Raptrops shopping Christmas 2025

[tp4tissue]

Which Laptops are ya'll lookn'  @  this holiday?

 

[tp4tissue]

Can't find modern laptops , that are not giant g4m3r laptops that have barrel plugs.

It seems all the smaller portable tops have gone USBC.

This is not good. USBC power delivery relies on very complicated controller ICs for logic because it has to deal with different voltages and current restrictions. These burnout and are not very durable.

[ivanh98]

framework laptops.

[tp4tissue]

Wayyyyyyyy overpriced, you can support their philosophy, but their product is cray cray priced.

[Leslieann]

I don't support new laptops except Framework.
Just no point.

[fohat.digs]

new laptops except Framework.

Those are interesting. I have been assembling my desktops piecemeal for 25 years.

Are the Framework keyboards any good?

[Leslieann]

I haven't heard any complaints but I have seen people trying to mod them with stiffeners, Thinkpad keyboards, mechanicals and RGB.

[tp4tissue]

It actually isn't that hard to make a stiff keyboard, they just refuse to put bigger and more screws where it'd be "less pretty" THE MIDDLE. Which is dumb, cuz it's the bottom. 

[Sniping]

gaming laptop still isn't on my list yet. I've actually been considering a steam deck recently though if thats similar. I've been using my friends and I think it's a pretty decent experience.

[tp4tissue]

RDNA 5 hasn't really come to mobile yet, you'll want to wait for that on the next handheld. Might be pretty expensive.

[Sniping]

RDNA 5 hasn't really come to mobile yet, you'll want to wait for that on the next handheld. Might be pretty expensive.

it'll take a while before it gets released, integrated into a new model, and gets sold for cheap on second hand for me to buy.

[Leslieann]

Another note regarding XPS which I only heard about today,  Dell is no longer ensuring that their systems are 100% Linux compatible, particularly XPS.

While this may not have mattered to Windows users in the past the death of Windows 10 and the price crash of non-Win11 compatible systems means that maybe that should be a consideration since it's possible Win12 or 13 may not also be compatible with current XPS models and that means they won't work on Windows or Linux and that will make them worth their weight in scrap metal.  Can't happen? It already has, remember the Surface RT tablet, an ARM based Windows tablet? Linux users were drooling at the idea of a quality ARM tablet they could buy for cheap once MS dropped support for it, unfortunately for everyone they released a Bios update shortly before the end that locked out Linux from being installed.

This also happens to wireless routers, old routers are pretty worthless, but ones that use open source firmware tend to hold value and can be used for far longer. One model actually sold for retail price or higher for probably a decade after it stopped being produced simply because it had so many alternative firmware with support than any other wireless router you could buy and this was long after we had transitioned to much faster wireless bands.

[tp4tissue]

The XPS has this weird ceramic coating on the keyboard now. it's just weird. And it noticeably makes the keys pop up slower because of the extra mass. 

[noisyturtle]

I miss e-machines. My Dad has an old one with a fold-out keyboard he uses just for writing and sending emails. It is just so small and convenient.

[Leslieann]

I miss e-machines. My Dad has an old one with a fold-out keyboard he uses just for writing and sending emails. It is just so small and convenient.

You can get all sorts of small computers these days.
From large to small...
Most major manufacturers make toaster size boxes these days as small or smaller than old Emachines.
Example https://www.newegg.com/p/3F8-0005-00320
You can even build desktops this size and about half this size using ITX parts, my old gaming system was smaller than an old Emachine even with a GTX 1070 GPU. While you can, these are often somewhat more costly and definitely need research to ensure parts compatibility and sufficient cooling if you D.I.Y. it. My newer one is about the same size in volume as an old Emachine yet it has a Radeon 9700 XT.

Dell, HP and Lenovo both offer SFF boxes 6x6x2inches. Businesses LOVE these.
For example https://www.newegg.com/p/3F8-0003-00X86

And then you have the NUC and ultra small stuff, 4x4x2inches. You can even get these in kits where you add memory and drives to them.
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16883151449
Note, many of these are poorly made and do have a slightly shorter lifespan (4-7 years or so), usually due to poor thermal design. Despite that drawback, people love these.

You can even get keyboards now with laptops built into them, though these are few and far between and have some serious compromises.

[tp4tissue]

The boards warp when it gets hot, so the solder underneath the cpu cracks over time.  Can't fix without re-balling.

[noisyturtle]

I miss e-machines. My Dad has an old one with a fold-out keyboard he uses just for writing and sending emails. It is just so small and convenient.

You can get all sorts of small computers these days.
From large to small...
Most major manufacturers make toaster size boxes these days as small or smaller than old Emachines.
Example https://www.newegg.com/p/3F8-0005-00320
You can even build desktops this size and about half this size using ITX parts, my old gaming system was smaller than an old Emachine even with a GTX 1070 GPU. While you can, these are often somewhat more costly and definitely need research to ensure parts compatibility and sufficient cooling if you D.I.Y. it. My newer one is about the same size in volume as an old Emachine yet it has a Radeon 9700 XT.

Dell, HP and Lenovo both offer SFF boxes 6x6x2inches. Businesses LOVE these.
For example https://www.newegg.com/p/3F8-0003-00X86

And then you have the NUC and ultra small stuff, 4x4x2inches. You can even get these in kits where you add memory and drives to them.
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16883151449
Note, many of these are poorly made and do have a slightly shorter lifespan (4-7 years or so), usually due to poor thermal design. Despite that drawback, people love these.

You can even get keyboards now with laptops built into them, though these are few and far between and have some serious compromises.

Oh I meant more those tiny laptops that are purely functional for lite travel work. Like a cross between a laptop and a tablet, perhaps e-machine was the wrong term.
The one my Dad had a keyboard that gull-winged out when you opened the laptop to a full sized kb, yet could fit in the front pocket of a backpack.

[Leslieann]

Oh I meant more those tiny laptops that are purely functional for lite travel work. Like a cross between a laptop and a tablet, perhaps e-machine was the wrong term.
The one my Dad had a keyboard that gull-winged out when you opened the laptop to a full sized kb, yet could fit in the front pocket of a backpack.

Check out GPD, they're pretty much the only ones making tiny laptops these days.
https://gpdstore.net/product-category/gpd-handheld-gaming-pcs/

Also a modern 13in is the size of older 12in (or smaller), though I always liked them a bit smaller..
There is a couple small HPs however they're so low power (M class at best) I'd consider it disposable and pretty much only going to work well with linux and light duty.

There is a sneaky one though.
You may have seen the 11.6in Lenovo 100e, they're usually Celerons or ARM and often running Chrome, but there was a (very, very) limited 3rd gen 100E run for education with Core I3 6100u, removable ram and ssd (m.2 sata, not NVME). They don't come up on Ebay very often and even finding info on them is difficult but they do exist (I have one). And while the laptop is hard to find, the only unique part is the motherboard, everything else is compatible with the Celeron and ARM models, so the most commonly damaged parts are plentiful.  I got mine 3 years ago (?)  for $80(?) it had no drive, ram or battery, so while they're cheap, they are not plentiful.
https://icecat.biz/p/lenovo/20gb000qus/thinkpad-laptops-thinkpad+11e+-3rd+gen-30812164.html
I should note, yes it's a 6th gen processor, Intel was pretty much treading water for quite a while and for basic computing, even 6th gen is usable, especially if you install linux.

[tp4tissue]

Hesitant, should we skip this year, because AMD's releasing some mega GPU upgradz 2026.