Advice on lightweight laptops for Linux (of course)

[E.S. Rosenberg]

I have an Asus machine, it is now ~4.5 years old, I gave it an SSD
upgrade and replaced the battery last summer (1.5 years ago) and the
only thing really bothering me a bit these days is that I have only
4GB of RAM so with mild worry I ended up enabling swap on my SSD.

By the time the SSD goes I'll probably end up buying a new machine, my
next machine should have at the very least 8 if not 16-32G of RAM, I
expect this machine to last at least until coming summer and I may
even take it all the way to 6 years.
I also expect that people with better/less intense computer haibts
will still be able to get excellent results out of it well after I
retire it from my use (my mother used a P3-600 desktop machine from
2000-2012 thanks to linux and some upgrades, until it finally died).

Regards,
Eliyahu - אליהו

2016-12-27 21:01 GMT+02:00 Dan Yasny <dyasny at gmail.com>:
> The point here is that they sacrifice a lot of the think* series sturdiness
> for the lack of weight and thickness. And you can't upgrade the thing, it's
> all a single block you can't take apart. There's also a problem with later
> kernels getting mces and panics on overheating because of a bug in the way
> the kernel manages pstates - dynamic turbo  mode or whatever intel call it.
> The only way around I found is to disable pstates altogether.
>
> On Dec 27, 2016 1:32 PM, "Michael Shiloh" <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks Dan for your perspective. I'm actually going to teaching in Abu
>> Dhabi next September so I'm really glad you brought that up.
>>
>> In general, I've been hearing good things about the current model (4th
>> generation) which I believe came out earlier this year, so I assume
>> your model is something prior. Is that correct? On the other hand, the
>> current model has only been around for a year, so fewer opportunities
>> to fail.
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 26, 2016 at 5:02 PM, Dan Yasny <dyasny at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I've been carrying an X1 around for a couple of years now. The battery
>> > life
>> > is great, Fedora support is great, weight and convenience is quite good,
>> > except the keyboard is a bit on the weird side when it comes to the
>> > function
>> > keys and the missing insert key, but I've learned to live with that.
>> >
>> > The downside however is the reliability. In this time I've had the
>> > screen
>> > replaced, the keyboard replaced and the motherboard/cpu/ram/etc (it's
>> > all a
>> > single block) replaced. Each time it takes a week at the lab (I don't
>> > have
>> > the onsite warranty, and I am in Canada, so YMMV). So if you intend to
>> > use
>> > it somewhere where warranty isn't available, or if you intend to use it
>> > longer than the warranty period - stay away. It's expensive enough to be
>> > expected to last, but it's quite flimsy.
>> >
>> > On Mon, Dec 26, 2016 at 6:09 PM, Michael Shiloh
>> > <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Thanks Eli,
>> >>
>> >> What kind of laptop do you use?
>> >>
>> >> Michael
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Dec 26, 2016 at 2:30 PM, E.S. Rosenberg
>> >> <esr+linux-il at g.jct.ac.il> wrote:
>> >> > Ever since getting my current laptop that weighs ~1.5kg I said I will
>> >> > never get anything heavier again, it's something you can't return
>> >> > from.....
>> >> >
>> >> > Thin and light devices (like the X1 and the T460S) tend to not be
>> >> > very
>> >> > upgradeable, it's a price you pay for thin & light... the SSD is most
>> >> > likely upgradeable on any model you choose because so far soldered on
>> >> > SSDs aren't all that common....
>> >> >
>> >> > The videos on youtube clearly show that the T460S has at least one
>> >> > SODIMM slot, the X1 does not seem to have it.
>> >> >
>> >> > Regards,
>> >> > Eliyahu - אליהו
>> >> >
>> >> > 2016-12-26 23:37 GMT+02:00 Michael Shiloh
>> >> > <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com>:
>> >> >> Hello everyone,
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I hope everyone is enjoying a very happy Chanukah.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> You might recall about a year ago I raised the question of a
>> >> >> powerful
>> >> >> laptop for Linux. I settled on a Thinkpad W541 and I am thrilled
>> >> >> with
>> >> >> it ... except for the weight.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> As I travel more and don't need the power of the W541 all the time,
>> >> >> I'm thinking of a lightweight laptop for daily use.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> It's hard for me to consider anything but Thinkpads: I love the
>> >> >> TrackPoint, the keyboard, the solid feel of the devices, etc. Given
>> >> >> that, the top two contenders are the X1 Carbon and the T460S.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> The X1 is about 2.6 pounds and more expensive than the T460S which
>> >> >> weighs about 3 pounds.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Another big difference is whether the RAM and/or SSD can be upgraded
>> >> >> on the X1 (I've seen equally strong claims that they can and can
>> >> >> not).
>> >> >> Some conversations insist they are soldered in, other say that
>> >> >> perhaps
>> >> >> the RAM can be upgraded by the user but is a non-standard form
>> >> >> factor
>> >> >> that can only be purchased from Lenovo.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I think for the extra .4 pounds I'm willing to go with the better
>> >> >> price of the T460S, especially if upgrading RAM and SSD is not
>> >> >> possible on the X1 (I usually purchase from Lenovo with less storage
>> >> >> and upgrade on my own).
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Any thoughts or advice?
>> >> >>
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