A small notebook for a system administrator

Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by morganvachon on Friday February 01, 2019 @08:22AM (#19053843)

Unfortunately something like this would never come to market, but I use a laptop that comes close enough for my needs. My current portable is a HP Elite X2 1011 G1 (yep that's a mouthful), it's a previous generation version of their current 1012 G2 product. It's a Surface-style convertible that is as fast as a typical business desktop machine, with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB M.2 SSD onboard. The keyboard base has 2x USB3, a SmartCard slot, full size DisplayPort output, some sort of HP proprietary dock connector, a TRRS headset jack, and an internal battery. The tablet portion doesn't have any ports other than a TRRS headset jack, but it does have a Wacom stylus as well as a MicroSD slot and onboard LTE celluar data (I'm using a Ting GSM SIM with that).

Using it as a laptop I get 12+ hours of battery life. It draws from the keyboard battery first, so you can run that dry and still have 5 to 6 hours of battery in the tablet, making it an all day machine. It's only slightly bigger than my last convertible, an ASUS Transformer Pad, and much more powerful.

It doesn't have the wide range of ports in this article, but then nothing out there does. If I need VGA/DVI/HDMI I can carry a DisplayPort cable with those ends, and if I need Ethernet I can carry a USB3 to Gigabit adapter. Both would fit in the slim case I kept from the Transformer.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by jeffreymartin99 on Friday February 01, 2019 @10:14AM (#19054717)

There is every possibility of something close to this coming to market. Not every device needs to sell in the millions.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by morganvachon on Friday February 01, 2019 @12:02PM (#19055888)

You’re right, and I’ve owned an example device recently, the GPD Win. In theory it was awesome, a portable x86 Windows 10 gaming device. But in practice, nothing about it was good enough to make it worth the money. The screen was a phone screen that tried desperately to be portrait by default, the keyboard was horrible, and the overall build quality was lacking.

Honestly yes, a device like the one in the article might get a Kickstarter or Indiegogo one day, but it will either be too expensive for what it is, or it will fall short of the list of OP’s desired features.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by nfriedly on Friday February 01, 2019 @03:05PM (#19057952)

FWIW, I have a GPD Win 2 and I love it. I never had a Win 1, but the reports I've heard from people who have had both is that the build quality and keyboard layout were both significantly improved.

They're also working on a new device that is more sysadmin oriented.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by morganvachon on Friday February 01, 2019 @07:04PM (#19060001)

I will say this, their customer support was top-notch for the Win 1. They were known to send replacement keyboards, fans, and even system boards, well past the original warranty date. They also still give out proper Windows 10 license keys for devices that came with invalid keys, even years later. I know this because the one I bought from eBay was not activated, and when I tried to activate with the supplied key it refused. I emailed their support and within a few hours had a working valid key.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by tluyben2 on Friday February 01, 2019 @10:27AM (#19054832)

Yep, look at the Gemini or the Pocket (2). Niche systems which are apparently worth making.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by bigbugbag on Sunday February 03, 2019 @09:30AM (#19069706)

look at the pyra: https://pyra-handheld.com/

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by tluyben2 on Sunday February 03, 2019 @02:18PM (#19071552)

Yep I bave the Pandora snd paid for the Pyra as well. Lovely things.

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by bigbugbag on Sunday February 03, 2019 @09:27AM (#19069691)

Of course something similar to this can come to market, there is a market for this as nothing actually answer to these needs even if it is a niche market.

the success of the openpandora[1] demonstrated without a doubt that as long there is demand for a specialized hardware based upon having a real keyboard then it is possible to successfully sell, and now the pyra[2] is following.

I would not be happy with your HP Elite, a convertible is definetely not suitable for any serious work, lacking an ethernet port is a no go.

[1]: https://www.openpandora.org/ [2]: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

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Re:A small notebook for a system administrator by morganvachon on Wednesday February 06, 2019 @06:09PM (#19101109)

> I would not be happy with your HP Elite, a convertible is definetely not suitable for any serious work, lacking an ethernet port is a no go.

I guess it depends on one’s definition of “serious work”. I do just fine with a USB3 -> Gigabit adapter the three or so times a year I actually need it. In turn, I could never get any “serious work” done on your Pandora’s tiny 5” screen. My device suits my workload perfectly. :-)

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