[kwlug-disc] Local linux friendly PC vendors

[CrankyOldBugger]

I once bought a pre-built laptop.. from Dell.  It came with Windows ME..
yeah, not doing that again....

I only build my own desktops now.  I do the thing that I mentioned before
where I check each manufacturer's website for drivers, but for each
component.

Another advantage to building your own is that you don't have to go get all
the latest and greatest parts all at once.  You build a cheap so-so powered
machine to start out, then as your budget recovers you can go get high-end
replacements parts like the GPU, more RAM, more HDD, etc., as your finances
allow.  The current system I'm on now is two years old and I'm still
holding out for a decent graphics card (still using the graphics card from
my old system; it's maybe 8 years old?).  For the rest of it I started with
a little RAM, then added more when they were on sale, same story for the
HDD, even the monitors.

If you're going to go the Johnny Cash route like I did ("I got it once
piece at a time, didn't cost me a dime..."), be sure to make extensive use
of https://camelcamelcamel.com..  just be sure you're on the Canadian site
of Camelcamelcamel..  it watches Amazon's prices for you and you can track
when stuff is down to your price range..

(and if you're not confident on building a desktop yourself, there are
zillions of youtube videos out there that explain how to do it...)  Just
don't forget the thermal paste!!!





On Mon, 30 Nov 2020 at 00:28, Chris Irwin via kwlug-disc <
kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> wrote:

> On Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 10:08:16PM -0500, William Park via kwlug-disc
> wrote:
> >On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 02:33:12PM -0500, Chris Irwin via kwlug-disc
> wrote:
> >> As for laptops, it's hard to beat the reliability and value of a used
> >> thinkpad.
> >
> >For a laptop, yes.  How about desktop?  What is "thinkpad" equivalent of
> >desktop world?
>
> I'll be honest -- I've never bought a desktop computer. I've just always
> bought parts -- it helps ensure I won't be stuck with weird proprietary
> parts should something fail. I also tend to upgrade in steps, and rarely
> have a whole new computer -- this is probably more due to purpose,
> though, since I also use that PC for games.
>
> That said, I'd be surprised if *any* desktop gave you any compatability
> issues. Most hardware compatability issues I've ever encountered are:
>
> * keyboard quirks (fn-key lookups not supported)
> * LCD backlight (sometimes brightness is not adjustable)
> * Battery life (tricks to get lower power use when in battery mode)
>
> Once you take those away, what is left? Just nvidia-vs-amd, and
> intel-vs-amd?
>
> --
> Chris Irwin
>
> email:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
>   xmpp:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
>    web: https://chrisirwin.ca
>
> _______________________________________________
> kwlug-disc mailing list
> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
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>
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