[GTALUG] Recommendations for useful laptop suitable for Ubuntu

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Alex Beamish via talk <talk at gtalug.org>

| My Windows 10 laptop died pretty close to its fifth birthday, so I'm
| planning on replacing it with a Linux laptop.

I gave a lightning talk to GTALUG on how I ideosyncratically choose a
notebook.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-mCQphZBuI&t=776s>
Note the late Peter Hiscocks in the front row, on my right.  I miss
him.  You can hear him laugh at 10:20 in.

I would not disavow much. The current Atom-based processors are not as
bad as the older Baytrail ones.  You still probably want something
more powerful.  I've got a few cheap cheap Atom-base toys with
remarkably OK displays.

Why are you replacing it?  Some, but not all, five year old laptops
are still fine.  What about it isn't as good as you would like?

Exactly which qualities of a notebook matter to you?  (You may not
actually know without living with one for a while.)

Linux: most notebooks run Linux without issue.  Or with minor issues (no 
support for fingerprint reader doesn't bother me).  Exotic notebooks may 
have more problems.  Google to check if people have tried a model you are 
thinking about.

Battery:

My main laptop is just over five years old.  It has a Haswell family
processor.  My impression is that previous Intel generations are
significantly worse at power consumption during sleep.  Later
generations aren't enough better for me to switch.

A 5-year-old notebook may or may not have a worn-out battery.  And a
worn out battery may be expensive enough that you don't want to put
the money into the old notebook.

Maintainability vs lightness:

Light notebooks are a joy, mostly when carrying them around, but also
on your lap.  Ultrabooks(tm) are the example.

But ultrabooks are very hard to maintain.  Generally you cannot
replace the battery, you cannot upgrade the RAM, you cannot fix most
problems

The opposite of an ultrabook is a classic ThinkPad (not a ThinkPad
ultrabook).  You can pretty much fix anything with enough time.  And
Lenovo produces manuals to support this.

Size: only you can decide what size you want.  It matters a lot.
Sometimes in ways you don't know until you live with one.

Screen resolution: there are high resolution screens, all the way up
to UltraHD (3840x2160), but that's not cheap.  To me, anything less
than FullHD (1920x1080) is unfortunate.  In particular, the standard
1366x768 is not something I'd live with (except if the screen is 10"
or smaller).

Screen quality: IPS is good; TN is bad (unless you are a gamer who
obsesses about latency).  Screen quality is something that is hard to
be 100% sure of without carefully looking at the notebook.  But "IPS"
is a pretty simple marker.

Touch: it matters to some of us and not to others.  I have it and
rarely use it.

| I've used it for conference
| calls (hosting the Toronto Perlmongers meeings), and some light Libre
| Office work, so I need something better than a Bare Bones laptop, but not
| as wicked as a big fat gamer's rig.

I think that all current notebooks can do that.

It doesn't sound you actually need portability.

| Refurbished is OK, and pre-loaded with Linux is also fine. Budget is
| perhaps $600-$800.

One source for used ones is Bauer.  They have a lot of used ThinkPads
passing through.  Here's their inventory / price list.
<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-hKAmQahPcEV_h5mwflWGLWCQtqkKOBDbsakv4ee2u0/edit#gid=0>
I've only bought one thing from them, a monitor.
See this thread:
<http://forums.redflagdeals.com/bauer-systems-refurb-new-laptops-desktops-monitors-ssd-tablets-phone-mini-buying-guide-2167072>