So I’m looking for a laptop, but before you downvote and move on, I’ve got a twist: I’m looking for a laptop with Linux support that’s going to intentionally be console-only and rely on TUIs to make a lower-distraction device.
I was looking at older Thinkpads with 4:3 screens and the good keyboard before Lenovo went all chicklet with them, but I’m kinda concluding they’re both way too expensive AND way too old to be a reasonable choice at this point.
A X220 or T40-whatever would be great and be the perfect aesthetic, but they’re expensive, hard to find parts for, and using enough crusty old removed that this becomes yet another delve into retro computing and not one into practical, useful computing which is the goal here.
So, anyone have any recommendations of any devices in the last decade that have a reasonable keyboard, screen, use modern enough components that you can source new drives and RAM and batteries and such, and preferably aren’t coated in a coating that’s going to turn to sticky goo?
Thin(ner) and light(er) would be nice, but probably not a dealbreaker if the rest of the pieces align. This will be almost entirely used at a table for writing and such.
T4xx thinkpads or the 12” MacBook Pro 2012.
They’re both very well supported by Linux and have oodles of parts hanging around.
And don’t get any Macbook past 2014. 2015 and later kinda ditched normal connectivity and MagSafe. I have 2016 with only 2 C ports and a jack and it is not the nicest experience out there.
Btw, on recent machines the ports are back. I wonder why, …
Careful with think pads from the last 6ish years. Their build quality is absolute garbage, even the T series
past like 8 years they’ve turned removed imo. I got a used t460s and it feels so cheap compared to the t530 I had before. Like I know it’s the s version and it’s slimmer but it feels so fragile and I can not for the life of me figure out why it keeps freezing when I pick it up by the bottom left corner or if it bangs around too much in my bag. just overall removed. still better then most other laptops tho
my T570 crashed when pickup it up on the bottom right corner.
And after 2 years an 1 month (1 month after warranty), it broke completely. Likely a mainboard defect.
That’s when I said “oh hey, frameworks are exactly as expensive as thinkpads, but way better to repair”
Wack.
Guess I’m going to just keep using this one til that happens and I’ll start saving for a framework