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    #1

    Laptop Recommendations?

    Hi All,
    I'm currently considering to buy a new laptop, and I was wondering if someone could recommend specific models or brands. Of course in particlar with an eye towards compatibilty with kubuntu!
    I've had a Thinkpad T60p for 7 years now and was quite happy with it, but now the fan is failing (again) and the battery/charging circuitry is dead. I'm also increasingly noticing that it is just not up to the task anymore, preformance with.
    I'm a graduate student in a computational science and doing any serious work with real data is next to impossible on my old laptop (but of course I have a much more powerful workstation in my lab). I would like the laptop to be reasonably portable but also suitable for some serious work, for example when I visit my parents or when I'm at a workshop.
    The natural successor for the T60p would be the Lenovo T540p, but the reviews I read are less than favorable... so I should probably look elsewhere... maybe HP?

    Here is an outline of the specs I am lookign for:

    15.6" FHD Display (i.e. 1920x1080) and matte (I hate glossy screens)
    Intel i7 (preferably quad-core with 6MB L3 cache)
    8GB RAM (upgradeable to at least 16 GB)
    500GB+ HDD and optical drive OR 240GB+ SSD
    (I intend to replace the optical drive with a SSD)
    Bluetooth and WLAN
    Dedicated (discrete) video card is not necessary.
    Long battery life (>5h)

    I really liked the track point on my Thinkpad, but I am not sure if other manufacturers have that, too.
    I also prefer systems that are not tightly soldered together, so that it is possible to exchange/replace some parts (as with the Thinkpads; e.g. I replaced the fan before). I also want something that will last fora while and can survive some abuse - maybe MILSPEC certified or something like that (like Thinkpads).
    I guess I'm expecting to pay about $1500.

    So, any recomendations/comments?

    Thanks,
    Chopstick
    Last edited by Chopstick; Jul 13, 2014, 09:29 PM.
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    #2
    Maybe this one from this company. I've eyed them for a while but never took the plunge.

    https://system76.com/laptops/model/gazp9
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      #3
      That's pretty interesting! Their customization options are definitely great! Although I'm a bit hesitant, since I don't know the company... and I also don't know what the battery life would be or how durable they are.
      The Gazelle Professional would fit my equirements perfectly, but it doesn't have a backlit keyboard (and no thinklight either).
      Does anyone have experience buying from smaller companies?
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        #4
        Originally posted by MoonRise View Post
        Maybe this one from this company. I've eyed them for a while but never took the plunge.

        https://system76.com/laptops/model/gazp9
        About six months ago my son purchased the Gazelle Professional (He supervises programmers and the Oracle db system where I used to work) and he loves it. He didn't install KDE but that would be a simple matter of opening a terminal and issuing sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop. He was satisfied with Unity. He installed Virtual Box in order to run Win7 as a guest OS for those times when he needed a Windows specific application, and for a VPN connection to work.

        Personally, since you prefer the matte finish on the display, I'd recommend the 17.3" Kudu Professional for the same price, and it features a 17.3" display. That extra real estate comes in handy! (My laptop is a 17" and when I use a 15.6" display I feel like I am looking through a porthole.) If you are willing to go up to around $1,500 then your dream machine is the
        17.3" Bonobo Extreme which also has a matte finish option, driven by an nVidia GForce 860 or 870 video driver.

        Regardless, if my son's experience is indicative, you won't be disappointed. Wondering if I could find any bad reviews my google search didn't find any but it did find this review:
        http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2199634
        and he summarized his experience with pros and cons, finishing with these words:

        Overall, System76 has made me a customer for life. I would easily recommend this laptop, and well as any from system76 if someone was looking for an excellent laptop. Well done system76, and thank you!
        "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
        – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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          #5
          Hm... so I guess I should really consider that... actually I do travel quite often and I need a laptop that fits into a standard backpack, so that's why I would go with 15.6". In my experience, even my 15.6" Thinkpad is stretching the portability a bit, and I imagine 17" would clearly be to much, and the Bonobo is also a bit heavy; my girlfriend has a 17" and I find it clearly too heavy and cluncky (she has an ipad for travelling, which is not an option for me, as I need to be able to do serious coding and data analysis when I'm travelling). Actually the 1TB HDD + 240GB SSD option for the Gazelle looks extremely tempting! (I actually have several TB of data, not just movies.)
          And there is also a matte option for the Gazelle.
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            #6
            One thing regarding discrete video cards: I noticed that the Bonobo Extreme comes with a 330W power unit! Wouldn't that be heavy as a brick? And is power consumption not a general problem with dedicated video cards? Does this impact battery life? I really don't need a fancy video card.
            Last edited by Chopstick; Jul 13, 2014, 09:29 PM.
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              #7
              Originally posted by Chopstick View Post
              The natural successor for the T60p would be the Lenovo T540p, but the reviews I read are less than favorable... so I should probably look elsewhere... maybe HP?
              I would encourage you to place many of those reviews aside. Remember that it's likely the reviewer was using the machine with the Lenovo-supplied Windows operating system. How much of a factor was that in those reviews?

