Good laptop for a commonplacebook?

[Justincredible76]

Ive been looking for good laptops for a commonplace book, and one key feature i want is that i want the laptop to have a good keyboard. I now work at bestbuy and we have a lenovo thinkpad for around $850. I love the keyboard compared to how any of the other laptop keyboards feel, its very nice and smooth to type on. To those of you who have a commonplace book, what do you guys suggest using? Mostly need a comfortable keyboard and longevity, but feel free to suggest other features you enjoy!

[CreamCat]

I think you are distracted with finding a laptop for a commonplace book. Any good general-purpose laptop is good for a commonplace book.

I suggest a few options

• A laptop with a replaceable keyboard
• A laptop with a decent keyboard

You also want to buy a good USB or bluetooth keyboard because a laptop's keyboard cannot endure nearly as much use as a good external keyboard.

Use a laptop keyboard only when you have to if you really want to get the most longevity out of it.

If you move with your laptop a lot, you could purchase a small tenkeyless bluetooth keyboard. A mechanical keyboard or an electrocapacitive keyboard is going to last long.

Edited November 3, 2019 by CreamCat

[Ingit]

Surface Pro.

[ExodiaGearCEO]

I got a 2018 MacBook Pro 15 inch. I used it for my commonplace books and it honestly feels great!

[Justincredible76]

@CreamCat  I really haven't put that much thought into it, i just found a laptop with a keyboard i liked at my store. Hasnt taken up much of my time. Regardless i like your suggestions and ill probably get an external keyboard to bring with me wherever i go. Replaceable keyboard also sounds good.

@Ingit  surface seems like a good option, but if i get a surface pro  i would probably only use an external keyboard; preferably id like to type on a cherry MX keyboard because those feel great to the touch. Leo says he uses a macbook air which seems like a good option but i feel i may be better off with a new model surface book if im spending that much. Im not exactly sure how they compare to the macbook air in terms of lightness and longevity though. Surfaces have front and back cameras, which are nice if i need to add a photo quickly. I can also turn the surface into a tablet which may be nice if i need to draw a diagram of some sort. Still open to whatever options though, im just listing some things i can off the top of my head. @ExodiaGearCEO I dont know alot about macs so im not sure of the advantages.

[Arthur]

You already know the answer - Lenovo ThinkPad is the best value for your $$ on the market.

Take it from the expert: 

(as you can see at 28:20 it can be water-cooled too )

 

[CreamCat]

Combining surface pro or iPad with a small bluetooth/USB keyboard is also a good choice.

You might want to buy a small bluetooth/USB keyboard and a pouch so that you can put it in a backpack safely.

But, file management on iPad is not great. You could just use a touch keyboard on iPad, too if your iPad is big enough.

Edited November 4, 2019 by CreamCat

[Ingit]

@Justincredible76 I personally have Surface Pro. And use one note for making and storing my class note... Really That device makes my work lighter and easy light weight, on go to carry... excellent battery life....

[nowimhere]

I have two google chromebooks. They both have SSD's , are incredibly fast and quiet as a mouse. I use my newer chromebook for commonplace only because that's when I found out about, and implemented this method. 

They are cheap computers, and they work amazingly well! 

[supremeyingyang]

Congratulations. This is truely one life transforming Decision:)

ANSWER: Use whatever Laptop you have, BUT if you want to buy a laptop AND have enough $ buy a Lenovo.

I've used a commonplacebook (analog and digital) for almost 10 years now. I'll go into the depth for anyone who wants to read it:

1. Hardware

I use Lenovo with Windows with Linux under the hood. I used to use Mac with OSX and later Linux, but in my humble opinion they got worse every year since Steve Jobs died. There is no Soul left.  Search for 'Mac Luis Rossmann' on Youtube and you find rants about it.  But the Hardware is still good, but costly and you can't easily replace anything any more.

2. Software
Dont. Use. MS. One. Note.

Try Zim.
it is a Desktop wiki but with Plain Text. Why? Read this. You don't want your most valueable Information in the Hand of Microsoft. PLUS: What will you do if they stop developing One Note? Plain Text will be there FOREVER no matter what comes.

3. Analog

Write with a pen on paper. Doodle. It will help you learn. Years later you can go back to you books and read... I have around 20 books (mostly from college and related studies)

Edited November 19, 2019 by supremeyingyang

[Justincredible76]

@supremeyingyang good information here thank you. Also i want to know, are there any features i would be losing switching to zim from onenote? 

[Justincredible76]

@MaximilianIV what are the dangers of not having that macs security? Why not just use windows? In not too keen on the security aspect so these are actual questions, not an indication of a disagreeing position. Or what about linux? I have a mac now that i just found, its my mothers old laptop that ill just use for a while. Id like to upgrade the OS to either windows or linux, i might try linux but im not sure of how it compares to windows. 

I don't mind learning a new OS but to my knowledge windows has the most possibilities available to me. Also what are downsides to using cloud based storage? Just the money aspect? Or is there more? If there exist backup drives that can wirelessly connect and backup my device i can keep at home then i feel that would shift me towards using one over a cloud service. 

[Justincredible76]

@nowimhere a chromebook may be a good option for a laptop that functions as only a notebook and that only, but i was thinking of getting more versatility from my machine. Id like to have one that has the possibility to download different programs that may assist my endeavors, maybe have the possibility to play a game on it. Maybe i shouldn't have those available to me though, i don't know. 

[supremeyingyang]

21 hours ago, Justincredible76 said:

@supremeyingyang good information here thank you. Also i want to know, are there any features i would be losing switching to zim from onenote? 

There are some cool features in MS One Note.

One Note..

.. is a little more intuitive if you plan to paste pictures or screenshots
.. is from Microsoft, which can be a advantage if you have to work with MS Products

At the end it is personal, but I like the open approach of Zim more because I want to use that book in 30 + years..

Watch this about Zim. The guy is a little technical and uses no pictures (which you can paste in directly or as links). The nice thing is that you can Zim (basicly folders and folder with textfiles or whatever you want) into the CLOUD. Now you can access you Information from everywhere.

 

[nowimhere]

@supremeyingyang - The Version of MS One Note I'm using (free version) pushes everything to the cloud too. It's great ! 

[supremeyingyang]

On 11/21/2019 at 7:30 AM, nowimhere said:

@supremeyingyang - The Version of MS One Note I'm using (free version) pushes everything to the cloud too. It's great ! 

I have no doubt. And that's cool if it works for you.

I like my thoughts accessible in a textfile instead of a program for several reasons. And my stuff in the cloud too.

Edited November 23, 2019 by supremeyingyang