Considering a Dedicated Windows Laptop for Ham Radio...

I have an old beater IBM Thinkpad that does far more than I need for ham radio.

 

Go to Best Buy & pick a laptop that suits yer fancy. WIN10 runs it all, don't listen to the haters, it's probably phallic compensation. Oh, recycle the Mac. (Never did drink the koolaid)

 

I'll be running the Mac into the ground... feels like a well worn glove

Thanks!

 

That's the way to do it. My most powerful machine at home is AMD64 desktop (running Ubuntu) going back to 2005. Sure it's a bit slow, especially browsing news websites overloaded with Ads and requests
to external analytics, but as long as it's working, not going to spend anything on a new computer

 

I'm using an OLD IBM ThinkPad T-22. It originally used Win 2000, and then was upgraded to Win XP. I want to use it's parallel printer interface, which works with my LaserJet printer, but it also has a true RS-23sc port, without USB adapters. I'd rather not learn Linux than the Windoze interface, but I have a problem with Windows activation, despite loading from the OEM disks.

 

I was reading recently there are linux versions that look similar to Windows. I don't know which ones that would be.

KDE and Gnome interfaces are an icon environment. The Macs are good computers, but I don't have one. Can't afford it.

My Win 8.1 laptop was giving me problems, so now its Linux Mint 18.2 as I couldn't get help for fixing it. Mostly I was told to get Win 10 which I have on this desktop, with ClassicShell installed. I don't have a touch screen.

Win 10S is not regular windows, and you want to avoid the ones that only work when you can connect to the Internet.

edit:

Almost forgot. My current 'desktop' computer isn't really a desktop computer. It has a 90w brick power adapter, just like a laptop/notebook computer would have. But it was cheap.

 

Get real with one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-ZBOX-EN1070K-U-MAGNUS-GeForce-Barebone/dp/B06ZY6CSDM

 

You mean get real wasteful with your money ? Or what's the point ? Pretty much any computer not older than 5-7 years with at least 4GB of RAM will handle Windows XP (or similar) and
HAM workload under virtualization. That means there is no need to spend even $300 on anything

 

HRD recommends more machine than what the older machines have, To make all of the bloatware work.

But you are correct, A cheaper machine will do. One with Win 10 is worth at least $100-200.

 

You may consider a "gently used" older laptop. MOST Ham software does not require the "latest and greatest" hardware. I'm trying to get an IBM T-22 laptop up and running XP Pro, because it still has one USB port, but also had REAL RS-232C and Parallel printer ports, not found on modern computers. My computer has just 1 GB (shared) memory, so it won't run Win 7. If I have to, I can regress to Win 98SE, which should support most Ham applications.