Non-Intel laptop?

[Arwen]

In the next few months I had hoped to buy a new laptop. This recent sh** storm with Intel has made me re-think about using Intel procs. (Competition is GOOD!) I'd prefer x86/64, so ARM is out for the moment. So that more or less leaves AMD, (which seems to have some of the SPECTRE flaws, but not all).

So, anybody using an AMD64 laptop?

My goal was something like this;

• 2 cores, 4 threads, (or 4 cores/4 threads) >=@1.5Ghz
• 8GB ECC
• Decent size storage, >=128GB, if not replacable / upgradable
• >=1 x USB 3.x
• >=3 x USB ports total, including any 3.x ports
• 12 inch screen, (aka 11.9")
• (micro)SDXC slot that is bootable
• Built-in decent WiFi
• Must run Linux, (but, if needed, I will pay the Microsoft tax, meaning pre-loaded MS-Windows)

Most everything else is less important, or negotiable.

 

[Ericloewe]

They pretty much disappeared from all but crap laptops a year or two after Bulldozer. I think Ryzen-based APUs are due out in the next few months, though.

 

[Jailer]

There's some Ryzen laptops out in the wild now but none that I can find with a 12 inch screen. But I'd go Ryzen based if it's going to be a non Intel platform.

 

[Ericloewe]

There's some Ryzen laptops out in the wild now but none that I can find with a 12 inch screen. But I'd go Ryzen based if it's going to be a non Intel platform.

"Laptops" with desktop processors or proper laptops?

 

[Jailer]

Ryzen mobile but not exactly what he's looking for.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12174/acer-adds-ryzen-mobilebased-swift-3-laptops-to-lineup

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-env...sh-in-dark-ash-silver/6124570.p?skuId=6124570

 

[nightshade00013]

I agree getting a Ryzen build is about the only option unless you are willing to take a performance hit. This is doubly true in a laptop and the older AMD build generate a lot of heat as well.

 

[Jailer]

and the older AMD build generate a lot of heat as well.

Not to mention smoldering piles of craptastic energy sinks.

 

[nightshade00013]

Not to mention smoldering piles of craptastic energy sinks.

Very true. It's the laptop you give to someone you don't like. Especially with Linux.... They can kill a brand new battery in less than an hour on a machine that is rated to last four or five hours.

 

[wblock]

Which current laptops have ECC RAM, much less a Ryzen that supports it?

 

[Jailer]

Which current laptops have ECC RAM, much less a Ryzen that supports it?

Yeah good luck finding that unicorn.

 

[Ericloewe]

Which current laptops have ECC RAM, much less a Ryzen that supports it?

There are a few, but only Intel AFAIK. They have mobile Xeons now, which are laptop i7s with ECC enabled (I'm guessing it was cheaper to leave the memory controller the same than to try and cut out the extra 8 bits of width).

 

[nightshade00013]

Intel is pretty much it for ECC in a laptop. You can always buy a Macbook to get ECC ram support, just dump the OS and put something else on. I am pretty sure a lot of their stuff has the support baked in. However you are paying a lot more for the hardware.

 

[Ericloewe]

You can always buy a Macbook to get ECC ram support

How do you figure? They don't have ECC RAM, AFAIK.

 

[nightshade00013]

The desktops are all used to be xeons with ECC ram and from what I remember the laptops were as well. That may have changed now I don't stay up on Mac hardware.

 

[Ericloewe]

The desktops are all used to be xeons with ECC ram

Only the Mac Pros, and they're explicitly workstations.

 

[Arwen]

Thank you for all the information. In the past Asus had some decent laptops, but it appears Acer has a better selection, (regardless of CPU manufacturer).

With the excrement piling up like a convention with food poisoning, I may have to wait for all the vendors to get their act together.

 

[whill]

Ryzen mobile but not exactly what he's looking for.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12174/acer-adds-ryzen-mobilebased-swift-3-laptops-to-lineup

https://www.reviewsdir.com/best-gaming-laptops

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-env...sh-in-dark-ash-silver/6124570.p?skuId=6124570

HP - Envy x360 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop is much better

 

[jgreco]

HP - Envy x360 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop is much better

Yah but she specifically asked about an 12" screen laptop.

The implosion of the laptop market, Toshiba exiting the consumer laptop space, Sony leaving entirely, other manufacturers scaling back dramatically, and the growing tendency for people to use other portable devices for tasks once only possible with a full computer, seems to mean that there will be continued downward pressure on available options.

I happen to prefer the high end Toshiba Satellite consumer grade laptops, as they fill most needs at a reasonable price point and are compatible with all the power bricks we've bought for older laptops. So I'm sad to have seen them exit the market, but even though the most recent round of laptops we bought are now ~5 years old, they're running great and it seems unlikely they'll need to be replaced anytime soon. That's what is really killing laptops and desktops ... we've gotten to a point where the speed and performance increases have been very unremarkable for a number of years now.

I still don't understand the point of a 12" screen laptop, but then a lot of my work involves remote console access and managing multiple windows. Bleh.

 

[Arwen]

Yah but she specifically asked about an 12" screen laptop.
...
I still don't understand the point of a 12" screen laptop, but then a lot of my work involves remote console access and managing multiple windows. Bleh.

My laptop is not my primary computer. I have a quad core desktop and 24" 1080p monitor. So any laptop I have would be for the rarer travel times when a 10" Android tablet is less suitable.

(Though there was a time I used my Asus EEE-PC with external 1080p monitor as a desktop, just to see how well it worked. Better than expected since it used a flash drive. And even better whence the flash drive was upgraded to something larger and faster.)

 

[jgreco]

... the next obvious question being "how do you get any work done on a 24" 1080p monitor".