I need a portable laptop to:

  • have a lot of online quality video calls
  • type a lot during each meeting
  • have a ton of browser tabs open
  • have a few CPU-demanding apps running at the same time

I will use this laptop as my main PC.

I’m also considering:

  • T480s
  • Carbon X1 Gen 7-8
  • Dell 7490
  • mlfh@lemmy.ml
    3·
    8 months ago

    I daily a T480 with Debian for work, and I’d recommend it highly. Great performance, battery, build quality, look & feel, etc. We have some 7480s deployed and while they’ve been solid as well, I much prefer the thinkpad. T series will have better performance and battery than X series, also, so I’d take the T480 over the X1C.

    • SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de
      0·
      8 months ago

      how is the build quality of the t480? I had a t580 for work, and that one crashed when you picked it up at thr wrong corner. and after a month over the warranty, it completely died

      • mlfh@lemmy.ml
        0·
        8 months ago

        I can’t speak for all of them, but we’ve had a couple hundred deployed over the last several years with very few issues. Mine’s been solid as a rock.

        The usb-c docks, however, are a nightmare, though I gather that’s fairly universal.

          • mlfh@lemmy.ml
            0·
            8 months ago

            Just part of our standard office package, everyone gets a laptop, dock, and external monitors for their workspace.

            • SurpriZe@lemm.eeOP
              0·
              8 months ago

              I’ve ordered this ThinkPad T480 with:

              • Intel Core i7-8650U processor
              • 16GB DDR4 RAM
              • 512GB storage
              • 14" FHD IPS display
              • Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620

              When it arrives, before paying, what would you recommend to check within 10 minutes of receiving it?

              • mlfh@lemmy.ml
                1·
                8 months ago

                Personally I’d do the following:

                • boot into the bios config menu to make sure it’s unlocked (if it’s locked and they don’t have the password that’d be a dealbreaker for me)
                • boot into a live linux environment from usb and test both batteries, keyboard, trackpoint/trackpad, speakers, microphone, wifi, and all external ports (T480 has 2 usb-c, 2 usb-a, ethernet, hdmi, headset, and sd - make sure batteries charge well from both usb-c ports)
                • to check the storage health, install nvme-cli if not installed, run nvme smart-log /dev/nvme0 and check the “percentage_used” value: if it’s near 100% it might die and need replacement soon
                • to check that the vents, airflow, and cooling hardware are in good shape, install stress if not installed, run stress -c 7 to load up 7 of the 8 available cpu threads, make sure the fan spins up good and strong, and watch /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp to make sure the cpu temperature stays under ~90-95 degrees

                On my own time later, I’d run memtest86+ overnight from bootable usb to check the memory, then install tlp and run tlp recalibrate with the laptop on the charger to recalibrate the batteries

                Edit: enjoy the new laptop! I hope it works great for you

  • Mountain_Mike_420@lemmy.ml
    31·
    8 months ago

    I now realize you are trying to buy a laptop on a budget. I’d definitely go for the X1 gen 7 or 8, 16gb of ram minimum. The 1080p screen will give you better battery life but the 4k screen has Dolby vision and will make watching movies a better experience.

  • Mountain_Mike_420@lemmy.ml
    1·
    8 months ago

    What are the apps that you will be using? I’m really excited by these new Qualcomm laptops coming out. LTT is doing an experiment and having 3 of its employees switch full time to see if they are viable. If you can wait another week I’d see what their conclusions are.

    • SurpriZe@lemm.eeOP
      3·
      8 months ago

      I’m not in the West and buying on a budget so my options are very limited