10-19-2019, 12:14 AM
Hey all,
This is my first post here so let me start with some background and a short introduction: I'm Markus, aged 41, father and husband (which means limited tinkering time) from Germany.
I do casual computing with Linux with distro hopping in the past, but mainly on Ubuntu flavors these days, since ~15 years.
I do buy my hardware on a rather tight budget, partly because for my needs 5 year old PCs are just good enough for my needs and in terms of "bang for the buck" and for environmental reasons.
My personal budget has been also very tight in the past. While it's much better now, I still don't dump my money as easily as before.
At the moment I am writing with a Thinkpad T400 that's 10+ years old, upgraded with an SSD and maxed out RAM, but with a dead battery which I'm not planning to replace anymore, so it will move to a stationary use in the house.
It's time for something new and more mobile (read: smaller, less weight and a working battery) as the main machine. I was considering a used Thinkpad X240 as next machine for a daily driver when I got aware of the Pinebook Pro which would come at a similar price tag.
A Pinebook Pro would be my first serious ARM based computer apart from my aging Android phone and a raspberry pi behind my TV, but I find myself seriously considering it.
So I collected some Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-drastically lighter than my current thinkpad, slightly lighter than the X240
-Small device but with a decent screen similar to X240
-Looong battery life thanks to low power consuption
-USB-C connectivity
- I don't need tons of storage, there's a NAS for that in the attic
- I'm really curious to try something new
(possible) Cons:
- Compatibility issues with Applications (and also games) I can use today(?)
- the ARM variants are not as universally compatible as x86 architecture, so
-- much smaller choice of Linux distributions
-- no practical option to continue using Ubuntu(?) which I frequently return to these days
- Can this "just work" for me or will I have to fiddle around frequently?
The list could surely be longer, but I think it's time to consult the community now:
- Did I make fairly accurate assumptions above?
- According to your experience, also with the first Pinebook, what does or does NOT work for you? That could really help to set my expectations straight...
Thanks in advance, Markus
This is my first post here so let me start with some background and a short introduction: I'm Markus, aged 41, father and husband (which means limited tinkering time) from Germany.
I do casual computing with Linux with distro hopping in the past, but mainly on Ubuntu flavors these days, since ~15 years.
I do buy my hardware on a rather tight budget, partly because for my needs 5 year old PCs are just good enough for my needs and in terms of "bang for the buck" and for environmental reasons.
My personal budget has been also very tight in the past. While it's much better now, I still don't dump my money as easily as before.
At the moment I am writing with a Thinkpad T400 that's 10+ years old, upgraded with an SSD and maxed out RAM, but with a dead battery which I'm not planning to replace anymore, so it will move to a stationary use in the house.
It's time for something new and more mobile (read: smaller, less weight and a working battery) as the main machine. I was considering a used Thinkpad X240 as next machine for a daily driver when I got aware of the Pinebook Pro which would come at a similar price tag.
A Pinebook Pro would be my first serious ARM based computer apart from my aging Android phone and a raspberry pi behind my TV, but I find myself seriously considering it.
So I collected some Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-drastically lighter than my current thinkpad, slightly lighter than the X240
-Small device but with a decent screen similar to X240
-Looong battery life thanks to low power consuption
-USB-C connectivity
- I don't need tons of storage, there's a NAS for that in the attic
- I'm really curious to try something new
(possible) Cons:
- Compatibility issues with Applications (and also games) I can use today(?)
- the ARM variants are not as universally compatible as x86 architecture, so
-- much smaller choice of Linux distributions
-- no practical option to continue using Ubuntu(?) which I frequently return to these days
- Can this "just work" for me or will I have to fiddle around frequently?
The list could surely be longer, but I think it's time to consult the community now:
- Did I make fairly accurate assumptions above?
- According to your experience, also with the first Pinebook, what does or does NOT work for you? That could really help to set my expectations straight...
Thanks in advance, Markus