Laptops I Might Like
The most important factor that I look at when judging a laptop is its build quality. I don’t want a laptop that feels cheap with a wobbly screen, flexible or creaky chassis, terrible trackpad or keyboard, loud fans, etc. That’s more important to me than performance. I also prefer a screen size between ~12” and ~13” and with a 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratio.
I would like a laptop that is thin, light, and has a relatively small footprint. I really don’t need a lot of performance (plus, I would prefer lower-end processor models to limit fan noise), so I don’t need anything recent and would prefer to buy from the used market.
Any laptop I buy must be able to run OpenBSD with working Wi-Fi, suspend and resume, and generally not have terrible battery life (at least 6 hours please).
In no particular order, these are the models I am considering if I was to get a laptop today:
| Model | Screen | Weight | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Reference Specs) | 12.1” | 1.08kg | 282x216x26mm |
| MNT Reform | 12.5” | 1.90kg | 290x205x40mm |
| MNT Pocket Reform | 7.0” | X.XXkg | 200x126x45mm |
| Thinkpad X1 Nano | 13.0” | 0.97kg | 293x208x14mm |
| Thinkpad X13 | 13.3” | 1.19kg | 306x217x18mm |
| Thinkpad X1 Carbon | 14.0” | 1.12kg | 315x222x15mm |
| Dell XPS 13 9300 | 13.4” | 1.30kg | 295x199x09mm |
| Dell XPS 13 9380 | 13.3” | 1.27kg | 302x199x12mm |
| GPD WIN Max 2 | 10.1” | 1.00kg | 227x160x23mm |
| MacBook Air M1 | 13.3” | 1.29kg | 304x212x16mm |
| MacBook Air M2 | 13.5” | 1.24kg | 304x215x11mm |
| HP Elite Dragonfly | 13.5” | 0.99kg | 297x220x16mm |
| Framework | 13.5” | 1.30kg | 296x229x16mm |
| ASUS Zenbook S13 | 13.3” | 1.10kg | 296x210x15mm |
Update: I chose the Dell XPS 13 9380
You might also be interested in my opinion on Framework laptops.