              In my experience, ThinkPads provide some of the best compatibility for Linux. I have a T520 and an X1; I will likely be upgrading the T520 to a T540 soon. Some of the reasons why I will always stick with ThinkPads:
              • Rugged and well built, can take abuse
              • An active Linux community, including a well-maintained wiki -- ThinkWiki
              • A highly configurable firmware, which makes it much easier to deal with UEFI and graphics configuration
              • Well supported Intel hardware (CPU, Ethernet, wireless, graphics, audio)
              • Easy to obtain spare parts and repair manuals

              One recommendation: do not buy HP. Three years ago, my wife's DV9000 burnt itself up. Shoddy heat sinks. Read about my adventures:
              https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post340940
              Follow the links there for the full story.
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                #8
                Oh, and here's a review of the T540p that concentrates on the hardware aspects of the machine. Overall, the review is quite positive.

                http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-....114312.0.html
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                  #9
                  The hardware in Thinkpads is good, no question, and it is highly customizable. Most of the complaints regarding the T540p were about the trackpoint and touchpad, and how they are getting rid of features we have come to like in Thinkpads over the years (like status LEDs). Basically I get the sense that the T530p was much better in this respect.
                  It also occured to me that a lot of people who are writing those extremely negative reviews, probably just don't like change... but the Thinkpad touchpads being sub-standard is something I've read in many places (not that I use the touchpad very much anyway...).
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                    #10
                    Actually I think that a lot of the things that people are complaining about are in fact things that are now standard for almost all laptops and there is little anyone can do. For example, I am really not happy about the move towards a 16:9 aspect ration - I really liked the 16:10 that I have, but there is nothing I can do. Similar thing with the asymmetric keyboards, I am afraid.
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                      #11
                      Oh, and SteveRiley, I don't know how representative your experience is... I read very positive reviews about the HP EliteBook 850 G1, and they have them in my brother's company and people are quite happy with them (and they also have a trackpoint).
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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Chopstick View Post
                        Most of the complaints regarding the T540p were about the trackpoint and touchpad... but the Thinkpad touchpads being sub-standard is something I've read in many places (not that I use the touchpad very much anyway...).
                        I use mine a lot. And yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll be suffering through a period of crankiness when I have to deal with the change. Oh well!

                        Originally posted by Chopstick View Post
                        Oh, and SteveRiley, I don't know how representative your experience is... I read very positive reviews about the HP EliteBook 850 G1, and they have them in my brother's company and people are quite happy with them (and they also have a trackpoint).
                        My experience with HP has been only at their consumer level. I'm not sure about their business-grade gear. Also, the EliteBook is an Ultrabook-based machine, the building of which requires meeting certain guidelines set forth by Intel. It's likely that the EliteBook is of much higher quality than HP's cheap Pavilion line. Ultrabooks and ThinkPads are pretty much the opposite of each other -- the former is about sleekness, the latter about power. Choose yer weapon, heh.
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                          #13
                          I actually did not realize that the HP EliteBook series are Ultrabooks... indeed that T540p is thicker and quite a bit heavier than the EliteBook 850. Anyway, as long as the hardware meets my requirements, I don't care.
                          At heart, I think I am more of a Thinkpad person, but performance-wise the two look very similar, so as long as the EliteBook is not significantly more expensive, I still consider it a serious contender.
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                            #14
                            GreyGeek, would you be able to comment on portability, durability, and battery life of your son's System76 Gazelle? I wonder if they are as durable as the Lenovo and HP business laptops.
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                              #15
                              I have a T440s, which I love... apart from the touch pad. I never use it to click, always to tap. That's what I am used to doing anyway but i don't like the feel or sound of clicking on the touch pad. In terms of quality, it's at odds with the keyboard, which is excellent (I love the keyboard layout BTW, despite what the naysayers say).

                              For me, a nicer design would be a solid, unclickable touch pad below some raised individual thumb buttons like the ones on older models. I have a USB ThinkPad with buttons like this and no touch pad, and they are really easy to use with the trackpoint, whereas the monolithic "slab" on the T440s is not.

                              The battery life on this laptop with the 6 cell battery is incredible, and still impressive with the slimmer 3 cell battery.

                              One more thing, my old HP had a dodgy heat sink too - in fact it made the palm rest so hot to touch that I bought a new laptop, when it should have lasted longer. To be fair, it wasn't a business grade laptop, but still disappointing.
                              samhobbs.co.uk
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