Business Grade Laptop with All The Ports

patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 17:36
Last edited 23/08/2023 - 17:36

Any recommendations for a business grade laptop with the following-

  • 14" or under screen size (have had 13'' in past)
  • 9th gen intel or greater (or AMD equivalent)
  • SD card (or micro SD) port
  • Ethernet port
  • HDMI port
  • USB ports (minimum 3) [type A or C as long as it has good speed]
  • The AC power port must not take one of the USB ports unless there are more than 3.
  • No known heating issues
  • Decent battery life
  • Touch screen (would be nice but not necessary)
  • Headphone port (would be nice but not necessary)

Usage-
Will be using linux OS (web and daily tasks) with windows in Virtual Machine (VM) running AutoCad.

In the past have had Dell Latitudes 13" i7's but due to lack or ports am changing.
Have been looking at Lenovo X1, Thinkpad

All help is appreciated. ;)

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 23/08/2023 - 17:54
    +4

    ThinkPad P14s Gen 4?

    i5-1340P,
    24GB RAM (16GB + 8GB DDR5 5600mts)
    14" WUXGA (1920x1200) IPS 300nits Anti-glare, 45% NTSC, Touch (optional addon. Costs $150 extra)
    4 Cell Li-Polymer 52.5Wh
    Optional smart card reader and Fingerprint reader.

    Ports:
    RJ45 LAN
    2 USB C ports that support Thunderbolt 4
    2 full sized A ports
    HDMI port 4k 60hz

    https://www.lenovo.com/au/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bun…

    Choosing the Touch display addon increases the price to $1,601.41. I'd also highly recommend the fingerprint reader only $20 bucks extra (it's pretty convenient)

    • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 18:31

      No SD card port, everything else is great.

      • Nugs on 23/08/2023 - 18:33
        +5

        Grab an sd usb adapter?
        .

        • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 18:44

          This will work but don't want a USB sticking out of my laptop when it's portable (all my files are on the SD) also I loose a USB port for my external HDD's.

          • freefall101 on 23/08/2023 - 19:57
            +2

            @patrick321: Keeping a lot of files on a SD card really isn't a great idea, they're nowhere near reliable enough for long term usage with a lot of read and writes. I'd just get a bigger nvme drive, they're cheap these days.

            • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 21:57

              @freefall101: Yes I have also read this, and have read others say that they can last as long as any other drive.

              I have no idea which is true, but have been using mine for a few years now. The convenience of being able to take it out and put it in another computer is just too tempting. I do back up very regularly though.

              Thanks for the warning. :)

      • scrimshaw on 23/08/2023 - 18:40
        +3

        You should also look into getting some kind of docking station or hub. Hubs are cheap, while docking stations are a bit more expensive (expect $100+ for branded one), but both allow you the flexibility of having a thin and light notebook wherever you go but have lots of ports when you need to sit down in an office with all your monitors and input devices.

        That way you can buy any laptop you want and not have to specifically hunt for a laptop that has absolutely every port in existence.

        Note: Docking stations will charge your laptop and they typically need to be plugged into a wall.

        A hub will not charge your laptop and will draw power from the laptop.

        • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 18:46
          -1

          Yes this is an option, just a pity they are cutting back on ports now so we have to buy more stuff.
          Although I know they are trying to make them smaller and thinner, but one micro SD slot would not take up much room.

          • rumblytangara on 23/08/2023 - 22:19

            @patrick321: microSD card? Those things are so ridiculously tiny and easy to lose that the manufacturers would probably end up annoying too many customers with that as a feature.

            I've got an SD card slot in my machine, which I sometimes use. But accidentally bumping and ejecting a microSD card would go unnoticed.

            (Do any laptops come with microSD slots?)

            Want portable storage? Just get a properly sized SSD and run synchronised cloud storage.

            • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 22:27

              @rumblytangara: If you have important files and are travelling being able to remove your SD card for security is an important thing. Thieves target laptops, loosing the device is one thing but loosing your files as well is worse.

              Regardless this post is about advice for finding a laptop with specs listed above, not a debate on whether you personally don't like SD cards.

              • rumblytangara on 24/08/2023 - 09:28
                -1

                @patrick321: This is one of the most naive and poorly thought out approaches to laptop data security that I have ever encountered.

                • patrick321 on 24/08/2023 - 10:05

                  @rumblytangara: There is always one on these threads…
                  This post is about laptops with the above specs.
                  Make your own thread and you can tell everyone how to use their devices the way you want them to.

                  • rumblytangara on 24/08/2023 - 10:28

                    @patrick321: You can do whatever you like with your gear. Just don't expect others to take your reasoning seriously.

  • rumblytangara on 23/08/2023 - 18:01

    X1 is too think for ethernet. Don't think it's likely to meet your USB criteria either. It's made to be thin and light.

    Thinkpad P series.

    • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 18:47

      Yes X1 is not a option I went back to gen 8 specs. and no good.

  • kerfuffle on 23/08/2023 - 18:05

    Scratch the ThinkPad T series; the only USB-C port is also the charging port (unless things have changed; I'm using a 1st gen T14s)

  • [Deactivated] on 23/08/2023 - 18:35
    +1

    There are docks for that

    • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 18:50
      +1

      Yep, just didn't want to have to buy more stuff. This is why I am asking if anyone knows of any. I don't mind buying an older model.

      • [Deactivated] on 23/08/2023 - 19:08
        -1

        It will be ugly, with all ports you listed

        • rumblytangara on 23/08/2023 - 19:18
          +1

          It's a computer. For work. Who cares if it's pretty or not.

        • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 22:03
          +1

          Some of the ports are important especially if I go overseas. The HDMI is better for me as being able to plug into a tv so I can sit away from the screen when working is important. Network cable in case where I am has no wifi. SD card for my files. So those are just some other reasons.
          My aim is to get a laptop that is as small and light as possible without loosing the ports and cpu power. A balancing act.

  • saltspork on 23/08/2023 - 19:00

    Dell Latitude 5440 (and previous gen 5430) tick the boxes though they're fairly uninspiring slabs of plastic.

    Dell officially support support Linux, businesses can custom order them with Ubuntu pre-installed.

    • patrick321 on 23/08/2023 - 22:21

      No SD card port, everything else is great. I guess no one wants to put SD card ports in laptops now.

  • Pennyworth on 24/08/2023 - 01:40
    +2

    Check out the modular Framework laptop at https://frame.work/. As Wikipedia put it, "The company positions itself as a proponent of the electronics right to repair movement, and their laptops are designed to be easy to disassemble, with replaceable parts."

    The ports are modular so you can get what you need including a sd-card, https://frame.work/au/en/products/microsd-expansion-card

    Only downside is if you need something like 4-hour onsite warranty which Dell etc offer. Information on Framework's warranty is at https://frame.work/au/en/warranty.

    There's a thread from 2022 about Framework laptops which might be worth looking at https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/731549

    I'm interested in one because of the AMD cpu/gpu (most laptops I've found are amd cpu/nvidia gpu). Was looking at getting one for my next laptop.

    • patrick321 on 24/08/2023 - 09:58

      This looks really cool, real freedom to have it the way you want it. Thanks for the info. :)

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join