Which vendor makes decent work laptops nowadays?

12 Years ago I had a Sony Vaio. I quite liked it. Then in my next job, 2017 or so, I went for a Toshiba Portege, and absolutely loved it.

Guess what the above two have in common? Yup, they stopped making laptops for the professional market. So now I’m a bit at a loss. Any recommendations?

Requirements:

  • Lightweight and easy to carry around.
  • 13-15" display, preferably
  • Decent battery life
  • It absolutely must have an RJ45
  • Works well with linux
  • Good keyboard quality
  • ISO keyboard availability
  • Touchpad. Bonus points if it has the touchpad buttons ABOVE the pad itself.
Joker,

Framework if you want to repair it yourself and Lenovo if you don’t. Lenovo makes a good machine and has very reasonably priced on-site support options.

Brkdncr,

Is this a joke? Framework as a work laptop?

Joker,

Then what’s it for? Looking pretty?

GBU_28, (edited )

Hobbists and home devs I think.

Edit if anyone can link an example of a real sized business going with framework I’ll eat a delicious lunch very quickly so I become slightly uncomfortable

Manzas,

Why would a business not like a laptop that they don’t have to replace?

GBU_28,

Because most businesses don’t think like that at all. They don’t want employees taking things apart either.

ThinkPads and similar are far more popular because they can be bought in large contracts

Manzas,

Fair point.

Sethayy,

I’m genuinely asking, bought prebuilt what would be the difference from a normal laptop?

Cause I could see lower longterm costs being a great benefit to a business, and if one part fails not losing 100% of your data, just let the IT guy replace that part

Brkdncr,

Long term costs aren’t an issue, framework costs 2x as much as a comparable enterprise laptop.

With a warranty parts are replaced if needed by the vendor, the IT guy doesn’t need to do anything. They even come to your home.

Drivers are regular updated tested, verified, packaged together and deployed through a repository and management apps.

since many companies have the ability to switch vendors, costing a company like dell or Lenovo $100k+ per year by doing so, the vendors pay attention to issues.

Sethayy,

Yeah but it isn’t exactly ideal to have to fully stop operations when something goes down, especially given the opportunity to solve things within 10 min.

I suppose this would be even greater benefit to smaller town/out of city center businesses, but still framework is a company, so they do go through their own quality testing

Brkdncr,

You can buy a 2nd spare laptop for the price of a framework.

Lenovo posts their compatibility with each windows release. They also provide specific driver packages to use.

They also have tools to remotely test and troubleshoot hardware issues, online and offline.

I’d love to have a framework and I support the idea they have for multiple reasons, but it’s not a legitimate business device yet.

Sethayy, (edited )

Shit I’d love to see where youre finding a laptop with comparable specs at $750, I’ll probably pick one up

Brkdncr,

I just spec’d a framework for $2000+ and a comparable Lenovo Thinkpad for $1000.

Another item important for work users availability. I wouldn’t the Lenovo in a few days. Not sure about the framework.

Sethayy,

Sure if you buy top of the line it’ll be expensive, but what makes you only choose that option? 1.5 k is still more than reasonable for most jobs, and I can’t seem to find any lenovo without 720p displays at half that price

___,

You’re getting downvoted, but the only way a business buys frameworks is if they’re running a pilot program. They are just not proven in that environment yet.

For a dev going to a coffee shop… sure. It’s your work laptop.

wuphysics87,

I’m a thinkpad person. Best keyboard. Very repairable. Never ran into issues installing Linux.

But they aren’t usually the kind of laptops people like. For them I suggest the Dell XPS line. Mostly for the build quality.

A lot of laptops are mostly plastic and will flex just from typing. The XPS is made from machined alumninum and is just generally a better user experience.

Titou,

Basically any Lenovo Thinkpad. They’re cheap, strong and easy to repair/upgrade

lemmylem,

Thinkpad W541

CaptainHowdy,

Lenovo X1 carbon is what you are looking for. I got one (10th Gen) and slapped fedora on it and it’s been absolutely awesome.

Battery life could be better, but I haven’t tweaked it.

Good luck finding a quality new laptop with Linux support that also has a rj45 port. Framework might be an option though. But I just use a gigabit Ethernet usb3 adapter and it works fine

toastal,

You’d get more battery & performance out of AMD, but the X1 is Intel. Looks like they don’t even offer OLED on that line either.

