, and I hope it lasts me for a LONG time
Turns out that the slowest part of this process is actually waiting for my rural internet to download the latest version of Ubuntu...
Thanks for the recommendations, fediverse.
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