Comments on: I want a new laptop, but not any laptop.

By: celeron55

celeron55 — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 10:13:19 +0000

@enthomsen: I have never had any issues with sound on it. I’ve used Arch and Debian. I guess you have to solve it on your own.

By: enthomsen

enthomsen — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 15:46:02 +0000

(Another off-topic comment)
Do you have any experience running Linux on your CF-51? I have tried a few distro’s, but cannot get the sound working. Otherwise, my CF-51 is a joy, especially after upgrading to a Core 2 Duo T7200.

By: electronics, etc.» Blog Archive » What did I end up with? Dell Precision M6800.

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 13:21:30 +0000

[…] Continued from the previous post. […]

By: celeron55

celeron55 — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 18:15:08 +0000

Just a quick note: I’ve found out that these kinds of laptops I like are called “workstation laptops”. I’ll make a new post when I decide on them and actually buy one.

Here’s notebookcheck’s top 10 for those interested: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Top-10-Workstation-Laptops.65537.0.html

By: sudobash

sudobash — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 03:55:52 +0000

Interesting that you complain about the fans on a sys76 laptop. I can’t speak for that model, but the Gazelle Professional which I have *never* uses its fans. Unless I do some really heavy gaming, the fan is 100% silent. When it is used, it just turns on for ~5sec and then shuts off.

You are right though about the battery life. I get 3 hours of non-intensive tasks

By: celeron55

celeron55 — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 12:12:17 +0000

Pgrytdal:
Thanks for the link – that sure is in the direction I’m going. However, I can point out problems:
- There are no hardware buttons in the touchpad and it’s bad otherwise too.
- It makes constant fan noise; louder than asus g75 or msi gt70. I consider asus g75 a little too loud when idle.
- It’s battery durability is in the same range as other gaming laptops, which is not good.

It is a rebranded Clevo P370EM; a super quality review can be found here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Clevo-P370EM-Barebones-Notebook.81409.0.html

By: celeron55

celeron55 — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 11:20:06 +0000

FelixNemis: Ha – we bought one of those for my dad. It was the best we could find, but it has it’s problems:
- The screen could be attached further back from the keyboard for better positioning
- The speakers sound bad compared to what I have now.
- I said weight doesn’t really matter, but 4.5kg is ridiculous by any standards. You just can’t carry it at all.
- The fans do make noise when idle. Maybe they could be stopped when idle with some software though.
- And the worst feature: It doesn’t run current versions of Linux really at all. Drivers are still in the making.

It’s pretty good compared to the alternatives, but… bleh, there’s so much to improve.

By: Pgrytdal

Pgrytdal — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 02:37:43 +0000

Have you taken a look at the System 76 Bonobo Extreme?

https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/bonx7

By: Philip

Philip — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:47:20 +0000

Hi c55
Well, I have a laptop just like that. I have to say it runs Slackware/Ubuntu/most distros just fine. Anyhow, It is a Samsung ATIV Ultrabook i5 core, 6 or 8 GB RAM, quad core, and a relatively large size screen. Anhow, here is a really close match.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP900X4C-K01US

All I’d suggest is to go on google and search samsung laptops. They have some very nice ones. Good Luck. :)

By: FelixNemis

FelixNemis — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 22:10:59 +0000

Hi c55, thought I’d chime in.
I don’t know of anything that meets all those requirements but I might as well share what my experience with the laptop I have for what it’s worth.
I have a Asus Republic of Gamers G75V (for almost a year now). It has an i7 processor and 16G of RAM.
As far as power it performs well with pretty much anything. It has most connectors except older ones (no firewire though, does that count as old) and no expansion card slot.
It has a very efficient vent system, and while it does seem to be on when idleing (with a modern processor this is almost a given) it hardly makes any noise and I usually don’t notice it at all (I wouldn’t be surprised if it was off more often than I know).
It has a 17 inch 16:9 1920×1080 screen which for me is a great size and resolution, it is also comfortably positioned for viewing. The high resolution is especially nice when working with two windows side by side.
The touch pad is not stellar, it’s too big (as you mentioned) and while it has a nice surface, its not as responsive as others I’ve used. This isn’t much of a deal for me though because I always use a wireless usb mouse. (I keep my laptop on a wooden board just wide enough for it and the mouse, kind of like a portable desk)
It has a full keyboard with well positioned keys with the exception of the pageup/down keys which are arranged horizontally instead of vertically (they are above the numpad). The keyboard also has a controllable backlight.
It actually has two HDD/SSD slots which is nice but I currently only need the one drive it came with.
The case is completely plastic but it but it’s not at all flimsy. It is quite durable especially the hinge which is not at the very back and is one of the most solid I’ve seen.
It is quite bulky as well and weighs in at 4.5 kg (not my measurement) it is also wedge shaped with the back end being considerably thicker than the front.
It battery life is reportedly not the best (no surprise) but I only occasionally use it on battery, more important to me is that it can stay suspended on battery for significant amounts of time.
The built in speakers are miles better than most laptops (though that’s not really saying much) It even has a built in “subwoofer” which means the bass actually has some volume to it. They don’t go particularly loud, but then I wouldn’t expect them to and the volume they provide is more than sufficient for personal use.

So in summary, not exactly what you’re looking for but I definitely wouldn’t rule it out.
There may be laptops that fit your need much better, but this is by far the best one I know of.