Up-to-date hardware (laptop) recommendations?

[Omer Zak]

People replied to my message in private and to the mailing list. In the
following, I'll summarize their points and respond to them.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(1/9) Shachar Shemesh/Roman Ovseitsev:
Why connect internal monitor + 3 external monitors?

My response:
I was not clear in expressing my wishes.
What I'd like to be able is to work at home with three monitors. I do
not care if it is 3 external monitors (with disabled internal monitor)
or 2 external monitors with an active internal monitor.

Roman Ovseitsev's point about Skylake based laptop: not relevant since I
do not need more than 3 monitors total.

Thanks also to Yaron deLeeuw for the tip about looking for display port
1.2.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(2/9) Shachar Shemesh:
Recommends Dell, which has reasonable Linux support.
Uses Dell Latitude E7440.

My response:
What does "reasonable" mean here? Are there any features not well
supported by Linux?
Do other models in the E7000 series have as good reputation? If yes,
I'll check if any of them supports total of 3 displays.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(3/9) Roman Ovseitsev:
Uses ThinkPad T 14" for several years and is happy with it.

My response:
How are today's ThinkPads (which are probably different from ThinkPads
from years ago)?

-=-=-=-=-=-

(4/9) Shachar Shemesh/Roman Ovseitsev:
Latest models don't have eSATA port, relying upon USB-3 instead.

My response:
It is a pity, because (according to Wikipedia), SATA 3.2 provides
16Gbit/sec transfer speed while USB 3.1 provides only 10Gbit/sec.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(5/9) Boris Shtrasman:
How about Legacy and UEFI (or only UEFI) mode?

My response:
UEFI should be OK, but I need to disable secure boot so that I'll be
able to upgrade Linux kernels at whim.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(6/9) Boris Shtrasman:
How about vPRO / AMT?

My response:
Not relevant for me, because the laptop will be for my personal use and
not for corporate use.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(7/9) Boris Shtrasman:
USB 3 vs. USB 2?

My response:
USB 3 is not mandatory (unless needed as a substitute for missing eSATA
connections).

-=-=-=-=-=-

(8/9) Boris Shtrasman:
UMTS/4G adapter (for cellular communication)?

My response:
Prefer not to have - might shock me by unexpected cellular phone
charges.

-=-=-=-=-=-

(9/9) Service providers:
People remarked that Dell provides good service in Israel, whereas
Neupan's service is bad.

-=-=-=-=-=-

--- Omer


On Sun, 2015-11-29 at 11:05 +0200, Omer Zak wrote:
> After long time of not looking for hardware recommendations, I am again
> looking for up-to-date hardware recommendations.
> 
> This time, I'd like to buy a laptop which will serve as my main
> workhorse PC at home and outside of it.
> 
> As things look like, I would like it to have:
> - 16GB RAM.
> - Ability to connect 2-3 external displays (possibly via a docking
> station).
> - External SATA interface, with which I can connect an external hard
> disk and work with it at full speed. This is in addition to internal
> hard disk (500GB or more, capacity not critical).
> - Battery time is not critical, as I expect to work near electricity
> anyway.
> - Several USB sockets
> - WiFi
> - Wired Ethernet socket
> - Full Linux compatibility
> 
> So far someone recommended Macbook Pro with 13" display size.
> 
> Any recommended brands, models, off-brands?
> Any brands to keep away from?
> Any specs to ask for?
> Any of the above specs NOT to ask for and why?

-- 
My Commodore 64 is suffering from slowness and insufficiency of memory;
and its display device is grievously short of pixels.  Can anyone help?
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