Need a new computer...

[Martinjmpr]

Alright, thanks for the advice.

For those saying "build your own": Thanks for the input, but no, that's not happening. I have plenty of hobbies, computers are just a tool for me. Also I have ZERO interest in any kind of desktop computer. Laptops are nice because they are self contained - I'm not connecting monitors, keyboards, and having to have multiple power sources. I got rid of my last desktop computer in 2003 and I doubt I'll ever have another one.

WRT the drive, SSD vs. HDD: I know the bigger HDDs can be super slow, and that kind of makes sense.

Some of the laptops offer both a SSD and an HDD. I do have a lot of music files (well over 60gb) and tons of photos. For those with experience, would a computer with, say, a 256gb SSD + a backup external 1tb SSD be a good combo? Would the newer USB 3 be fast enough for an external SSD to be significantly faster than an external HDD?

[CS1983]

Alright, thanks for the advice.

For those saying "build your own": Thanks for the input, but no, that's not happening. I have plenty of hobbies, computers are just a tool for me. Also I have ZERO interest in any kind of desktop computer. Laptops are nice because they are self contained - I'm not connecting monitors, keyboards, and having to have multiple power sources. I got rid of my last desktop computer in 2003 and I doubt I'll ever have another one.

WRT the drive, SSD vs. HDD: I know the bigger HDDs can be super slow, and that kind of makes sense.

Some of the laptops offer both a SSD and an HDD. I do have a lot of music files (well over 60gb) and tons of photos. For those with experience, would a computer with, say, a 256gb SSD + a backup external 1tb SSD be a good combo? Would the newer USB 3 be fast enough for an external SSD to be significantly faster than an external HDD?

You?re gonna pay out the nose for a 1TB SSD external.

You?re unlikely to be pulling down ALL your files at once. Photos, music, etc. will be fine for running from an external HDD w/ USB 3.0. Heck, 2.0 is probably fine.

Keep in mind that SSD failure is pretty much fatal whereas it is often possible to recover from a failed HDD (though it can cost you). Hence, backup to an external AND cloud.

[Irving]

I got a Dell with only an SSD hard drive and it boots up from off in under 30 seconds, including me typing in my password more than once.

[Martinjmpr]

Alright, after considering the dizzying array of options, I ordered an Acer laptop. It has both a 512gb SSD and a 1tb HDD (so basically it has it's own backup drive built in.)

One thing it does NOT have is an optical drive (CD/DVD.) This will be my first computer without an optical drive since probably 1999 but given the choice between an on-board backup drive and an optical, it was an easy one: I literally have not put anything in my optical drive in months, if not years. The only time I ever use my optical drive is if I'm installing a program. I plan on buying an inexpensive USB optical drive to install programs with and I'm assuming that once all my programs are installed, the optical drive will go into a drawer and gather dust unless I need to burn a CD or DVD for some reason.

Thanks to everyone who participated for your input! I'll probably bug you again once the computer gets here for tips on how to remove all the crapware that Windows laptops come loaded with these days.

[Irving]

I recently bought some game calls and specifically got the package that included a How-to DVD, only to get home to find out I don't have an optical drive. I just looked up a few videos on YouTube and didn't miss a beat.

[Justin]

I know what you mean.

When I bought my Macbook Pro years ago, it was thrilling.

When I bought a new laptop last year, I just found one on Tech For Less that had a name brand and hit my price point and ordered that. The only serious research I did was to ensure that the model I picked wouldn't have any serious compatibility issues with Linux Mint.

The only excitement I felt at all was setting the machine up to dual boot Winblows and Mint, and after that, I've used Mint as my main OS since then.

As far as I'm concerned, at this point, unless you're doing something that requires serious horsepower like gaming or editing HD video, or you want a really good GUI (MAC) most modern computers are just anonymous, interchangeable commodities.


Tech For Less:
https://www.techforless.com/

[CS1983]

Hooray, a fellow Mint user!

I'm currently running it w/ Cinnamon 18 on an old Dell ruggedized laptop that had its processor upgraded.

When we move, I'm going to do a desktop w/ it.

Any experience w/ Linux Mint Mate vs Cinnamon?

[Justin]

Hooray, a fellow Mint user!

I'm currently running it w/ Cinnamon 18 on an old Dell ruggedized laptop that had its processor upgraded.

When we move, I'm going to do a desktop w/ it.

Any experience w/ Linux Mint Mate vs Cinnamon?

There's dozens of us! Literally dozens!

Mint Cinnamon is my first foray into the world of Linux, so I don't have any basis of comparison with Mate or other Linux flavors. There are a couple of other versions of Linux I'd like to mess around with, but I don't know if I have the time to get into them.

[MED]

Hooray, a fellow Mint user!

I'm currently running it w/ Cinnamon 18 on an old Dell ruggedized laptop that had its processor upgraded.

When we move, I'm going to do a desktop w/ it.

Any experience w/ Linux Mint Mate vs Cinnamon?

Mint is a little too pretty for me...Kali and Ubuntu LTS for various tools. The laptops I get for work are expensive, which are outside the discussion here although I do encourage people to get used business class laptops over the commercial crap they see on the shelves; my home desktops just get new systemboard/proc/memory as needed.

As far as windows; I have several licenses for it that I bought cheap on ebay. I have VMs loaded with it as well as dual boot on a few things. I need it for labs, sandboxing, and my stupid tax software. Other than that, I don't do much in it as a user. I can run most windows apps in wine.

[bradbn4]

New hardware is fun to play with.


You can always convert a 1T internal SSD drive into a external.

I use a nice Dell external DVD drive to play movies when I have the need for that entertainment.

To help keep some of your laptop programs patched, I use the program Patch My PC. You can even use that tool to help install programs, like VLC and the codex to support DVD playback.