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
      0·
      9 months ago

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

      • SurpriZe@lemm.eeOP
        0·
        9 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·
          9 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