[olug] Laptop suggestions

Tue Nov 7 20:27:14 CST 2017

Oh and one more thing with 2nd Byte; from my experience, their website
inventory is rarely up-to-date with what they actually have on hand.  I'd
recommend you call and arrange a visit to browse their wares first-hand.
I've been to their warehouse several times to browse and have been guilty
of an occasional impulse buy (hard to pass up a couple/few monitors for
$40-50 each).

On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 8:19 PM, Ben Watson <bwatson1979 at gmail.com> wrote:

> +1 for sourcing from 2nd Byte.  I've purchased (and assisted others with
> the purchase of) many a rig from them and they are rock solid.  I'm
> currently rocking a few small form factor HP desktops for family PC use
> with Win10 and also purchased an HP laptop from them.
>
> I've worked with a gentleman named Randy L. and it has been a great
> experience (especially price-wise).  They are a certified M$ reseller and
> can hook you up with OEM copies of Windows install discs with keys as a
> bonus, something you rarely get from big box stores.  They can also "pimp
> your ride" by upgrading internals (memory, SSD, etc.) at decent rates.
>
> This is all business/commercial grade gear that has typically spent its
> work life (~3 years) in a cosy office environment editing M$ Office
> documents.
>
> I tend to treat computers like I treat cars; rarely buy brand new unless I
> absolutely need some bleeding edge functionality.
>
> On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 4:56 AM, Rob Townley <rob.townley at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Consider getting a few used commercial grade laptops / TabletPCs for the
>> family.  Historically, commercial grades are much sturdier, cheaper and
>> easier to upgrade and are produced in greater numbers than consumer grade.
>> Most importantly, they are often on the hardware compatibility lists of
>> major software vendors such as RedHat <https://hardware.redhat.com/Laptop
>> >and
>> Microsoft which not only provides base line vetting of hardware and device
>> drivers, but also makes it easier to optimize performance.    2010 is
>> nothing, we still get a great deal of use out of a HP TabletPC from 2006.
>> I would look at a local vendor such as 2nd-Byte.com
>> https://2nd-byte.com/collections/all
>>
>> https://2nd-byte.com/collections/all
>> https://hardware.redhat.com/Laptop
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 24, 2017 at 11:03 PM, aric at omahax.com <aric at omahax.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > I suggest a few things
>> > 1.  Intel Kaby Lake R 8th Gen i5 or i7 U series CPU they are quad core,
>> > have high clock rates and use much less power then the previous
>> generation.
>> > 2.  Dual Channel Memory  Some "ultra books" come with only one DIMM
>> slot.
>> > Many come with 2 and often only have only one slot populated, this is
>> > ideal, after market RAM is cheap, just add a stick and double your
>> memory
>> > capasity and bandwidth.
>> > 3.  M.2 PCI-e type SSD or atleast a slot for it.These are very fast and
>> > make the old SATA SSDs seem like slow spinny disks.
>> > The rest, screen size and resolution, auxiliary 2.5 in drive bay,
>> > keyboard, touchpad, decrete GPUs, is all subjective to personal
>> preference
>> > and needs.
>> > ....Ideally you want one that doesn't require a hair dryer and a spudger
>> > to get to the hard drive.
>> > ------ Original message------From: Craig WolfDate: Mon, Oct 23, 2017
>> 10:26
>> > AMTo: Omaha Linux User Group;Cc: Subject:Re: [olug] Laptop suggestions
>> > Ok, I will chime in here:
>> > Asus is great equipment based on usage I have seen from people over the
>> > years.  I would go there first for a personal laptop.
>> > Sony/Toshiba sucks to get ANY support on if the hardware stays
>> functioning
>> > in any way...won't put anyone I care about in those.
>> > HP/Dell business lines are pretty solid, if not a bit expensive.
>> > Lenovo...mixed.  Seem to have hinge problems on many models and I have
>> seen
>> > that (less than 3 years tops out of them) more than once.
>> > Love my Macs BUT not upgradable at all.
>> >
>> > These are my opinions...your mileage may vary.
>> >
>> > Craig Wolf
>> > (402)990-3010 <(402)%20990-3010>
>> >
>> > Strengths: Activator, Relator, Adaptability, Learner, Achiever
>> >
>> > On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 9:34 AM, Matthew Goeres  wrote:
>> >
>> > > I bought a Lenovo Thinkpad T460 from the Lenovo outlet and have had
>> > really
>> > > good luck with it. The the thinkpads are very easy to upgrade. This
>> one
>> > for
>> > > example, I paid $700 for it new, it had the higher res display, a 256G
>> > SSD
>> > > 16G of ram, and a core i7. I have since upgraded from 16G to 32G of
>> ram
>> > and
>> > > a 1TB SSD. Running Linux Mint with several virtualbox VMs for random
>> > tasks.
>> > > Very happy with it.
>> > >
>> > > If you have any IBM thinkpad experience, they will seem sort of cheap,
>> > but
>> > > as long as your expectations are set and you understand the Lenovo
>> > > thinkpads aren't the indestructible tanks that the old IBM ones were
>> > then I
>> > > think you will be fine with it.
>> > >
>> > > On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 8:57 AM, Justin Reiners
>> > > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > I have also purchased many Toshibas for family members who needed
>> > > laptops.
>> > > >
>> > > > Best buy open box area is very nice for deals, since you are just
>> going
>> > > to
>> > > > wipe it anyways.
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > > On Oct 23, 2017 8:53 AM, "Lou Duchez"  wrote:
>> > > >
>> > > > > I've always had good luck with Toshiba laptops; I don't have any
>> > > specific
>> > > > > models in mind, but Toshiba seems like a worthy bet.
>> > > > >
>> > > > > I've had my current Toshiba laptop since late 2011, and it's still
>> > > > running
>> > > > > like a champ.  Part of it is that I treat it like a desktop -- for
>> > the
>> > > > most
>> > > > > part I leave it on my desk -- but in general its performance has
>> > > remained
>> > > > > solid.  I added RAM at one point, but that's it.
>> > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > > > > I'm starting to look at a new personal laptop to replace my aging
>> > > MacBook
>> > > > >> Pro (15" Mid-2010).
>> > > > >>
>> > > > >> As evidenced by the age of this system, I like to keep my
>> equipment
>> > > for
>> > > > a
>> > > > >> long time and I will pay a bit more for an expandable and
>> reasonably
>> > > > >> powerful system that I can upgrade over.  My hard top end for the
>> > > budget
>> > > > >> is
>> > > > >> $1800.
>> > > > >>
>> > > > >> I've heard good things about the Dell 13 XPS, but for a bit of
>> > savings
>> > > > >> (and
>> > > > >> throwing some support behind the Linux builders) I've also
>> > > investigated
>> > > > >> the
>> > > > >> System 76 "Galaga Pro".
>> > > > >>
>> > > > >> Are there any other vendors/brands/models I've overlooked that I
>> > > should
>> > > > >> investigate?
>> > > > >>
>> > > > >> Dan
>> > > > >>
>> > > > >> _______________________________________________
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