The laptop is starting to really show ominous signs of impending demise — screen frequently goes static-ey or blank on startup, wi-fi and bluetooth unexpectedly crap out, and it no longer can wake up from sleep mode — things that started happening a few months ago but are now getting to be almost constant, or at least daily, occurrences.
I’ve had my laptop (a Dell XPS M1530) for 10 years now; it was cutting edge when I bought, it but a decade of advancement has left it so far behind that some software can’t even be updated anymore. But I love this computer even so, and if it weren’t on the verge of crapping out I wouldn’t even think of replacement. It’s lasted probably twice as long as it should though, and owes me nothing at this point, as long as it lasts until the new one shows up…
So anyway, I went online yesterday and bought my new one, a System76 Darter Pro. I wanted another 15.6″ screen, I think that’s the sweet spot for laptops, and I also wanted Linux pre-installed. I was also looking for reasonable battery life, light weight etc, and I also wanted something with a bit of pep, even by current standards. I think I compromised a bit by getting an i5 rather than an i7 chip, but I turned around and upgraded to 16G of RAM and a 500G NVMe solid-state drive, improvements at the likely performance bottlenecks, so I think I’ll get a good bang for my buck. It should arrive in just under two weeks.
