wanted: suggestions for used Linux compatible notebooks

[Liam Proven]

On Thu, 7 Nov 2019 at 16:46, Marco Fioretti <mfioretti at nexaima.net> wrote:
>
> Until your email, I had not realized that 15+ inches screens on laptops have become
> very rare,

My impression is that in general the rise of tablets is driving the
laptop market towards thinner/lighter laptops. Even things like VGA
and Ethernet RJ45 sockets are getting too big to fit onto modern
laptops -- even big corporate portable workstations -- and USB sockets
are too big to fit onto slimline laptops now, driving the move to USB
C.

>  and albeit I've seen and used them many times, I had no idea that certain types of keyboards are called "chiclets".

It's named after an American brand of chewing gum.

I do not know any mainstream laptops that still offer traditional
keyboards now. Everything has switched to "island" or chiclet designs:
very flat, flat keys with no rake (the step between rows), very little
key travel, and gaps between keys.

For people like me who strongly dislike this design of keyboard, it's
a problem. I am slowly stocking up on the last generation of Thinkpads
with conventional keyboards. I have an X220 and a T420 so far, and am
considering a W520 and maybe even a W700 or W701 as well.


> 4) considering all this, and all the feedback received so far, it seems the best /less risky solution for me is to buy ANY Lenovo Thinkpad... as long as it has 14 inches screen, small SSD, 4GB RAM minimum, and it's not older than 4/5 years, so it may last just as much. Am I right? If yes, please just point me to the best series/model of Thinkpad, and I can take care of finding the right buyer myself. That's not a problem, what "kills" me is spending lots of time to figure out what the best model(s) is.

So not X2** series (X220, X230, X240 etc): screen too small.
T4?0 (410/420 etc.) series are 14" and quite portable.
X1 is thin and light but with a big screen.
W5?0 series are portable workstations with 15+" screens. Nice, but not
very portable.
W70? series are huge battleship machines with a 17" screen and a numeric keypad.

I'd consider an X1 or a 4?0/5?0 series. If you buy used, both a 4?0
for on the move and a 5?0 for on the desk are doable.

Look for 8GB RAM or at least only 1 4GB SO-DIMM so you can add your
own without replacing what's there.

An SSD is easy to add later and will give you a supply of 2½" external
backup drives.

My X220 takes 2 drives: an mSATA SSD plus a 2½" HD. I have SSDs in
both bays. I think this is possible on all the larger machines too, or
you can have an mSATA SSD for the OS and a big spinning hard disk for
/home and swap.

-- 
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