Laptops in 2023: Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me you want ports?
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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or, more accurately,
Laptops in 2023: If you want ports, use a USB hub.
Laptops in 2000: Here's multiple USB ports, VGA, Mini Displayport, a fucking smartcard reader, SD card reader, ethernet port and docking port
Edit: just as an FYI this is referring to the T450 (which is the one i have), also added docking port because those count.
CompactFlash, two PC Card/PCMCIA slots, a Kensington lock port, parallel, 9 pin serial, and a docking station port, a removable optical drive...
PCMCIA
People Cannot Memorise Computer Industry Acronyms
So basically just a screen and a keyboard for a thousand dollars.
If you're lucky. The new hotness nowadays seems to be to get an overgrown tablet, and the keyboard is a fuggin' accessory. This blows my mind.
I slapped a folding rechargeable travel mouse in one of the PCMCIA slots of my Dothan T40. The other has a USB hub with bluetooth and a retractable antenna...
My t420 has ExpressCard and i just slapped a 2xUSB3 adapter in it.
T420 here too! Added an SSD and threw on Ubuntu, gonna keep using it until it breaks. Which seems to be not anytime soon...
Have a T440p that I should do something with.
Pretty much stopped using it after I found a T470s at a flea market for $100. Had 2x4GB SODIMMS and a 128GB NVMe. Bought a 16GB SODIMM (now have 20) and a 1TB NVMe for another $67.
The display is pretty shot on the 440 but I could totally have it do stuff headless.
I swapped my 440 display for the Innolux (I think) from the T490, was easy, works great, better battery. Great for bathtime TV.
pre-dell alienwares had fricken digital clocks in the front
I love that my T490 has all those things, except HDMi in place of VGA.
Don't forget the DVD slot!
They still exist
https://lpc-digital.com/product/sager-np8855e-s-clevo-pd50sne-g/?ex=1
1 HDMI output Port (with HDCP) 1 Mini DisplayPort 1.4 1 DisplayPort 1.4 over USB 3.2 Gen2 port (Type C) 1 Thunderbolt 4 Port with Power Delivery DC in (Type C) 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports (Type A, 1 x powered USB port, AC/DC) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Microphone / S/PDIF Optical output) 1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000/2500Mbps) Micro SD Push-Push Card reader
I have to say, the reason I bought my GPD Win Max 2 (to replace a Lenovo Yoga Book, so... also quite a leap in performance) was because despite its diminutive footprint it has a decent array of ports. It's got two USB 3 A ports, two type C ports, one of which supports USB4 and USB PD, a full size HDMI port, a headphone/mic jack (a rarity nowadays), a full size SD card reader, and a microSD reader. The thing is 10.5" diagonally. Not the screen -- the entire computer.
That looks great for a true traveler’s solution, I’ll keep that in mind. The Clevo/Sagers are admittedly much better suited as a portable desktop replacement. They are heavy AF.
Clevo? I used to have one of those. Was a laptop from 2009. Sadly the fan sensors failed and now it shuts down on boot due to always thinking its overheating. However, it wasn't sold under Clevos brand name, had Turbo-X (local company where I live) branding and even a "Style note" splash screen.
Yep, my Clevo from 2014 is still going strong, handles everything including games on Switch emulators as well as I need it to. Never had an issue with it except to replace the fans about a year ago, and self-upgraded the GPU somewhere along the line to the max it could take. Eventually I’ll need to upgrade, and will probably go back to LPC if someone better isn’t available. But for expansive hardware you can’t get much better. All they’re missing is water cooling. You can max out the latest 17” ones with a 4090 and 8TB of SSD.
edit: Last time I checked, I also noticed that as long as you’re not getting a model with a 4080 or 4090, somehow they manage to run everything off a power adapter that pulls significantly less wattage than their competitors. You could still use it off an RV solar power and inverter setup without much strain to the system.
Mini DisplayPort wasn't introduced until 2008 (by Apple), and the T450 wasn't introduced until 2015, so not exactly "Laptops in 2000." But I get the sentiment.
Always used a hub even with my old T420, nothing changed for me. It's even better, cause I got two display outputs and multiple charging ports now 🤷
Framework trying their darnnest to harness (heh) this power
I'm so damn happy they are. The closest thing I've been able to afford is a Dell Latitude 7490. Damn close, even has the mouse nub.
Me too man, the prospect of laptop repairability on that level is really enticing. I love my surface pro 7, but if only one thing breaks it's out of warranty and thus toast. Looking at that Fairphone as well...
FP3 owner here. Old device but it is the last model they released with a headphone jack ☹️
Replaced my Galaxy S5 which sadly had an internal EMMC failure after half a decade of use.
