[sf-lug] seeking laptop recommendations to upgrade from thinkpad t61p

[The Doctor]

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On 05/22/2014 02:08 PM, Michael Shiloh wrote
> I love my trusty Thinkpad T61p, but it's getting quite old. Time
> to upgrade, but to what?

I have a Dell Inspiron 17R and a Thinkpad T530 (both running Arch
Linux 64-bit) and I'm very pleased with them.

> - What's a reasonable amount to spend? I expect to pay more than
> $1000 but need to keep it below $2000.

$1400us seems like a good median price.

> - Some SSD for speed. Could be all SSD, or some SSD and some
> spinning disk.

Your call.  I'm waiting for the size/cost ratio of SSD's to favor 1TB
drives a bit more.

> - I carry my laptop everywhere, so weight is a concern. - I use the
> laptop constantly, so a really good screen is important.

My 17R's screen is large enough that I have a difficult time using the
T530 without at least one external screen.

> - I love the Thinkpad joystick thingy between the GHBN buttons. I
> don't think I could get used to a trackpad. I've tried often and I
> hate them.

Up to you.  The erasertip drives me crazy, but whatever works for you.

> - I travel quite often and long battery life is somewhat
> important, although on the one hand in-seat power is becoming more
> common and on the other hand some time away from the computer is a
> good thing too.

I typically get around five hours of uptime on both of my laptops.  I
use xfce4-power-manager to configure power management.

> - I speak publicly very often so flawless external monitor hookup
> is critical

The T530's external jacks Just Work(tm) using LxRandR - I use it
extensively at work.  As for my Dell, I've really only had any luck
and stability with the VGA jack.  Dell's been strongarming people into
Optimus for the past two years or so (maybe three), and it's utterly
pants.  If I can never buy another laptop that forces me to put up
with it, it'll be... a Thinkpad, to be honest, assuming that it
doesn't become all but a requirement on that hardware platform in the
future.

- -- 
The Doctor [412/724/301/703] [ZS]
Developer, Project Byzantium: http://project-byzantium.org/

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"Damn tulpas." --William Gibson

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