Re: a question regarding which laptop for around $1000 that I might install Ubuntu on?

Quoting Ray Steding ([email protected]):

> Any suggestions for a $1000 laptop with a 15" screen, Core i7, 250-500
> SSD, 8-16GB of ram that I might install Ubuntu on.
> 
> Any recommendations would be helpful and appreciated.

Practically any laptop that's been in production for at least a year, is
my general rule of thumb.[1]  To get best bang for the buck by _far_,
get a used unit.  And honestly, an i5 is more than enough CPU.  Also, if
an otherwise good laptop has a hard drive rather than an SSD, buy it
anyway, because reasonable SSDs can now (also) be gotten for cheap.

The prestige find would be something like a used Lenovo ThinkPad X1
Carbon of some vintage or other.  Super-light (about 2.5 lb).  Though
those have 14" screens.
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/thinkpad-x1

I found a Fujitsu Lifebook T900 used from a guy in San Jose, earlier
this year, and with 8GB of RAM and no storage in it, for $100.  He added
a nice little Samsung SSD for $40, so $140 for the whole thing.  It has 
a Core i5-540M, 13.3-inch 1280 x 800 display[2], and dual-digitizer that
both recognizes pen input and multitouch finger gestures (so, you can
use it either as a tablet or as a laptop -- pretty slick).  New, eight
years ago, this would have cost over two grand.  The price curve for
laptops is about as steep as for cars.
https://www.slashgear.com/fujitsu-lifebook-t900-multitouch-core-i7-tablet-sneaks-on-sale-0472765/

And, point is, IMO that Fujitsu T900 is more than enough computer for
Linux, unless you are doing something staggeringly demanding like
molecular modeling, real-time video production, 3D gaming on
amphetamines, etc.

But, sure, buying something three years old rather than eight would have
been more better (and lighter) -- and also more expensive.


[1] Why?  Because this rule of thumb makes it reasonably likely that
good hardware support for all of the unit's constitutent chipsets have
been made usable and propagated out to the installer software for
current Linux distributions.  Otherwise, e.g., with recently introduced
laptops, a cautious buyer would determine all significant chipset
identities before buying and vet Linux driver support for them.  Unless
you are good at researching Linux hardware support -- and most people
are not -- you will make your life potentially a lot easier by buying
instead a used unit whose model has been offered for sale for at least a
year, preferably two.

[2] I note this is smaller than you're seeking, and I concur that 15" is
ideal.  It's what my main laptop uses.