Looking For A New Laptop! Recommendations?

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jkl;\Sorry I am late to my own party. I saw take it apart and it got pushed to the back burner. I saw the updated note to purge the bios and I am currently answering on the dell. Everything seems fine, I pulled the HDD then logged in on the other comp, plugged it back jkl;\
jkl;\fsda
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Ok so much for fine. No longer on the dell, but at least you can see my issue. After purging the bios I was not able to run the commands listed to fix missing. it's locked up again. The terminal was open and it was randomly typing fjkl;\. then return for a continuous list of the entry line.

E: the repository no longer has a release date. was the er on the fix missing. I have just forced shutdown and would appreciate an input.
 
I have an SSD with the operating system on it and the HDD is just my files, but it wouldn't boot with the HDD disconnected.
 
I have no idea. I changed the boot sequence and the keyboard is in full crazy mode. I can't do anything. It won't load off the SSD. When I boot live I can't type, touching the keys takes a screen shot.

I took out the SSD and it wont load live. just says jkl;\97 in the top corner of the screen.

It just loaded mint off the SSD while I am sitting here. Took forever, and I got logged in as a guest while I was trying to type in the password with the onscreen keyboard. As a Guest I can't do anything. No trackpad. my computer just opened to the SSD and it says cant mount file location.

Shut it down supportAssist auto started. Testing completed one or more errors detected. No list.

HDD back in, loading is back to normal. managed to log in with on screen keyboard. open up a browser.... searching asdf and the trackpad locks up. I can scroll the search page with the up and down arrows and that's all she's got.

I think I am going shopping and if you guys have a clue about what is going on, I'll go from there.
 
I would say, get an older ThinkPad about at least 3 years old. I bought my daughter an MSI modern 13, and it works well with Linux Mint.
 
Brickwizard said:
try https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
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I should have been more clear. I meant shopping for a new laptop. The selection in town was not impressive to say the least, just a couple of Lenovo's, so nothing new yet.

I don't have a deep enough understanding to even get what is going on, and I don't know what to do with the link above. I have very basic terminal knowledge, so this level of 'what the hell is going on?' is way beyond me. If someone would dumb it down I would be grateful. Hardware, software, keyboard, unknown... 'Cause I don't get it.

I am leery of buying used again. I just bought the Dell 2 years ago and as far as I am concerned it is done for, unless someone here can explain otherwise.

I don't like the cost of the System76 Lemur even a little bit at $1750+, but it is currently where I am leaning. Lifetime support, up gradable, linux factory loaded instead of paying $1200 just to void my warranty with a windows based laptop. I also question why I would support a company that is not catering to privacy when that is my reason for wanting to break away form the obvious names.

The only lingering question is, if I buy a Lemur can I install my hardrive from the Dell to recover files and just walk away from it?
 
fx9 said:
just bought the Dell 2 years ago and as far as I am concerned it is done for, unless someone here can explain otherwise.
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Many of us run older kit, My dell laptop is around 13 yrs old , yes by modern standards it's a bit slow, but still works perfectly well, what makes you think "It's done for"
fx9 said:
The only lingering question is, if I buy a Lemur can I install my hardrive from the Dell to recover files and just walk away from it?
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provided it's not your hard-drive that's on the blink, then any Linux distribution can be used to salvage/clone/rescue your files and folders [if you encrypted your home folder it will be a little more difficult]
 
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fx9 said:
I changed the boot sequence and the keyboard is in full crazy mode.
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BIOS only sets the keyboard/graphics/sound etc enough for boot, the Linux Kernel programs takes over the control of these features when loaded [on a dell the usual de-fault is en-us]

fx9 said:
I am leery of buying used again.
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the problem in buying new cutting edge machines, unless they are specifically built to run Linux, is the availability of drivers for the latest components [it can take up to a year for the boys and girls who back engineer the drivers to do so.]
fx9 said:
I have no idea. I changed the boot sequence
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You do not need to change the boot order, just use the short boot [one time] menu.. Switch the machine off, make sure you are connected to mains power and your USB pen-dive with the bootable ISO is inserted, as you switch on keep jiggling F12 [for del] and it should open the short boot menu, go down to usb and hit enter

fx9 said:
jkl;\97 i
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this is a windows code for a keyboard fault, are you dual booting with windows? Do you have /can you borrow a USB keyboard that you can plug in and see if it works, Also if you are running a windows/Linux duel boot be aware some Windows updates will break Linux [have you dropped anything Heavey or spilt anything on the keyboard ?]


Before you, you do anything else, try a different distribution live from a pen-drive, I suggest either MX-21AHS or Parrot home edition [both should run fine without the hard-drive being fitted] if they run OK and the keypad & tracker pad work OK then I would suspect a problem with the hard-drive [ssd] or a corruption of the OS
 
Brickwizard said:
Many of us run older kit, My dell laptop is around 13 yrs old , yes by modern standards it's a bit slow, but still works perfectly well, what makes you think "It's done for"
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Just the fact that I have no idea what the issue is, so that leaves me little room to fix it. I appreciate your response because it is upping that chance.

There were no spills, but Mexico is a harsh humid environment.

I am not dual booting, it is just running Mint. I am pretty sure I have a keyboard in the shop I can plug in. I will do that today, and try the other distros.

I don't have sound on the Chromebook with Mint running, it wasn't an issue having the dell, but now the trackpad is failing so my patience was/IS wearing thin with these two machines. I am too cheap to buy cutting edge, but looking around last night I started considering the XPS13 again. At $1000 for a refurbished unit, it is getting close to $800 less than the Lemur. The speed seems like a minor downgrade for the cost difference, and being refurbished drivers shouldn't be an issue.

Dell XPS 13 9315, 13" FHD Touch, Intel IRIS XE, i5-1230U, 16GB, 512GB SSD,

Lightweight, good battery life, sound, etc. etc. Ticks all the boxes.

My current dell has VERY short battery life and the fan is always running making a racket. If I could get it sorted and have it as a backup, ditch the Chromebook, and buy the XPS13 I might actually move back into laptops being a convenience without spending a mint.
 
I got distracted today, I am leaving for a trip on Thursday and have a lot coming up as I prepare. I am thinking I will buy the XPS 13. For $20 I can get a hard drive case to pull files off the HDD to the XPS.

I feel more confident in this, moving files over and then I can mess about without worry that I am going to make it worse, and best case scenario I get a back up unit.

Sound like a reasonable plan to you folks?
 
I am also considering dual booting with windows so I can use better printer drivers. I never liked the idea, but any real drawbacks I should consider?
 
fx9 said:
Mexico is a harsh humid environment.
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Not good for any electronics, especially low voltage ones, as it can cause corrosion at connection points, forming Dry joints,
 
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The Framework laptop looks awesome. Every part is user replaceable. Unlike certain brands I can think of...
 
I just wanted to update that I ended up going with a Dell XPS Plus with touchscreen. Really happy with it so far. Good battery life and it's quick.

I am having occasional issues with the trackpad losing click and scroll on waking, which is usually fixed with patience or restarting cinnamon. Other than that, not a complaint to be had. It is software not hardware, because a USB mouse had the same issue when connected....

I fixed the older Dell with a $4 keyboard from Amazon. It was a pretty easy replacement and everything works fine now.
 
Thanks for this thread. I am on the hunt for a laptop that will cater to my needs. This has provided me some further insight.

I'm happy to hear you're happy with your Dell XPS.
 
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