Lenovo Thinkpad T410 or Dell Latitude E6420 for Mint?


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I'm thinking of buying a used laptop to either dual boot Windows 7 and Linux Mint or just run Mint full time.  I'm leaning more towards the latter at this point.  I'd like to know if either are good laptops that will basically work "out of the box" with a Mint install.  I found a Thinkpad T410 and a Dell Latitude E6420 and I'm trying to decide between the two.  The Dell has twice the RAM and a CPU based off Sandy Bridge.  I'm thinking about getting the Dell just on specs alone but want to make sure there's drivers for all the options the Dell offers.  Any thoughts on either laptop or other suggestions will be very welcome!  Thanks.

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I'm having a bit of a trouble deciding something similar. I'm trying to find an affordable laptop with a nice resolution for homework. I'll be using a dual boot of 10/Ubuntu.

I'd say the Dell Latitude over the Thinkpad. I've had a few Thinkpads for work related deals, and they've all been a massive pile of poo. I work a lot with Dell, and their CSRs are pretty darn helpful, and quite nice. 

Post the specs, would ya?

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LOL, I managed about 100 E6420s at my old job. They're ok.. Dell have good support - drivers are easily accessible using the service tag. Support is pretty good too. Worked with Dell machines plenty over the past 15 years or so (Enterprise support). Gosh, God knows how many I've ordered over the years lol. 

I'd go the thinkpad, because... It's a thinkpad! Buy me a T450s plz.

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Thinkpad T410:

Intel i5 2.4 GHZ (I think it's the first gen i5)
4GB Ram
300 GB Hard Drive
DVD/RW Drive
Webcam
SD Card Reader

 

Dell Latitude E6420:

Full specifications:
Intel Core i5-2520M @ 2.50 GHz
8 GB of RAM
300 GB HDD
Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
Wireless N
Bluetooth
Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI Port

The Dell is 50 dollars more but I think it's worth it.  I had to put this project on hold for a few weeks because I just got a 4k monitor and that ate the funds for the laptop.  I'm still planning on this, it's just going to be a few weeks before I can actually buy it.  Any other brands/models other than these two that would be better in the 150-250 USD range?

Edited by Open Minded
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More RAM, I5 is TWO generations newer. All I like on the T410 (I like T-Pads, but this is an older one) is the SD card and most people don't need or care if that is present.

At face value, to me the Dell looks better.

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As much as I love Thinkpads I would also say the Dell is better. I have a T410 at home also and use Dells at work.

I know Thinkpads have official support for Linux in some form but not sure what Dell has. Then again these systems are popular so I'm sure they made drivers also available for them.

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