A recent profligate purchase has been a light laptop for carrying about on my adventures, and one that would take Linux really well. I really don’t need this device. I have a very lovely Windows ‘Matebook’ laptop, with a gorgeous screen and impeccable build quality, which I use for some creative stuff focused around the excellent Affinity suite. I have been enjoying the Fedora Linux experience so much on my Ole Faithful laptop, that I wanted to replicate this when out and about. The Ole Faithful, with an old battery that doesn’t hold much charge, and a malfunctioning screen, is now a backup desktop machine.
I briefly explored the possibility of dual booting Linux and Windows on my Matebook, and that might have been an option, but the Linux compatibility may have had some issues and the storage is not that big on the machine. So, a separate, extra device for the purpose of having Fedora on the go. I could have just bought a hat…
I wanted to manage the cost and so decided to try a second hand of some description. There are a lot of businesses out there selling refurbished or second hand. I spent some considerable time browsing Facebook Marketplace and other dark alleyways, before I stumbled on https://www.technosystems.uk/, a small business out of Lincoln. I was buying on the basis of pictures on their site and their specifications and descriptions.Two laptops were at the top of my list. Ideally either a Lenovo X1 Carbon, or a HP Elitebook. In the end, after a chain of emails went to and fro to clarify the laptop description and a slight modification on price, I landed with this:
- HP Elitebook 830 G8 13.3″
- i5 11th Gen
- Full HD screen, 16:9 aspect, 1920 x 1080
- RAM 32GB
- SSD 1TB
- Grade A laptop
- About £400
Techno Systems were just fine and did everything I might have asked of them. The laptop looked to be as new, but not in the original box.
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| Elitebook lording it over the Ole Faithful |
I had that slightly nervous moment where I hovered over making this a dual boot, given the large storage capacity, but decided that I should stick to the plan and sand off Winblows and make it a dedicated Fedora laptop. The process of installing was a breeze with all the components detected fine. I mean, I did do some compatibility research, but still, it was gratifying to see everything just work from install. If I could find space to gripe, it would be a general observation that laptop battery life doesn’t seem to last so well on Linux, but that is something I can live with.
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| Fedora Desktop |
Look, I’m retired, so spending time messing about with a perfect desktop just gives me joy, OK? If I need to go on a justificatory round of hand wringing, then the laptop will also provide a mobile digital library, multi-media, and browsing on the train or at whatever venue. I’m likey to stay with Google Suite for my writing, but that might migrate to something native if I can land on something lightweight.
I had wondered about seeing if I could get D&D4e desktop tools running on Linux under WINE, or somesuch. In no uncertain terms I feel that I would then have crossed the nerd streams and ruled the Internet. But no, I am a dual machine guy, so will run them simply where they feel comfortable.