[GTALUG] Recommendations for useful laptop suitable for Ubuntu

[Alex Beamish]

On Mon, Jul 15, 2019 at 10:09 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

>
> | 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.
>

Thanks for the link .. I look forward to watching.


> 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?
>

It worked fine at the June meeting of the Perlmongers, sharing a Google
Hangouts session. The next day, it wouldn't boot -- couldn't even get it to
POST.

I plan to buy the appropriate HD -> USB gadget to recover a few files; I
assume there's little I can do to repair it.


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

Good question.
[] Decent speed -- I did some Audacity editing on my laptop when my
workstation died, and my goodness was that slow.
[] Decent wifi -- the HP Pavillion's Wifi receiver was pretty temperamental.
[] Decent battery -- no complaints about the HP, it would last two hours+
on a charge. That's enough for me.
[] HDMI output -- I can get by on just the laptop screen, but I do like to
have the ability to have multiple screens.
[] Reasonable size -- I think the HP Pavillion had a 14" screen, and that
fit into my knapsack nicely. I don't need a gigantic screen.

-- 
Alex Beamish

Software Developer / https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alex-beamish-5111ba3
Speaker Wrangler / Toronto Perlmongers / http://to.pm.org/
Baritone, Operations Manager / Toronto Northern Lights, 2013 Champions /
www.northernlightschorus.com
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