[SGVLUG] Complete Tangent From: Linux laptops (with Peripherals)

[Henry B (Hank) Hotz, CISSP]

I’m interested in a mid-large laptop with 32GB ram and 14+ inch screen.

More particularly, I want a built-in smart-card reader (or 54mm slot to hold same). Also a TPM. A fingerprint reader would be nice, but I’m not as hard-over as you might think.

I haven’t finished looking at the HW auth features of the Intel Skylake, but I assume I’ll eventually want that. I expect those CPUs don’t come too low-end yet and all have AES-NI; probably should get a quad-core machine for VMs.

Some reasonable assortment of ports. None of this “one USB-C to rule them all” stuff. 

I’m pretty sure I can get this stuff from Dell, though it’s probably pricy. I’m not sure how to find out about SC and fingerprint reader options from Dell’s web site yet.

Is there anyone *else* that might support this kind of gear? (I’d rather avoid Chinese companies like Lenovo, but if the prices are good enough I won’t be dogmatic.)

I’m in nowhere near the hurry that Dustin is, but I thought it was an interesting topic.


Personal: hbhotz at oxy.edu
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