Cwilliams,

I’ve got a cheaper 6th gen, and it’s absolutely wonderful. It was ~$100 in EBay, because I’m broke

bloodfart,

uhh… what kind of work?

the panasonic toughbook and apple macbook air are two wildly different laptops i have seen extensively in the field but not at the same workplaces.

LarkinDePark,

Not DELL.

Toribor,
@Toribor@corndog.social avatar

Dell’s Precision series is really good these days. Their Latitudes are all over the place quality-wise, especially their 2-in-1s. XPS’s have been alright.

Which did you hate? I deploy a ton of these and there are definitely ones that were awful.

LarkinDePark,

Latitude 5540. Someone designed this thing as a prank.

The power button is a keyboard key. It has a key just for calc.exe. It’s a comedy show all over.

Toribor,
@Toribor@corndog.social avatar

Yeah their Latitude line is basically the boring no frills business tier that veers between ‘okay’ and ‘bad’. I talked my company into dropping that junk and instead we now lease their more premium Precision series. Build quality is higher and they have a discreet GPU. People have been way happier and I get a lot fewer complaints. I’m hoping to buy mine once the lease is up.

turkishdelight,

I have been a loyal Lenovo customer for years. Their laptops are not cool or sexy, but they are reliable.

theotherninjaturtle,

I’ve had 2 touch screens completely become unresponsive in the last year or 2. Both Lenovo, so I’ll never buy from them again

nxdefiant,

For what it’s worth, I’ve bought two laptops from them in the last four years and had tons of problems initially (there were both essentially pre orders, first run laptops). A few minutes on the phone, some trouble shooting,and I had replacements for both overnighted for free. Zero issues with the replacements in both cases.

So yes, don’t order the brand newest Lenovo. Get the one a generation old at deeep discount.

crispy_kilt,

Thinkpad T, W, X series.

currawong,
@currawong@lemmy.ml avatar

Also the P series (succesor of W). X series, just avoid the X1 Carbon.

Cwilliams,

Why?

currawong, (edited )
@currawong@lemmy.ml avatar

Glued or soldered components, lots of issues as far as I’ve heard. You don’t find them refurbished (or rarely) which is a bad sign.

Cwilliams,

Hmm. Well I hope mine doesn’t break, then…

corsicanguppy,

We found the carbon to be okay, but the fan ramped up to TOGA mode super fast.

neidu2,

Bonus points for the aviation reference

SexMachineStalin, (edited )
@SexMachineStalin@hexbear.net avatar

A secondhand Lenovo Thinkpad or Dell Latitude, 2013-2018 models. Get one with a quad-core i7, it will run you €150-€400 depending on the amount of RAM, SSD, screen resolution, condition and possibly an onboard GPU.

lazylion_ca,

Also a matte screen.

Kushia,
@Kushia@lemmy.ml avatar

Dell.

LarkinDePark,

This guy is incorrect. They put the Home and End keys on Function keys.

I will find the people who were directly responsible for this and I will end their line.

Anticorp,

System76.

lastlighthousekeeper,

My experience with clevo Models is that they aren’t really well built.

QuarterSwede,
@QuarterSwede@lemmy.world avatar

The Lenovo E series ticks all those boxes. I use one for work and it’s good for an x64 laptop. Just hate how long it takes to come out of sleep. Nothing really beats a Mac there.

Brkdncr,

Lenovo Thinkpad t14’s. The x-series are ok, but definitely not anything outside of the thinkpad sub-brand.

Dell latitude used to be the work sub-brand and probably still is.

Hp has a work sub-brand but I don’t know what it is.

Also ran contenders include MS Surface and MacBook.

Anyone else recommending anything else are out of the loop.

hemko,

I love my t14s, but it doesn’t have a rj45.

E14 would tick that box. Not as fancy as t series when it comes to materials and whatnot, but pretty damn solid machine still

Brkdncr,

You’re expected to use a dock or usb nic with a laptop. Usb is a better design for regularly unplugged.

hemko,

OP lists it as hard requirement for his choice

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • asklemmy@lemmy.ml
  • tacticalgear
  • DreamBathrooms
  • khanakhh
  • mdbf
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • everett
  • cubers
  • rosin
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • kavyap
  • thenastyranch
  • JUstTest
  • modclub
  • Durango
  • GTA5RPClips
  • cisconetworking
  • osvaldo12
  • ethstaker
  • Leos
  • tester
  • anitta
  • normalnudes
  • provamag3
  • megavids
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •