[ale] Buying advice for Laptop ?

[Bob Toxen]

Hi Steve,

My two newest Thinkpads are Lenevos.  I bought one used December 2013.
It's a touch screen so I think it's less than 3 years old.  It is
physically sturdy.

My newest was acquired, a T440, used February 2015.  It seems pretty new
and also is sturdy with no problems so far.

I had a bad experience with an Acer about 3 years ago when I tweaked
BIOS to not boot from disk.  That turned out to be PERMANENT, only
resettable by setting the box back to the manufacturer.  Really stupid!

Bob

> Hi Bob,
> 
> Just so we're all on the same page here, you mention 2001 and 2003
> laptops. Are any of your ThinkPads less than 3 years old?
> 
> My observation for < $1000 laptops, the only kind I buy, is that
> quality, reliability, and durability have fallen in that whole genre,
> probably starting somewhere around 2009. The prioritization of thin and
> light has caused laptops to fall apart much quicker. Skinnier spaces
> surrounding hard disks have exacerbated heat problems. The wider
> screens mean more torque on the unit. The rise of touchscreen means
> that, to meet price points, quality must be cut in other areas.
> 
> By the way, my 2006 Acer Aspire laptop runs just as well, on Linux, as
> it did in 2006.
> 
> I'd be interested to hear how one year old ThinkPads are running.
> 
> 
> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt 
> June 2015 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/key
> 
> 
> On Mon, 29 Jun 2015 15:18:12 -0400
> Bob Toxen <transam at verysecurelinux.com> wrote:
> 
> > I find HP and Dell to make poor quality Laptop hardware that fails
> > frequently.  I would not take one for free!
> > 
> > All 4 of my ThinkPads run great, including my low-end one bought new
> > in 2003 and the used one older than that.  All run Linux great!
> > 
> > Of those the ONLY failure mode was the used DVD burner I bought for my
> > 2001 has trouble ejecting disks and needs a paperclip.
> > 
> > Bob
> > 
> > On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 01:31:37PM +0000, Beddingfield, Allen wrote:
> > > Stick with Dell or HP.  Toshiba, Samsung, and Sony tend to not make
> > > drivers available for later versions of Windows (yuck!) if that is
> > > the route you are going.  Also, Dell and HP have good support, and
> > > there are more parts available on EBay for them later. Allen B. --
> > > Allen Beddingfield Systems Engineer
> > > The University of Alabama
> > > 
> > > 
> > > From: <ale-bounces at ale.org<mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org>> on behalf
> > > of Narahari 'n' Savitha Reply-To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> > > Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 8:19 AM
> > > To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!
> > > Subject: [ale] Buying advice for Laptop ?
> > > 
> > > Friends:
> > > 
> > > I am in the market for a laptop.  I am trying to decide between
> > > celeron(may be ?)
> > > 
> > > i3
> > > i5
> > > i7
> > > 
> > > Brands (Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba Acer, HP) ?
> > > RAM 8GB good enough or 16GB ?
> > > SSD a must or not really ?
> > > if HDD 5400rpm vs 7200 rpm makes diff ?
> > > Screen 15.6 inch screen.
> > > 
> > > Has to run Windows (8.1 is what I get I guess )
> > > 
> > > Uses:  VPN to Mrs. office.  Daughters projects with MS office.
> > > 
> > > -N
> > 
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> 
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