So I'm looking for a laptop, but before you downvote and move on, I've got a twist: I'm looking for a laptop with Linux support that's going to intentionally be console-only and rely on TUIs to make a lower-distraction device.
I was looking at older Thinkpads with 4:3 screens and the good keyboard before Lenovo went all chicklet with them, but I'm kinda concluding they're both way too expensive AND way too old to be a reasonable choice at this point.
A X220 or T40-whatever would be great and be the perfect aesthetic, but they're expensive, hard to find parts for, and using enough crusty old shit that this becomes yet another delve into retro computing and not one into practical, useful computing which is the goal here.
So, anyone have any recommendations of any devices in the last decade that have a reasonable keyboard, screen, use modern enough components that you can source new drives and RAM and batteries and such, and preferably aren't coated in a coating that's going to turn to sticky goo?
Thin(ner) and light(er) would be nice, but probably not a dealbreaker if the rest of the pieces align. This will be almost entirely used at a table for writing and such.
I've had a very, very American week.
It's been shockingly cold (15-ish, but in Texas so that's a life-threatening emergency), but all the money I've put into repairs and replacements of house stuff has kept me from completely freezing, just a little frostbitten.
...At least, until tomorrow, when everything should thaw and I find out how many plumbing repairs are going to be required due to burst pipes/broken faucets/etc.
And my LGS got all of my new guns in as a single shipment which they didn't expect, so that happened a few weeks earlier than expected. Now to spend an infinite amount of money on ammo, accessories, and sundries.
I've also got all the chicken coop and planter beds lumber and assorted other hardware sitting in the back yard waiting for a time wherein I won't freeze to death to build them. Should be big enough for 4 hens, which means I fully expect to be a millionaire by July.
I need to get some potato and carrot and onion seeds (yes I know, potato seeds aren't really seeds) for the raised beds. I've decided I'm going to scale way back and just do some basic root vegetables instead of my more ambition leafy vegetables and fruits and herbs plan, because I just plain don't think I have room to grow enough of that to matter.
And I have my MSF course scheduled in two weeks, so assuming I don't completely flop, I'll be legally allowed to smear my entrails across the highway via an oopsie on a motorcycle.