The FP3 is perfectly adequate for my needs, and thankfully not too much of a downgrade from the S5 (only missing HRM sensor, and infrared) but you might prefer one of the newer devices with more up to date specs, particularly if you're a power user
FP4 owner here, you'll probably love it. unless you want a headphone jack that is.
Nubs need to make a come back. Ill take it over a trackpad any day.
i have an ibm x40 from '03. upgraded the PATA HDD to an SSD, tricked the BIOS to not throw a fit after i installed a 2010s wifi card. it's okay for ssh, tmux, and watching 360p. a fun lil guy.
don't open a web browser tho
My friend has a wifi 4 card in his Thinkpad and recommended to upgrade. Now you say there are difficulties in the Upgrade process, so I wanted to ask since you seem to have knowledge about it: What do I have to look for?
in my case, the BIOS had a whitelist for pci devices and only OEM WiFi cards were on the whitelist. I was able to find a tool that tricked the BIOS into not caring that newer card wasn't listed.
for you I'd say, check to see if there is a whitelist for your model TP and then reassess if upgrading is feasible.
I thought it said thickpad! 💁🏼♂️🍑
I would make the "time to get off the internet" joke but then I remembered there isn't anywhere else left to go.
Flash libreboot and run a free distro and your in business
My T450 has vpro
Currently browsing from my Libreboot X60T with Debian GNU/Linux-libre and OpenRC
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++
Maybe not quite what you are driving at, but I lovingly caress my little Thinkpad every day.
4+ year old Yoga X380 - ~$1200 new (too much IMO), I picked it up refurbished for $200 (a mother effing bargain) a year ago.
I have an RTX2080 based Asus machine that's going to my son this weekend because I don't have time to game much these days, and this nice little Lenovo has gone from "use it in the kitchen or on the go" to my main computer in that time.
Gorgeous display, very comfortable keyboard, touchscreen, stylus, fingerprint reader, folds back for tablet mode (keyboard retracts for protection when you do), very portable, decent array of ports, and pretty damn good specs for two hundred bucks. Has been rocking Manjaro from the moment it came home. The only thing I haven't tested is the fingerprint reader, but I have no reason to think it wouldn't work.
My mom recently wanted a cheap laptop and sent me a list of two hundred dollar machines she was looking at from Walmart - not one was within miles of this thing, so now she's got one and loves it too. (It even performs pretty well with Windows, I must reluctantly admit.)
Asus and Lenovo are the first two brands I look for when I need anything they make - and generally I can always find something I'm happy with, at a good value, and often refurbished.
It's not a powerhouse, but it's perfect for what I'm doing with a computer at home most of the time these days, and it's truly a joy to use.
Solid machine. I'd still be using mine if only the RAM was upgradable.
Yeah, more RAM would be nice for sure.
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I love my MacBook but I respect the shit out of an old school ThinkyBoi.
Earlier ThinkPads had the best keyboards IMO. I also really liked using the track point over a trackpad.
First one I had was a T61 and loved it. Later on had to get a newer one for school, a W541 but didn't enjoy the feel of it as much.
I upgraded mine with a severed display cable :/
When I was looking for a gaming laptop 2 years ago, I couldn’t find any that didn’t have the graphics card soldered on. I looked into building a laptop myself, but I couldn’t even find cases to buy. Am I just the most dumbest Googler?
Framework sells the individual parts to their systems, when I was looking into it there wasn’t really a cost benefit to doing it all by hand though.
Their new 16 inch system has a modular GPU. Should be able to upgrade it in the future.
MXM GPUs never really caught on, and nobody builds their own laptop, it's just not a thing like it is with desktops.
Best option if you want upgradable graphics would be an external Thunderbolt dock, but even then there are plenty of caveats there.
I looked into them, too. But at the time I wasn’t sure enough this would actually work well. If I’m buying a graphics card for , I don’t want 30% of the juice going down the drain because it’s external.
Graphic cards are always soldered on in modern gaming laptop. The only way to upgrade the GPU is by using an external GPU, and making sure you only buy a laptop that support eGPU.
The Sager laptops I’ve had all came with user-replaceable GPUs. Not sure if that’s still the case, but here’s one distributor, you can always contact them and ask:
I mrchromeboxed a lenovo chromebook with 8gb ram and have been using that as my daily blade with some bare metal ubuntu, then I sit down at the other more powerful lenovo some of the time.
My main desktop at work was used back in 2012 when I first had it assigned to me (officially we get laptops, desktops are by special request). It's still kicking to this day and still my preferred system for work. All I've upgraded was adding an SSD and some RAM. Asset management has lost track of it by now, lol. It might just end up at my house. Honestly, this is one of the most compelling reasons to use Linux.
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