On Wednesday, 12 August 2026 20:10:26 AEST Jason J.G. White via luv-main wrote: > A side question: at some point I'll need a successor to my current > ThinkPad P51 machine (it's the version with the Intel Xeon E3-1505M v6 > processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, ECC memory modules, 2017-era technology).
If you are determined to have ECC RAM then your options will be very limited. I like ECC but have given up on the idea of having laptops with it. I just ssh somewhere else to do compiles etc. > It's still running well, but it's probably one of the earliest models > with USB-C, and the USB-C port has compatibility issues with a > specialized braille device that I've tried to connect, producing > low-level errors enumerating device descriptors in the kernel logs. I've > been told that some older USB-C ports don't meet the power requirements > to connect to this device (internally, it's essentially an Android If you are using it at a desk you could use a USB-C dock which costs about $15 on AliExpress and takes a USB-C power supply. That should supply enough power to every device you connect. > tablet). Also, this ThinkPad isn't very portable, and I'm sure there are > more portable options now that would exceed its performance, e.g., when > compiling packages from source. The X1 Carbon series is great for portability but ECC is not an option. Probably all laptops with ECC will be bulky ones. Would a phone form factor be a better option for you? > I'm also considering whether buying a new machine and using it for 8-10 > years would be the best over-all option, or whether the secondary market > (e.g., reputable refurbished hardware suppliers) with more frequent > upgrades would offer a better strategy. The purpose is to minimize total > cost of ownership over time, rather than to optimize for up-front > purchase price. I'm sure there are reputable analyses applicable to my > situation. That's what I do. Instead of buying a $2000+ new system I buy a second hand system for around $300. The second hand systems usually last a few years and I get on average better hardware than buying a $2000+ system every 14 to 20 years which would give the same overall cost. Also if I break one I'll be much less unhappy than if I broke a $2000 system. > To be clear, I'm not in a hurry for this upgrade, but I'm also aware > that I'll need it, whether due to hardware failure or for other > practical reasons such as those I've outlined. The current machine runs > Arch Linux (with a secondary Microsoft Windows 11 partition due to > unfortunate software compatibility needs that I'll avoid elaborating > here and which I hope will be eliminated at some point). I'm not > necessarily committed to Arch on the next machine, and I've had > experience across distributions. Windows 10/11 work well under KVM. 32G of RAM is enough to have a small Windows VM running in the background without slowing things down. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/ _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
