Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: Pusci on August 12, 2013, 03:51 am

Title: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Pusci on August 12, 2013, 03:51 am
Hey guys , dunno if i should even bother asking the question on a forum like this ?

But anyway im sure there would be some experts out there that mite want to help me out .

I have next to no idea about computers etc , but basically what i am after is a really lightweight portable laptop with the most amount of battery life i can get (need it for extensive traveling)

It will be setup with a tails bootable usb stick and only used with that.

I really don't have a clue where to start looking , so any help would be awesome!

Thanks.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: fordingtheharrison on August 12, 2013, 03:55 am
basically what i am after is a really lightweight portable laptop with the most amount of battery life i can get (need it for extensive traveling)

The new Macbook Air, just to answer that specifically. As far as I know it has the best battery life on the market currently without using a huge battery pack.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Diceman on August 12, 2013, 03:57 am
Ebay has tons of off-lease corporate laptops with the hard drives removed for less than $100.  Perfect for doing the usb tails thing.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Pusci on August 12, 2013, 04:00 am
Ebay has tons of off-lease corporate laptops with the hard drives removed for less than $100.  Perfect for doing the usb tails thing.

Cheers man ill have to have a look at that.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: spectrum on August 12, 2013, 04:25 am
The new Macbook Air, just to answer that specifically. As far as I know it has the best battery life on the market currently without using a huge battery pack.

OP wants to use the laptop to boot Tails, which is hard to do on a Mac.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Pusci on August 12, 2013, 04:38 am
What kind of specs would a laptop need for browsing SR fluently and watching hd movies from a portable HD , i wouldn't need anything to flash would i ?
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Diceman on August 12, 2013, 04:50 am
What kind of specs would a laptop need for browsing SR fluently and watching hd movies from a portable HD , i wouldn't need anything to flash would i ?

Those are actually at opposite ends of the spectrum as to hardware requirements.  My suggestion about the off-lease laptop pertains to using tails for SR, as that would require very little in terms of memory/processor speed.  However watching HD movies would require a more high end machine.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: kmfkewm on August 12, 2013, 05:06 am
What kind of specs would a laptop need for browsing SR fluently and watching hd movies from a portable HD , i wouldn't need anything to flash would i ?

You would need a HD resolution screen, which brings the cost up significantly, but it can still be fairly cheap. You could get the cheapest laptop with 1080P resolution and be fine.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Pusci on August 12, 2013, 06:25 am
Sweet as thanks guys , i don't mind spending abit of money .

Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: jampants on August 12, 2013, 06:38 am
Don't buy a lenovo laptop. They are all backdoored.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Diceman on August 13, 2013, 03:05 am
Don't buy a lenovo laptop. They are all backdoored.

Do you have any links that would back that up?  Is the backdoor on the HD? the bios? chipset? details plz.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Smashmouth on August 13, 2013, 04:40 am
Don't buy a lenovo laptop. They are all backdoored.

Do you have any links that would back that up?  Is the backdoor on the HD? the bios? chipset? details plz.

 Here is a lead for you. Post the results of your research.
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/spy_agencies_ban_lenovo_pcs_on_security_HVgcKTHp4bIA4ulCPqC7SL
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Baraka on August 13, 2013, 05:35 am
+1

Thanks so much!

Don't buy a lenovo laptop. They are all backdoored.

Do you have any links that would back that up?  Is the backdoor on the HD? the bios? chipset? details plz.

 Here is a lead for you. Post the results of your research.
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/spy_agencies_ban_lenovo_pcs_on_security_HVgcKTHp4bIA4ulCPqC7SL
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Croskin on August 13, 2013, 05:49 am
I don't recommend Mac for tails or anything that involves manipulating a computer. 
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: fakename709 on August 13, 2013, 12:28 pm
I heard good things about ASUS laptops being durable and well built, but I'm no expert.
If I had to buy one I'd get that. My ex-gf has one and it's clockwork.
I'd avoid any HP product as they are just the opposite (personal experience), cheap and built to last just until the warranty goes off.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Diceman on August 13, 2013, 05:09 pm
Don't buy a lenovo laptop. They are all backdoored.

Do you have any links that would back that up?  Is the backdoor on the HD? the bios? chipset? details plz.

 Here is a lead for you. Post the results of your research.
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/spy_agencies_ban_lenovo_pcs_on_security_HVgcKTHp4bIA4ulCPqC7SL

That's an interesting read.  I think most chipsets are made in china, so it seems odd that only Lenevo would be affected.  Scary shit.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: HenryC0833 on August 13, 2013, 05:24 pm
You don't need a whole lot of ass to run Linux.   I'm running tails on an Acer netbook.  Very nice for travel.  And at less that $300 will be easy to toss in the dumpster should the need arise. 
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: Jack N Hoff on August 13, 2013, 05:27 pm
I heard good things about ASUS laptops being durable and well built, but I'm no expert.
If I had to buy one I'd get that. My ex-gf has one and it's clockwork.
I'd avoid any HP product as they are just the opposite (personal experience), cheap and built to last just until the warranty goes off.

I don't like how the memory is not expandable and you cannot take off the battery from those little ASUS netbooks.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: fakename709 on August 13, 2013, 10:28 pm
Netbooks can be cheap, but every HP product is just like that in my opinion. From printers to laptops.
IIRC they said they would abandon Pc manufactoring some months ago, unfortunately they didn't.
Title: Re: Which laptop to buy ?
Post by: tempo on August 16, 2013, 03:13 pm
Go for a second hand HP EliteBook 2530p or a Dell D430 and pay with cash.
A 12" Display and a Core2Duo CPU is everything you need and with new batterys, you should get 4-5 hours of mobile computing.