New Laptop Options

There was recently a post to the NixOS Discourse titled “(Notebook-)Hardware recommendation?” where Matthias Beyer asked about recommendations for a new laptop computer. Josef Kemetmüller linked to a blog post by Domen Kožar about the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s. I generally use ThinkPads and will need to purchase a new laptop soon, so I looked into it a bit.

I started using ThinkPads in the 90s, back when it was still an IBM brand. I later used a MacBook Pro for two to three years, in an attempt to be able to easily switch between macOS (which I just used for Adobe software) and Linux (which I used for everything else), but I switched back to a ThinkPad after the MacBook Pro had critical display issues that rendered that laptop unusable. I greatly preferred the ThinkPad over the MacBook Pro anyway. I have briefly used other laptops, belonging to companies or friends, though I have not used any extensively. I prefer ThinkPads for the following reasons:

• ThinkPads tend to work with Linux.
• I like the ThinkPad keyboard!
• I dislike touchpads, even on the MacBook Pro. I generally use an external mouse, and I do not mind using a trackpoint when I am unable to use an external mouse.

The P14s looks like a pretty good match for my needs. The Lenovo Japan store sells models with Intel as well as AMD CPUs. Of the Intel models, only one of them can be shipped quickly; the rest take at least three months after purchase to ship! The model that can be shipped quickly has suitable specs except the SSD storage is insufficient. It cannot be customized, so getting an Intel model with sufficient storage takes at least three months!

Of the AMD options, only one of them can be shipped quickly; the rest take at least six weeks after purchase to ship. The model that can be shipped quickly has suitable specs, including sufficient SSD storage. The laptop would just be used for development, not gaming or graphics, so perhaps it is a good option…