I got one, the Lenovo N11. Slow like molasses and useless without an Internet connection.

Nope.

I already have laptops from Intel 1st to 8th gen of various models. All were upgraded to a max of 16GB RAM and 500GB SSD.

In total, I have 15 laptops. All are restored to perfect health and used daily or weekly. Each ran W10 or W7. Data is all synced to the cloud so each laptop will have the same data. Media kept on 2TB external NVME.

All 15 laptops are still cheaper than a MacBook M2 Air 15 inch with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.

As a result, I never need to carry a charger or power bank whenever out for work as each laptop can use up to 5 hours. Older models max also 2-3 hours.

Every day, I carry 2 laptops when going out. That's 10 laptops per work week of mostly 12 to 14 inches. The remaining 5 will be mostly Precision and Latitude models over 15 inches and are mostly for outstation use due to workstation capabilities.

Nah. All my laptops were bought as scraps, parts or given away by friends in the IT business. I restored them slowly and use it for work and entertainment. Why spend thousands on new non-upgradable models when the old ones are as good?

I have an old Precision M2800 lying around. Currently converting into a DS as a side project. I bought a dead Latitude E6540 for 100 bucks for this. The FHD screen is working and only need to find a way to mount to the M2800 cleanly.

The 8th is not free but bought at scrap price is 500 bucks. The model is Latitude 7290. Has dings, dents, cracks, and overall not in 9/10 condition but it is fixable with some love and new parts.

This post has been edited by acbc: Aug 7 2023, 02:07 PM

If those have 8GB RAM and SSD, still can use and will fly with some W10 tweaks.

My rarest is the ThinkPad X61 Tablet. Since it only has 4GB RAM, I tried to tweak and debloat W10 as much as possible so it will run smoothly and fast.

Dual Screen

The top case for M2800 and E6540 are the same so with some hinges and a controller board, I can make a dual-screen add-on for it. Perfect when traveling.

My T450 with 8GB RAM on the latest Ubuntu is already slow enough. Must learn to tweak further.

That's why no need to buy new. Buy scraps and fix them yourself. Buy 2 if possible for parts. New parts from AliExpress need to wait up to 3 weeks to arrive. Sometimes lucky, the new parts are much better quality than the existing ones. An example is the X230 backlit keyboard from AliExpress. Paid 150 bucks for it but the quality and typing experience is like heaven. Worse unlucky will be the T420 body parts. Came in a smashed box and all parts were broken inside. Got a full refund and decided to buy another broken T420 for 100 bucks to harvest the body parts instead.

My latest acquisition is the Latitude 5289 2-in-1 tablet/laptop. Unlike the Surface Pro, this model can upgrade the SSD, WiFi, 4G cards, and battery easily. All easily done by removing 6 screws and 6 clips. Parts are also cheap even on Shopee. Mine is so far ok and even came with a 4G card inside. Pop a Yoodo SIM card and it is now a mobile hotspot for all the other laptops. Might turn it into a public honeypot hotspot where everyone connects to it and I sniff out their traffic packets for fun.

ThinkPads and Latitudes need to check thoroughly.

Some were used by the salespeople and were always in terrible condition. Some are only used by the bosses and are always in good condition. The best way to check is the fan. If full of dust and smells of cigarette smoke.

My T440p was formerly used for sales and the outside bears the marks of a workhorse with dents, scratches, cracks, and even missing screws. Inside the fan was full of dust and smells of cigarette smoke. The keyboard is also heavily worn out (missing letters) and the trackpad is also full of scratches.

Luckily a few weeks before, I bought another T440p with a dead motherboard for 50 bucks. From here, I harvested a good keyboard, screen, trackpad, and various body shells. The old one was cleaned thoroughly and reassembled back with cleaner and newer parts. Now I have a working and almost mint T440p. Eventually, it was upgraded to 16GB RAM, FHD screen, M.2 SATA SSD, 2.5 inch SSD, and another 2.5 inch SSD (replaced the DVD drive) for a total of 1TB with 3 SSDs. Just recently, I added a backlit keyboard for it. I also kept the exterior original as I don't fancy vinyl stickers or body wraps.

The worse ThinkPad I have ever come across will be the E440. It is not solid and has a flaky motherboard. It will shut down by itself for no reason. Another E440 from a friend also behaved this way. Since then I avoided collecting ThinkPads from R, E, A, and L series. Genuinely these were mostly rebadged Ideapad from Lenovo and not real ThinkPads.

Recently I started looking at HP Elitebooks as many were selling with good specs for below 500 bucks for 5th and 6th gens. Some even came with the dock which was super expensive when new.

Wei. Wrong info la.

Macs can read NTFS but cannot write natively only. The solution is to format the storage media to exFAT so both Windows and Mac can read/write. But exFAT is not compatible with XP and below. So, best to run these ancient OS under a VM.

When using or buying a Mac, always choose HP printers. The drivers are fully compatible and those with WiFi will show up automatically.

For Dell, stay away from Inspiron. Picked up an Inspiron 5547 with a bad display and battery. The laptop actually flexes when typing! Imagine putting it a bag without any padding, surely the unit will crack or bent.