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Ask HN: Are there contemporary notebooks up for tinkerers?

26 points by sam_lowry_ ↗ HN
I have been using Thinkpad T420s with an upgraded screen and beefed-up internals as a personal laptop. It's showing its age, but I have a hard time finding a device to personalize.

Tried Pinebook Pro, and while the screen is bearable, its keyboard is really not good for long stretches of work. And then, it can not sleep properly, so it's not really ready to be the daily driver.

Would like to try Getac s410, but it's difficult to find A-ware refurbished devices.

Are the tinkerers running out of options?

13 comments

[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 47.3 ms ] thread
gpas
I'm also searching a replacement for my T430, battery is dead, and I still have the factory display. I'm looking for a modded x230, but the market right now is crazy. On ebay (eu) they are asking for a t430 more or less what I paid for it 6 years ago. I guess is due to the WFH bubble.

So, if the market doesn't change soon, I'm going to upgrade the display, buy a new battery, change some stickers and go on with my tank.

As you say, newer machines are let's say...different.

mcshicks
I got a good deal on a used x230 ($140) with a docking station and charger on craigslist. But I had to wait like half a year before I saw one I thought was a good deal, and drive an hour to get it Luckily I was able to combine it with another trip in the same direction. This one is a backup for a second x230 I've had a long time, at least 8 years. I've replaced keys and recently the lcd plus of course batteries as well as memory and ssd upgrades. I think the best strategy is to pick a Thinkpad you like and then just stockpile used laptops and parts when you see good deal. I just use automated alerts from ebay and craigslist. That way you might be willing to try some tricky mod if you are not going to break your main machine.
hanklazard
https://frame.work

Lots of positive reviews out there for this, though I haven’t tried one.

zzless
I would second this. Framework seems to be intent on creating a laptop that is easy to repair and upgrade. It has some unique features, too, like extension cards. Depending on what one needs it is possible to have, say, 4 USB-A ports or 4 HDMA ones. The only fly in the ointment as I see it is the lack of Coreboot support although they promise to work on it.
Panqueca_do_mar
Super interested in these. I'm waiting for a Ryzen main board and a larger sizes screen before buying.

Might be a bit, but we'll see

hanklazard
Same! The LTT review also mentioned the screen resolution as a problem, so that might be a nice upgrade in the future. FWIW, the rest of the review was really glowing.

https://youtu.be/0rkTgPt3M4k

nickthemagicman
Curious if anyone on here has tried if they like it?

Curious what the touch pad is like too.

linsomniac
When I think of Netbooks I think of two things: Cheap and small.

To that end, I propose the HP 13 G1. Yes, a Chromebook. Hear me out...

I had a few Asus Eees back in the day, and I used them a little. They were fun but ultimately too small to be usable.

By contrast, the pluses of the HP are: Everything just works (no suspend/resume issues, 4-6 hours of battery life, premium fit and finish in a slim case, and ~$170 (landed) for the hidpi display and 16GB RAM, and Linux containers.

The downsides are: I believe end of software support is 2023.

~5 years ago I bought one refurb for almost half price, around $550. I had gotten a cheap Chromebook but the build quality was not great. I couldn't bring myself to spend a grand on trying a Chromebook, but I jumped when I saw a refurb, almost top of the line model. Since then, it has become my go to machine when I'm away from work. I've recently been thinking about replacing it (more on that later), but was having a hard time finding a worthy replacement.

For the longest time it looked like they weren't going to do the Linux crostini containers, and I had all but given up on that. Maybe a month or 6 weeks ago though they did end up adding support.

Mostly my personal laptop use consists of: Browser, VPN(s), password manager, and SSH into boxes at work. The chromebook was able to do all these things, though the SSH component was a rough edge. I'd do most of my programming or other more serious things SSHed into a work or personal server.

With the addition of Linux, my rough edges have all been solved! I can now reliably mosh into work machines, and that's been super robust. On rare occasions I also need to run RDP clients, which I now have. I can even run a full programming environment like Python, vi, onivim2, probably vscode or similar, though I haven't really done that.

Once I got Linux containers, I decided to finally get one of the highest end ones, from i5 and 8GB RAM to i7 and 16GB, figuring I could use that. One ebay I was able to find the top end model for $170-ish to my door. Hard to beat that.

dtx1
Bought a DELL Latitude E5470 Core i5-6440HQ on ebay for 400€. Came with all the Bells and Whistles, Touchscreen, LTE etc. Upgraded to 16 gigs of ram, new 1tb m.2 SSD, new battery, repasted it with mx2 and it looks like it was unused when i got it. Literally not a single scratch. It's now my qubes os workstation and i feel like it was a pretty great deal with perfect qubes os support
siwyd
Just picked up a mint condition E7470 (i5) with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a new battery for €230. Decent Linux-friendly machine that should last quite a few more years normally. Dell Latitude machines are always worthwhile to consider, both new and second hand.
dtx1
sounds like a really good deal!
CornCobs
Gonna hijack this thread a bit to ask Thinkpad tinkerers: is the wifi card a normal part to replace? I'm on a t460s. Or should I just get an external network adapter and live with an antenna