Your 16:9 hate does amuse me!

Damn straight!

The only reason that they're so prolific is that they're cheaper to produce. They're the wrong physical shape for laptops (see the huge top and bottom bezels in most modern laptops), they're often lower resolution (1920x1080 versus 1920x1200) and have less physical screen area than a 16:10 screen of the same diagonal size. They also feel smaller and more cramped to work on than 16:10 screens (I regularly use both at work and can really tell the difference).

I like technology to improve over time, and yet 16:9 was a regression driven purely by lower cost. And when I upgrade my equipment, I want to see improvements in the components, not regressions.  :C

"a regression driven purely by lower cost"

That never happens!

In most cases, technology improves and becomes cheaper to produce. ie, a die-shrink of a CPU enables more CPUs to be produced per wafer (so lower cost), and reduces heat output whilst still delivering the same performance. Or, you get cheaper materials (and hence lower cost) on budget laptops, but the high-end ones still maintain their magnesium and aluminium chassis etc.

The 16:9 thing though was a straight forward downgrade for everyone. At work we were refreshing £2,000 Dell workstations (Dell Precision M6500). The old ones being returned had a 1920x1200 screen, the replacements we were giving out had a 1920x1080 screen. Lower res and lower cost - but cost-cutting in a £2,000 professional workstation? C'mon!

I'm fine with 16:9 in budget systems. But it annoys me when even high-end kit has been downgraded just to reduce the BOM for the manufacturer a bit.

If a Retro Thinkpad comes out, there's a good chance I'll buy it out of principle, to show there's demand for decent keyboards and sensible screen sizes, but I'm really hoping I can have something this week.

(I actually want three, one for me and a couple for family.)

I sent an email to the laptop center asking how soon they can deliver with 8GB RAM and new batteries, but the auto-reply says to "allow up to 48 hours" for a response. Hope it doesn't take that long. :/

Found another site (Pyramid.com) which doesn't have a new battery option, but does have 8GB RAM and 240GB SSD options listed - and claims delivery by Wednesday for £6 if ordered before 4PM tomorrow, but then the basket only has free delivery with 48-72 hours option. Guess I'll fling them an email and see who gets back to me first.

Do your family members have the same strict requirements as you? No windows for them?

You can always pop Windows 7 on if required. Both mine and the wife's laptops are still with Windows 7, both working fine. Windows 10 isn't coming anywhere near any of my devices at the moment.

I agree with Ant - a second hand or refurb x220 is your best bet. Lots of Linux users use them for the same reasons you cite. They are pretty amazing really.

Nobody's really making what you want, currently. 16:10 screens are hard to find, especially on laptops and (most/many) people want thin so decent keyboards (even by older laptop standards) are gone.

Wouldn't worry about the recent libreboot stuff though, it was one dev abusing her power and claiming to speak for the project when she really didn't. It's been handled. Having said that, since that machine is really just a refurb anyway, I'd just go with a refurbed x220 since it's really the sweet-spot and seems to be exactly what you're asking for.







 

XPS 13? Too expensive? They're *really nice*.

What's your response when people ask you why Windows wont let them turn on/off their machine?

I've never had that issue.

Main problems with the X220 are the poorer screen and the awful trackpad. I used one at work for a bit and I found the dimpled texture, integrated buttons and cheap feel of it to be really unpleasant. This is why I prefer the X201. It's a bit older, but has a more comfortable trackpad and a better screen.

That's a disingenuous avoidance.

People unfortunate enough to be on Windows 10 will have recently had (or soon will have) their machine out of action for upwards of half an hour, without any advanced warning of how long it'll take.

You think that's perfectly reasonable?

OK, windows 7 is my response.

With Windows Update and all security updates disabled?

Well it is an option I didn't expect to have (thought everything would be 8 or newer), but... why?

I don't want "ok, well I can't do that over the phone, so remind me to have a look at it when I'm next down".
I want "ok, well since I have the exact same hardware and OS I'll figure it out here then let you know what to do".

Remote desktop, VNC or Teamviewer. Login/connect and start having a look.

I know that running updates on a *nix based system with a package manager is a million times easier, less intrusive and less forceful, also especially easy remotely (ssh).

Yeah, too expensive unfortunately. If I'm going to bother I wouldn't really spend more than £500. My last two laptops have been from the Dell outlet and I think there's something there which could fit the bit - Inspiron 13- 5368 2-in-1, touchscreen doesn't interest me but I just won't use it.

If I could stick a 1920x1080 screen on my laptop I would!

I did indeed end up with a Inspiron 13- 5368 2-in-1.

My question to you is, HiDPI screens (well, not as high as the XPS 13) on Linux - know of a desktop environment that can handle it nicely?

Currently I've only seen 1x or 2x settings for some, rather than 1.1..1.2..1.3 etc.

I'm currently just having Chrome scale to 125% for everything.

I've read a few things about using the 2x DE scaling then using xrandr to downscale that (typical linux :D )