Laptop Choice?

If anyone is looking for a laptop to run Linux on,
the Starbook Mk V which I bought at the end of last year has been absolutely outstanding.

I run Garuda Arch on it.

Also have a Dell XPS, it's also shit. Unfortunately was one of the batches a few years ago which included a chipset whose Linux drivers were not great... so it stayed a Windows machine. It's really garbage, issues with almost every part of it. Considering this is their premium line it's terrible. The keyboard, storage and mainboard were all replaced in the first 3 months.

Note though, that it's actually doing better than the only MacBook I've owned. That one was out of service for months and cost twice as much.

The only reliable laptops I've ever owned have been Thinkpads, and this even includes the very recent generation.

XPS is indeed poor for it's price range. Latitudes are best for value/reliabilty/performance etc.
As Velocio says Thinkpads are almost in a different class.

TBF I've only owned T and X series Thinkpads... I don't know that everything Lenovo is good. My partner had an Ideapad which was terrible.

But the X220, X1 (various generations) and T series... all of these have been incredible. I've a 12 year old X220 which is still going strong, and that's just ridiculous. It's not my daily laptop (that's an X1 gen 8), but I do still use the X220 for debugging network things (it's got a built in ethernet socket) and as a remote console to a lot of my home and remote networking stuff. I've continued to acquire new laptops due to work, etc... so of course I use the newer models more often, but that a 12 year old laptop is still rock solid, keyboard great, storage great, speed great, still runs cool enough... this is just something else.

Dealt with them for a long time up until 4 or 5 years ago. X220 and onwards range were brilliant, and as you say bulletproof. I still have a 1st gen X1 which still goes strong, and performs equal to or better than the Dell stuff I use at work.
Support and there website is great, and if you're using Windows the Lenovo Support Assistant is great for installing/updating drivers. Compare this to trying to download a driver from HP.

My company has similar Linux problems with the Insipron 16. Just can't get the display to work reliably. Thankfully they work great with W11. The inspiron 16 is probably the best cheap laptop I've ever used.

Weirdly, we've had zero problems with our XPS 15 and 17 either in windows or Linux but they are all recent models...9500 and later so maybe the issues have been fixed.

Hi, I'm looking to replace my trusty 2013(!) Macbook pro 13" with one of the recent 14" versions - or possibly a Windows (cough!) alternative. I'm no power-user but I do run VisualStudio/Specflow/C# etc. I work a mix of from the office and remotely (via RDP). When working remotely I use two external monitors (which the 14" macbook pro would support). Any suggestions? Thank you :D

What is a cheap laptop/chrome book just typing and internet stuff

Looking at an xps17. Is yours still performing or have you experienced any issues like Velocio?

One of my clients had an issue with their XPS 9350 today, it stopped charging, even with two different chargers.

Not sure what caused it, by the time I looked at it, it was charging. I updated the BIOS and all drivers etc.

That client has a few Dell laptops, and the laptops have seemed to have more issues than the Asus laptops my boss has been specing and supplying.

YMMV obvs

My laptops died.

Has anyone bought a refurbished laptop? Is there any place that sells then that I should avoid / go to? I've not bought a new machine for about ten years (that's how little of a power user I am!) and I'm a bit annoyed that I'm having to make a decision on which one to get as a replacement!

hoxton macs

Thanks! not a Mac user but appreciate the reply

I've had good experiences buying refurbished with Tier1Online

Perfect thanks, much appreciated

I've bought from https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/thebestlaptopdealsaround and https://itzoo.co.uk/

The most recent (about 18 months ago) was a Lenovo X280 from ITzoo which is still perfectly fine for day-to-day stuff (I'm typing this on it). It was marked as Grade B but it pretty much flawless.

As a minimum I'd be looking for an 8th gen Intel processor and 8GB RAM.

Tier1, again. Their refurbs are mostly ex corporate laptops so generally good spec and have a warranty for a year I think.

I remembered who I bought from - someone called 'rebuyer_uk', they do refurbished stuff and are good to discuss with as well. They also just sent me a £15 off coupon for certain items, so happy to share / give to you if you wanted. Send me a pm if so - it's good until Feb 12th.

Thanks - that's generous of you. Mine actually came back to life after making horrible noises for a few hours - I use it in my shed for my CNC machine, so it gets a lot of dust I guess.

It's awful though, might still replace it next time as I think it's on its last legs.

My dell is dead and so I will need to buy something new (refurbished). The build quality on the Inspiron was pathetic. I love my wife's MacBook pro build quality but want windows. What should i get that's of comparative build quality?

Lenovo 3 or 5 series

Kinda alarmed at the deterioration of my XPS 13 battery. I lost 6300 mWh between June 24 and Aug 6!

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from powercfg /batteryreport

My partner is looking at Lenovo on tier1 refurbs, budget upto 400 ideally grade A gives us these 2.

Will be used for connecting to projector to play disney+/netflix (and the grand tours) and then just personal admin stuff.

Is one of these likely better suited, and are they upto/overkill for the job described?

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They look a bit overpriced. I got a Lenovo t480 about a year ago, with similar specs and a touchscreen from newandusedlaptops4u on eBay for half that.
There's also a 20% off voucher at the moment