Also: eating random slug you find on the street.

Debian or Linux Mint

Arch would actually stand a chance.

Oh hey! I used to have a Latitude E6430! I’ve seen my college buddy’s E6420 and they’re not too far apart (we’d get these upcycled laptops when we’re lucky from a local e-waste company).

I can vouch for their ruggedness. Definitely not on par with Thinkpads, but they’re pretty up there.

I didn’t get the chance to upgrade much aside from the RAM and SSD, handed it down to a friend in need while upgrading my arsenal to Thinkpads.

One thing that bothered me is how heavy it is for a 14 inch laptop; that bezel is humongous. Also, it stings then I touch the palmrest wrong while charging.

That applies even to you.

Yup, WDR4300 on OpenWRT is the way to go.

Had that running on my main router until a newer one came along. Now it’s still going strong, but as a wifi repeater.

The newer ones are actually less well-built.

I have a T14 Gen 3 from work to confirm with. It’s definitely not bad, but not as rugged.

Meanwhile, for personal use, I got a X230, and a W530, and they are much more solid. A lot of people said that T480 is the “last great Thinkpad”, but I don’t have one so I cannot confirm this.

Careful now, they are too old to be secure. I’d switch to TL-WDR4300.

Hell yeah!

Don’t go in there, man.

That’s an interesting metaphor

Probably not worth watching anyways.

Thanks, Mr. Obvious!

Slightly off-topic, but that is some interesting blogging platform.

Galium Nitride. It makes high current DC stuff more efficient (i.e. generates less heat) and requires less circuitry (i.e. smaller devices).

I appreciate that you’re really thorough, both with that explaination as well as the implementation in the first place.

I guess I’ve never give it much thought. I mean, I’m familiar with electricity, but I’m paying dirt cheap for it.

One more question: How do you do your lighting? Most light fixtures I know are using e27 bulbs, which are AC powered. I know the LED panels requires driver circuits between them and the main, theoretically they probably could live off your DC straight-up, but they’re generally a pain to work with.

Should be okay, that USB-PD would detect the correct voltage and current.

I’m curious as to what exactly you do with it as an off-grid person, and what you mean by DC-to-DC converter.

I think the real game changer here is the USB-PD. I now only bring a single charger for both my laptop and my phone. Also, a lot of different laptops now charge with USB-C, getting rid of the need of different plugs.

Props to the Thinkpad USB-C retrofit hack. Granted they only work with 65w, but it is still great! My Anker Nano GaN charger is only a little bit larger than an ice cube, definitely smaller than most traditional USB charger, yet it packs 65w.

Thank fuck, I thought that’s a bunch of C4 and you’re trying to smoke a whole village.

Fuck, man, that is some depressing backstory.