What is your system advice?

[Steve Litt]

On Sun, 4 Oct 2015 11:21:52 -0700
joe at actionline.com wrote:

> To the Linux Brain Trust:
> 
> What is your advice to update my system?
> 
> Hard to believe, but my 5-year old system a Lenovo Q150
> nettop with Linux Mint has been running flawlessly 24/7.
> It is never turned off except because of a power outage.
> 
> I sudo backup my main files to three laptops, two old
> thinkpads T43 and T60 and a Dell Inspiron model 3542.
> 
> While the current setup has been entirely satisfactory,
> I realize that it might not continue to run forever,
> and I would like to get system with 4-GB ram, perhaps
> a faster processor (but with low heat), and one that
> had a built-in battery so it would keep running in the
> event of a power outage.
> 
> What would y'all recommend?
> 
> PS: Low power consumption, low heat, and perhaps SSDs
> might be pluses, but long-running reliability is #1.
> This old Lenovo net-top has been rock solid, but they
> apparently don't make one with 4-GB ram and internal
> battery.

This is my opinion based on subjective observation and the purchase of
about 8 laptops in the last 5 years...

You've mentioned that your #1 priority is long-running reliability. In
my opinion, based on my experience, this points to a pre-2010 laptop,
from the days before all the laptop makers tried to be a cheap
immitation of the paper-thin Macbook Air.

I think it wouldn't be hard to get a 2009 laptop with 4GB of RAM, and
of course, dual core (maybe even more, but I doubt it), used for
$100-$200. Added bonus is a computer that old is almost certain to be
completely compatable with Linux. I'm thinking that back in those days,
Acer made a good laptop. When buying computers from that era, be
careful of that horrid Broadcom wifi that required bcmfwcutter or
whatever that nasty stuff was. Oh, you can get it running with today's
Linux, but it's always a hassle. My 2006 Acer (2GB, 2core, 64bit) had
an Atheros wifi that "just worked" with Linux.

My recommendation is based on the fact that your #1 priority is
long-running reliability. That's the sole reason I recommend 6-8 year
old technology for 1/4 to 1/2 the price. If that weren't your #1
priority, I'd recommend you shop the sales at Costco, buy one (probably
$400 for 4GB ram, $500-$600 for 8GB), and if it doesn't work with
Linux, just return the thing.

But of course modern laptops are skimpy sheets of plastic that break at
the minorest of drops and fall apart with repeated use.

By the way, I'd recommend AMD over Intel, because my understanding is
that ALL AMDs for the last 6 years or so had hardware VM assist,
whereas there are some Intels that still don't. If you're getting more
than 4GB RAM, making it a Qemu host is a very definite plus.

HTH,

SteveT