[ale] online build-your-own used/refurbished Linux-ready laptop

[Ed Cashin]

This worked very well, by the way.  An established eBay seller with high
ratings was able to create a custom system, note its non-functioning
trackpad, and then (at my suggestion) collect more parts and assemble a new
system in a week or so.

The Lenovo W520 is as nice as Jim said.  I installed Ubuntu 14.04 without
trouble, and all the hardware I've exercised so far has worked without a
hitch.

Thanks again to those who offered information.



On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 9:29 PM, Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net> wrote:

> Thanks, all, for the great responses.  I'm going to bother eBay sellers
> about custom W520 configurations.
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 18, 2014 at 2:31 PM, Dustin Strickland <
> dustin.h.strickland at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I second Jim on this one, the W520 is the way to go. Those are some
>> solid machines, though the T-series "equivalent" isn't bad. Most of
>> the T520's have an i5, but some of them come with a dual-core i7(as do
>> some of the W520's, though most are i7 quads). It's very uncommon for a
>> T-series to have dedicated graphics, but I have seen configurations
>> with an nVidia card. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the T520's have
>> a max capacity of 8GB of RAM?
>>
>> Some eBay sellers will create custom listings if you message them
>> asking for certain specs. I don't know if many do this with laptops,
>> but I know there are plenty of people and companies who will make minor
>> modifications to desktop machines if they have the parts on hand.
>>
>> On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:16:10 -0400
>> Derek Atkins <warlord at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>>
>> > I have a T520; it's pretty good.
>> > I've got a T540p that should arrive in the next day.
>> >
>> > -derek
>> >
>> > Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> writes:
>> >
>> > > Look for a Lenovo Thinkpad W520. Do NOT get the 530 or the 510 even
>> > > though the 510 will work. It's crap compared to the 520. The 530 is
>> > > brain dead and may be the first one designed by Lenovi.
>> > > The 520 is a honking desktop replacement with dual graphics each
>> > > with dedicated ram. Intel and an nvidia.
>> > > Be prepared to drop a was on it. They started at $2600 new. The
>> > > 510/530 started at $1500.
>> > >
>> > > On Jun 17, 2014 9:56 PM, "Ed Cashin" <ecashin at noserose.net> wrote:
>> > >
>> > >     Hi.
>> > >
>> > >     Does anyone know of an online place where I can build a used
>> > > laptop and select Ubuntu as the pre-installed O.S.?
>> > >
>> > >     There's thinkpenguin, which is pretty much exactly what I want,
>> > > but it's for new systems and the selection is limited.
>> > >
>> > >     This is the kind of system I have in mind, but it's hard to
>> > > find all this in a used/refurbished state.  It's pretty hit or
>> > > miss, mostly miss, on eBay.
>> > >
>> > >       Intel i7 CPU
>> > >       16 GB RAM
>> > >       500 GB SSD
>> > >       14" screen
>> > >
>> > >     Ideally the graphics card would be programmable using Intel's
>> > > GPU libraries, but I cannot remember whether their libraries are
>> > >     Linux-compatible.
>> > >
>> > >     Thanks!
>> > >
>> > >     --
>> > >       Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net>
>> > >
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
>   Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net>
>



-- 
  Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net>
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