this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
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12 Years ago I had a Sony Vaio. I quite liked it. Then in my next job, 2017 or so, I went for a Toshiba Portege, and absolutely loved it.

Guess what the above two have in common? Yup, they stopped making laptops for the professional market. So now I'm a bit at a loss. Any recommendations?

Requirements:

  • Lightweight and easy to carry around.
  • 13-15" display, preferably
  • Decent battery life
  • It absolutely must have an RJ45
  • Works well with linux
  • Good keyboard quality
  • ISO keyboard availability
  • Touchpad. Bonus points if it has the touchpad buttons ABOVE the pad itself.
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[–] [email protected] 67 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Lenovo seems to be pretty solid but fuck... I still have a grudge over how much shittier they are than the old IBM ThinkPads.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

We have nothing but problems with the ThinkPads issued by my IT department. Multiple models. They're not what they used to be.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Same here, both E Series and L Series.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Those are the shit ones. Only T, X, W are the proper ones.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

The problematic models we have are all T series.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

My last and current laptops were and are Lenovo. I definitely recommend

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

Lenovo onboard power issues very common at my job. Toshiba was great way back when. Surface pro nifty but battery is crap. I hate to say it but dell makes ok laptops

[–] [email protected] 44 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Look into the Framework 13. There are no touchpad buttons but otherwise it has everything you need and is fully upgradable and customizable. The laptop has four expansion ports that can hold a variety of hotpluggable expansion cards. The manufacturer offers USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, 2.5G ethernet, microSD, audio and SSDs. There are also some community-made ones like LTE and dual USB-C.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

When I eventually need to upgrade I won't even consider anything that isn't repairable on a similar level. Hopefully they will be sticking around until then, but it's looking good on that front right now

[–] [email protected] 42 points 8 months ago (14 children)

Framework if you want to repair it yourself and Lenovo if you don’t. Lenovo makes a good machine and has very reasonably priced on-site support options.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Also the P series (succesor of W). X series, just avoid the X1 Carbon.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

We found the carbon to be okay, but the fan ramped up to TOGA mode super fast.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (8 children)

I've used Macbooks in networking / programming and construction environments for over fifteen years. They've been incredibly solid in my experience. In fact, the first week I was given a Thinkpad, I broke it because it was so much more fragile than a Mac. I always used USB adapters for Ethernet and serial connections without issue. They also run Windows and Linux.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (6 children)

They also run Windows

They no longer do (since the switch to ARM) - unless you count running under a VM.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Right. I use Parallels.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Their Linux support is so bad it might as well be unsupported.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I run Asahi on my 2023 m2pro mbp; performance-wise it's closer to a contemporary i7 than the actual performance of the M chip on macos, but a lot of what I need is there, a surprising amount of stuff is compiled for Arm64 actually. Feels like normal Fedora in most every aspects. Coming from thinkpads / latitudes, keyboard is shit tho, really. Screen is great, sound is quite good, device feels sturdy but sleep eats 50% battery a day. Air vents are placed just right to gulp any spilled drink, like, vacuuming it off the table, a puzzling design choice. Prices took a dive with the advent of the m3 so I'm not really angry, a 2023 i7 thinkpad would have cost me the same.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

In fact, the first week I was given a Thinkpad, I broke it because it was so much more fragile than a Mac

Genuine question, but what the actual fuck are you doing with your laptops? I used a ThinkPad through high school and college, and school aged me certainly didn't treat it very kindly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I picked it up by the screen and the LCD cracked. I realize this is stupid but it's something I've always done and continue to do with Macs.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Why? That's not a good way to pick up laptop, the base is heavier than screen

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I have been a loyal Lenovo customer for years. Their laptops are not cool or sexy, but they are reliable.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I've had 2 touch screens completely become unresponsive in the last year or 2. Both Lenovo, so I'll never buy from them again

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

For what it's worth, I've bought two laptops from them in the last four years and had tons of problems initially (there were both essentially pre orders, first run laptops). A few minutes on the phone, some trouble shooting,and I had replacements for both overnighted for free. Zero issues with the replacements in both cases.

So yes, don't order the brand newest Lenovo. Get the one a generation old at deeep discount.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Lenovo X1 carbon is what you are looking for. I got one (10th Gen) and slapped fedora on it and it's been absolutely awesome.

Battery life could be better, but I haven't tweaked it.

Good luck finding a quality new laptop with Linux support that also has a rj45 port. Framework might be an option though. But I just use a gigabit Ethernet usb3 adapter and it works fine

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I've got a cheaper 6th gen, and it's absolutely wonderful. It was ~$100 in EBay, because I'm broke

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

My experience with clevo Models is that they aren't really well built.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

uhh... what kind of work?

the panasonic toughbook and apple macbook air are two wildly different laptops i have seen extensively in the field but not at the same workplaces.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (6 children)

There's a reason dells are everywhere

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Sorry, but no, they're shit.

And for the price they still them at, they're double shit.

The Dell Latitude I got from work is really the worst laptop I've ever used. Do not buy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I can't really fault that logic. I like the keyboard, the screen, any many other things with them. It's just some minor annoyances with some of the Fn keycombos that I don't like.

But one thing that I can say for sure: It will never be as durable as my Toshiba. It fell between two ships decks. It slid off the roof of a car and syraight into asphalt. It has pieces missing from it. The RJ45 port has been torn out of the mainboard. But it still works, and I bought it out for 50$ when I left my previous employer, and I still use it from time to time to this day.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Also a matte screen.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Novacustom, System76. Doesnt tick everything but has Coreboot support.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Basically any Lenovo Thinkpad. They're cheap, strong and easy to repair/upgrade

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

A secondhand Lenovo Thinkpad or Dell Latitude, 2013-2018 models. Get one with a quad-core i7, it will run you €150-€400 depending on the amount of RAM, SSD, screen resolution, condition and possibly an onboard GPU.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Dell's Precision series is really good these days. Their Latitudes are all over the place quality-wise, especially their 2-in-1s. XPS's have been alright.

Which did you hate? I deploy a ton of these and there are definitely ones that were awful.

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