wanted: suggestions for used Linux compatible notebooks

[Bret Busby]

On 07/11/2019, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.
>
> --
> Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
> Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com
> Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven
> UK: +44 7939-087884 - ČR (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053
>

So, this thing should be able to run modern Ubuntu?

https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy/lenovo-v145-156-amd-e2-9000-8gb-ram-1tb-hdd-win10-home-notebook-81mt0047au-lenovo/

I do not know what the price for it would be, in Europe, but I expect
it would be somewhere around 200 Euro's, if available there.

The CPU, from what I have read, is not very fast - significantly
slower than an i3, and it does not have a DVD drive, so installing
Ubuntu would have to be from a USB thumbdrive.

It does not have many USB ports - only two, I think.

I have been considering getting one.

-- 
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
 Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
 "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
 A Trilogy In Four Parts",
 written by Douglas Adams,
 published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................