Oh, the calamity

Oh, the calamity of it all!
IBM taking over Red Hat, Apple increasing product costs, and Windows 10 version 18.09 “October pause” stressing you out as we approach the Holiday? Does the thought of installing Debian just in case Ubuntu announces some even more “fantastic” shift given you a slight feeling of nausea?Never fear, everything will be alright. Wait long enough and the sea will settle down eventually. The one announcement I had hoped to hear (an updated iPad mini 5) hasn’t materialized, or maybe I missed it in the fine print.So if all seems a little chaotic lately it’s probably amplified somewhat by the approach of the Holidays followed by the end of the year just around the corner.
It may seem like it’s been a strange year for Windows 10 updates, and a tad boring year for Linux desktops , but sometimes boring is appreciated. Too much excitement might persuade me to invest in a new computer even though I seem to remember something about Intel and AMD cpu specs. I’m sure it was something important, maybe having something to do with their architecture? Whatever it was, I’m sure it will come back to me.
We still see somewhat expensive laptops on the market with older hard drive technology (no SSD) and lower than stellar cpu speeds. I would have expected older builds like those at much lower prices, but apparently somebody is willing to purchase these machines.
I think I’ve squeezed as much use out of my old laptop as I possibly can. Do I pick up a mediocre consumer grade pc to get me through a few more years, keep waiting for the perfect price/power ratio deal, or bite the bullet and invest in a top of the line laptop currently available this shopping season?
If I only used OSX it would be an easy decision. The new MacBook Pro would be a logical upgrade from my 5+ yr old MacBook Pro. I don’t use it that much because the bulk of my time is spent working with Linux and Windows, so something like the Carbon X1 would be a more logical choice.
My experiment using a Chromebook actually has me rethinking which Laptop I take on the road. I found that a basic IdeaPad running Mint with the Chrome browser gives me the ability to still run Linux tools and have a similar experience as the Chromebook provides. This is not a bad trade off most of the time, but once in a while it would be nice to have a little more horsepower.
The Chromebook does startup much faster, and does seam more focused for writing – if that is what you’re mostly interested in. It would be great if it could run some of my favorite Linux tools, but I’m not seeing that yet. The Linux beta abilities that might be available for some Chromebooks in the future could open up some possibilities that might make my upgrade decision even more difficult.
I must admit that the Samsung Chromebook has a better keyboard feel than the minimalist Lenovo Ideapad, so I do think I could lean more towards the Chromebook if I find the need for Linux tools decreases in the future. On the other hand the I’ve had good luck with the Ideapad, and the keyboard isn’t too much of a distraction yet. If you’re doing a lot of writing neither one might be your preferred tool of choice.

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