ideas for laptop selection

Franz Seidl fseidl at f9s.eu
Sun Apr 30 18:30:44 UTC 2017


Hi Daniel and list,

I'm in the same situation: Aging X220t that will need a replacement
sooner or later.

This one [1] is my favorite candidate as of now.

Tuxedo has other models as well. I have never held one in my hands,
though. A computer- and linux-competent acquaintance of mine bought a
BU1506 (iirc) recently and reports good things.

Regarding Lenovo: My X220 tablet's casing - while the device served (and
serves) me well and has about the same usage (and travel) profile as my
glasses - is of noticeably poorer quality than that of an older X200
I've lying around. (Details: [6]) Therefore, as long as I don't get
reliable new data, I'm assuming Lenovo has cut back on quality. They
seem no longer to be better than their competition in building hardware
for heavy duty.
Besides, remember Lenovo's Superfish blunder? I don't want to give those
people another €2K.

Other stuff about buying computers I bookmarked, usually when I read
about it on one of the FSFE mailing lists, so probably nothing new here:
[2], [3], [4], [5]. The last one (Purism) has already been mentioned
(negatively) today.

Regards,
Franz


[1]
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/Linux-Hardware/Linux-Notebooks/10-14-Zoll/TUXEDO-InfinityBook-Pro-13-matt-Full-HD-IPS-Aluminiumgehaeuse-Intel-Core-i7-U-CPU-bis-32GB-RAM-zwei-HDD/SSD-bis-12h-Akku-Typ-C-Thunderbolt.geek
(Who needs the webpage when he knows that URL?)

[2] https://minifree.org/
[3] https://www.olimex.com/Products/DIY-Laptop/
[4] https://store.vikings.net/libre-friendly-hardware
[5] https://puri.sm/

[6] The little noses that keep the display from rotating when the lid is
closed or rotated and folded over the keyboard didn't survive the first
two months. Turns out, they were superfluous anyway.
The plastic below the left rubber cushion  (where the lid rests on when
closed or rotated) gave way recently. I had to fish the peaces out of
the ExpressCard slot. That's not due to singular high-stress events, I'm
treating that thing like Gollum his ring. It is the material not passing
the test of time. The use of low quality adhesive might also be involved.
The quality of the docking station was underwhelming in several regards,
too: VGA was never usable through it (blurry), even not after I returned
it and got a replacement. They probably botched the docking station
connector design.
The locking mechanism meant to protect the notebook from being stolen by
locking it to the docking station broke upon a sharp look. Afterwards,
the notebook could by inserted and removed regardless of key position or
presence of the key. I'm sure thieves all over the globe find this very
impressing.


Am 29.04.2017 um 11:52 schrieb Daniel Pocock:
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm currently looking at replacing my X220 tablet and hoping to choose
> something new without spending too much time.
> 
> The main reasons for replacing the X220 tablet:
> 
> 1. weight - I'd like to get something under 1.5kg, the lower the better
> and there are plenty of models between 1.0 and 1.2kg these days.
> 
> 2. screen resolution - the 768 pixel screen height is troublesome for
> some applications
> 
> 3. battery - it is not like new any more
> 
> Looking around, though, if I choose a current model laptop (Lenovo or
> otherwise) it appears there is something of a minefield:
> 
> - am I going to run into Secure Boot issues?  I've met other people at
> events recently who had new laptops and were struggling to get into the
> BIOS and disable Secure Boot.
> 
> - Windows included - can anybody give any tips on how to buy without
> paying the Windows tax?
> 
> - dongles - many of them favor dongles/expansion ports these days, some
> of these dongles only work with the PSU, will the total weight with PSU
> and dongle really be less than my current laptop?
> 
> Are there any specific models that anybody would recommend in the
> ultraportable form-factor (e.g. under i7, 16GB or more, 1.5kg, 12.5" -
> 14", suitable for use on small spaces such as on trains and airplanes)?
> 
> Has anybody tried the 2017 models of the X1 Carbon or X270 with any
> Linux distribution?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Daniel
> _______________________________________________
> Discussion mailing list
> Discussion at lists.fsfe.org
> https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
> 




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