<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hey All —<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I also have a Thinkpad X220 (and a Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu version, and a Macbook Pro, and a Samsung Arm Chromebook, and a Pi-Top that’ll be delivered Monday, it seems).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The Thinkpad has the best driver support of the lot under Linux. But Alan is right — the build quality is so-so, and the ‘support’ is laughable compared to Dell (or even Apple). It’s not a bad computer, but the screen resolution is pretty low. The hardware upsides are an actual ethernet port, and the eraser mouse, but neither of those would convince me to buy a Thinkpad again.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Mine is the i5 version. I keep it around as a testing unit, mostly. Resale value isn’t worth the hassle. I wouldn’t call it a ‘tough’ laptop, though. The all-metal construction of the XPS 13 is definitely better. But there was a very annoying regression in the XPS 13’s wireless driver under 14.04, which pushed me over the edge and I bought a Mac (which I kind of hate, but that’s another discussion).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If I were you, I would look for a Dell XPS 13 (even an early version, as long as the battery is ok) or an M3800 (you wanted tough, right?). I think you would be hard pressed to find a better solution, and if necessary you can change out the WiFi, etc.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Kind regards,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">travis<br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">******</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">Travis Mooney</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">Technologist and Writer</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">+44 (0)7908631440</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">Skype: ttmooney</div>
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<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 4 Nov 2015, at 10:50, Alan Pope <<a href="mailto:alan@popey.com" class="">alan@popey.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="">Hi Leo,<br class=""><br class="">On 2 November 2015 at 22:57, <<a href="mailto:lists@boywithwings.co.uk" class="">lists@boywithwings.co.uk</a>> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">I'm thinking either a T410 or X220. The main goal would be a tough laptop<br class="">that I could use for DJing and Music Production. Unfortunately this means I<br class="">would have to run Windows on it (URGH UNCLEAN) to run some of the music<br class="">software I rely. I would probably dual boot with Ubuntu Studio.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">I have an i7 Thinkpad X220 which currently dual boots Windows / Ubuntu<br class="">with two SSDs (one traditional SATA, one mSATA). Works okay for a 4<br class="">year old laptop.<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">My question is mainly, which one do people recommend for my use case? I do a<br class="">lot of lugging equipment around the UK (and Europe), so that would push me<br class="">towards the X220.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">I don't know the T410, but my thoughts on the X220:-<br class=""><br class="">i7 variant cannot dump the heat generated by the CPU. My i7 frequently<br class="">overheats, and always has, co-workers have i5 which never do.<br class="">Screen resolution is annoyingly low these days, but if that's not a<br class="">factor in your decision, then okay.<br class="">Modern Intel video drivers seem to have gone down the drain.<br class="">Sandybridge based devices (which, okay, are 4+years old) are painful<br class="">when any kind of 3d stuff is being done, and on recent kernels are<br class="">quite crashy.<br class="">Speakers are awful / low volume.<br class="">Build quality isn't that great. I've had to replace the palm rest (at<br class="">my own expense - thanks Lenovo!) because it cracks (co-workers have<br class="">seen same on theirs).<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">I've seen the more expensive X220 occasionally for sale with a i7 but the<br class="">T410 with only an i5. My Macbook has a dual core i5 with 8GB of RAM and 1TB<br class="">hybrid drive and has a similar form factor to the cheaper T410. Would there<br class="">be a big performance gap between the i7 X220 and the i5 T410? I will go for<br class="">an SSD in either and a good trackpad is a must.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">The trackpad on the X220 is tiny. I actual disable it because I'm a<br class="">nipple (trackpoint) kinda guy. The trackpad is quite 'clacky' on the<br class="">x220.<br class=""><br class="">Cheers,<br class="">Al.<br class=""><br class="">_______________________________________________<br class="">GLLUG mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:GLLUG@mailman.lug.org.uk" class="">GLLUG@mailman.lug.org.uk</a><br class="">https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug<br class=""><br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>