I slapped a folding rechargeable travel mouse in one of the PCMCIA slots of my Dothan T40. The other has a USB hub with bluetooth and a retractable antenna…
Pretty much stopped using it after I found a T470s at a flea market for $100. Had 2x4GB SODIMMS and a 128GB NVMe. Bought a 16GB SODIMM (now have 20) and a 1TB NVMe for another $67.
The display is pretty shot on the 440 but I could totally have it do stuff headless.
1 HDMI output Port (with HDCP)
1 Mini DisplayPort 1.4
1 DisplayPort 1.4 over USB 3.2 Gen2 port (Type C)
1 Thunderbolt 4 Port with Power Delivery DC in (Type C)
2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports (Type A, 1 x powered USB port, AC/DC)
1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone)
1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Microphone / S/PDIF Optical output)
1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000/2500Mbps)
Micro SD Push-Push Card reader
I have to say, the reason I bought my GPD Win Max 2 (to replace a Lenovo Yoga Book, so… also quite a leap in performance) was because despite its diminutive footprint it has a decent array of ports. It’s got two USB 3 A ports, two type C ports, one of which supports USB4 and USB PD, a full size HDMI port, a headphone/mic jack (a rarity nowadays), a full size SD card reader, and a microSD reader. The thing is 10.5" diagonally. Not the screen – the entire computer.
That looks great for a true traveler’s solution, I’ll keep that in mind. The Clevo/Sagers are admittedly much better suited as a portable desktop replacement. They are heavy AF.
Clevo? I used to have one of those. Was a laptop from 2009. Sadly the fan sensors failed and now it shuts down on boot due to always thinking its overheating. However, it wasn’t sold under Clevos brand name, had Turbo-X (local company where I live) branding and even a “Style note” splash screen.
Yep, my Clevo from 2014 is still going strong, handles everything including games on Switch emulators as well as I need it to. Never had an issue with it except to replace the fans about a year ago, and self-upgraded the GPU somewhere along the line to the max it could take. Eventually I’ll need to upgrade, and will probably go back to LPC if someone better isn’t available. But for expansive hardware you can’t get much better. All they’re missing is water cooling. You can max out the latest 17” ones with a 4090 and 8TB of SSD.
edit: Last time I checked, I also noticed that as long as you’re not getting a model with a 4080 or 4090, somehow they manage to run everything off a power adapter that pulls significantly less wattage than their competitors. You could still use it off an RV solar power and inverter setup without much strain to the system.
Mini DisplayPort wasn’t introduced until 2008 (by Apple), and the T450 wasn’t introduced until 2015, so not exactly “Laptops in 2000.” But I get the sentiment.
Laptops in 2023: Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me you want ports?
or, more accurately,
Laptops in 2023: If you want ports, use a USB hub.
Laptops in 2000: Here’s multiple USB ports, VGA, Mini Displayport, a fucking smartcard reader, SD card reader, ethernet port and docking port
Edit: just as an FYI this is referring to the T450 (which is the one i have), also added docking port because those count.
CompactFlash, two PC Card/PCMCIA slots, a Kensington lock port, parallel, 9 pin serial, and a docking station port, a removable optical drive…
People Cannot Memorise Computer Industry Acronyms
That’s about as good as TWAIN.
Technology Without An Interesting Name.
So basically just a screen and a keyboard for a thousand dollars.
If you’re lucky. The new hotness nowadays seems to be to get an overgrown tablet, and the keyboard is a fuggin’ accessory. This blows my mind.
I slapped a folding rechargeable travel mouse in one of the PCMCIA slots of my Dothan T40. The other has a USB hub with bluetooth and a retractable antenna…
My t420 has ExpressCard and i just slapped a 2xUSB3 adapter in it.
T420 here too! Added an SSD and threw on Ubuntu, gonna keep using it until it breaks. Which seems to be not anytime soon…
Have a T440p that I should do something with.
Pretty much stopped using it after I found a T470s at a flea market for $100. Had 2x4GB SODIMMS and a 128GB NVMe. Bought a 16GB SODIMM (now have 20) and a 1TB NVMe for another $67.
The display is pretty shot on the 440 but I could totally have it do stuff headless.
I swapped my 440 display for the Innolux (I think) from the T490, was easy, works great, better battery. Great for bathtime TV.
I love that my T490 has all those things, except HDMi in place of VGA.
pre-dell alienwares had fricken digital clocks in the front
Don’t forget the DVD slot!
They still exist
https://lpc-digital.com/product/sager-np8855e-s-clevo-pd50sne-g/?ex=1
1 HDMI output Port (with HDCP) 1 Mini DisplayPort 1.4 1 DisplayPort 1.4 over USB 3.2 Gen2 port (Type C) 1 Thunderbolt 4 Port with Power Delivery DC in (Type C) 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports (Type A, 1 x powered USB port, AC/DC) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Microphone / S/PDIF Optical output) 1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000/2500Mbps) Micro SD Push-Push Card reader
I have to say, the reason I bought my GPD Win Max 2 (to replace a Lenovo Yoga Book, so… also quite a leap in performance) was because despite its diminutive footprint it has a decent array of ports. It’s got two USB 3 A ports, two type C ports, one of which supports USB4 and USB PD, a full size HDMI port, a headphone/mic jack (a rarity nowadays), a full size SD card reader, and a microSD reader. The thing is 10.5" diagonally. Not the screen – the entire computer.
That looks great for a true traveler’s solution, I’ll keep that in mind. The Clevo/Sagers are admittedly much better suited as a portable desktop replacement. They are heavy AF.
Clevo? I used to have one of those. Was a laptop from 2009. Sadly the fan sensors failed and now it shuts down on boot due to always thinking its overheating. However, it wasn’t sold under Clevos brand name, had Turbo-X (local company where I live) branding and even a “Style note” splash screen.
Yep, my Clevo from 2014 is still going strong, handles everything including games on Switch emulators as well as I need it to. Never had an issue with it except to replace the fans about a year ago, and self-upgraded the GPU somewhere along the line to the max it could take. Eventually I’ll need to upgrade, and will probably go back to LPC if someone better isn’t available. But for expansive hardware you can’t get much better. All they’re missing is water cooling. You can max out the latest 17” ones with a 4090 and 8TB of SSD.
edit: Last time I checked, I also noticed that as long as you’re not getting a model with a 4080 or 4090, somehow they manage to run everything off a power adapter that pulls significantly less wattage than their competitors. You could still use it off an RV solar power and inverter setup without much strain to the system.
Always used a hub even with my old T420, nothing changed for me. It’s even better, cause I got two display outputs and multiple charging ports now 🤷
Mini DisplayPort wasn’t introduced until 2008 (by Apple), and the T450 wasn’t introduced until 2015, so not exactly “Laptops in 2000.” But I get the sentiment.