Looking at the Lenovo website. Options are as follows under processors; Intel core i5 up to i7 along with a pro version, Intel Core Ultra 5 up to 9, then there is AMD Ryzen 3 up to 9 with some pro versions & a Ryzen AI.
Is there a cheat sheet for whats safe vs not from a privacy and security perspective. I know to avoid copilot, but i see some of these processors are advertised in computers with or without copilot. I haven’t worked out how to distinguish between whats privacy centric vs big brother centric or a mesh network risk. I dont think copilot not being advertised is enough to determine safety.
Im looking to run HD microscopy photos/ video (Some times hr’s of footage) for work. As i spend alot of time on the road id also like to games like fortnight or need for speed etc. to play with friends n fam online. Im I asking too much?
Copilot is a Windows feature and what they mean is that the PC is tuned for that, you care to be able to run Linux on the platform and the AI feature will be either useless until it is developed for Linux or anyway it will work to the point that Linux can utilise it for the time being but not to spy on you, only for your apps.
Generally speaking you can’t know what a manufacturer has done in the processor and what backdoors may be running below Linux, in the BIOS etc
The only absolutely open-source choice is IBM OpenPower like Talos OpenPower9.
Nobody knows what’s inside those machines and especially the motherboard and the chipsets which are very complicated using large amounts of proprietary code but anyway you’ll use something commercial, you have no other choice.
Naturally the NPU is a multi-kernel structure like a GPU that makes matrix multiplications mostly and this is why AI and cryptocurrency run efficiently on such architectures.
The lack of privacy comes from Windows that analyze the system and send it to Microsoft, if the Copilot was working only locally it would be useful, Rob has made a video where he developed a small copilot to prove the concept before Microsoft announced it officially.
Thank you. So if i understand correctly. So long as im not running windows 11. Should be ok.
are there risks regarding having duel boot. Does the licencing to run it lead to loss of anonymity from the get go (i just read something about needing to run windows licence before converting it to lynx otherwise microsoft might not grant a new one should u decide to use windows in future.
Id like to go straight lynx and not bother with windows all. together, but dont know how it will affect interacting with others esp windows users and gamers.
first verify that the machine you’re making works with Linux, I think AMD works but others like Snapdragon desktop not at all or limited
the situation has become complicated, it’s better to do the dual boot on different SSD disks
Windows will do anything possible to track you and one way is the TPM chip except if you hack the installation and skip it though your machine will probably have a soldered TPM and not a removable one
Windows officially can’t read Linux partitions like ext4, btrfs etc but I still haven’t been persuaded that it doesn’t do it unofficially and secretly in the background or that it can’t just make an image of the Linux partition and upload it to Microsoft for analysis
regarding licenses I know nothing but Rob has made a video on how to keep Windows 10 forever, they will be working perfectly for many years to come, many users are still on Windows 7 without a problem
I always buy machines without an OS and if not available I build it on my own
I didn’t build an OS, I mean the machine, in the past there were no computers without an OS or with Linux, in the case of desktop you could build it on your own but laptop manufacturers would only sell it with Windows, later this changed while new small manufacturers came into play like System76, Pine64 etc
Considering I’m working comfortably on a 4th generation i7 with 16GB of RAM, why would you go for an expensive system instead for example of multiple 10th Generation ones where you can do as much AI as you like with a GPU card ? One for Windows and one for Linux and maybe a common display.
thats really good thinking. I am leaning to that now.
regarding Generations, i get confused as to what its refering to as there are multiple components to a laptop and i dont seem to easily associate what component “generation” is refering to when its used. seems to sometimes be used in at least 3 different ways. GPU, CPU, the laptop it self … i get a bit lost in it.
i recall mention in one of Robs videos regarding lenovo legion 5 nothing older than 7th Gen. Up to 14 (if i recall correctly, I dont know if thats to do with price or privacy perspective).
Are there generations to avoid and can the gens refering to be specified to make it easy for my noob level of understanding?
Generations concern solely the CPU and laptops use this term for you to know what you’re buying.
Every generation adds hardware features, optimises the power consumption and increases the integration(less nanometers).
High-end CPUs don’t integrate a GPU which is good if you want to throw all the money to the CPU and buy a discrete GPU.
For a powerful GPU you need the generation to support the respective PCI, the most modern one is the PCIexpress 5.0 and you also need a powerful Power Supply Unit(PSU).
All those details can be found on Intel’s and AMD’s websites and of course you have to choose an appropriate motherboard, every generation uses a different motherboard (chipset) so you have to check that the one you choose supports the features and number of ports you need.
You can build a system completely on your own if your are careful with the compatibility , now you can find many cheap new and used parts on aliexpress. You could start with very cheap used ones and replace them if they break or start with minimal features and upgrade later if needed.
Lower than 7th lacks many useful features while later than 14th may not be completely or at all supported, you always stay some generations behind both to avoid problems and don’t buy something that in a year will be available in half the price.
Is there any privacy concerns regarding this Laptop?
I think its good for less than $200. Wanting to upgrade the SSD. I dont know what (P2) means. Will it impact or limit my upgrade options. thinking 1 - 2T. What would be a reasonable price second hand or should id just go for new?
There is another topic where someone bought a similar one but the RAM had a problem and couldn’t be replaced because it’s soldered on the board. I don’t know about modern laptops, I have older larger ones. Better go for 10th generation or above to have a newer machine.
I ended up purchasing the one i mentioned before getting to reading the last response. I reached a point where i had been looking for so long and felt like i was running out of time to have it set up before I commence study. I just needed something to at least get started and learn from up n ready for start of studies.
I will get the experience with this before upgrading to something more ideal post gen 10. as what i found post gen 10 was a bit pricier so i would have been more afraid to make mistakes.
It should be perfect for office use and even for Android Studio which is the most resourceful coding environment.
Heavier activities in which it may not be so effective is gaming and compiling Android or similar big projects.
It’s problematic that the RAM is soldered on the chip but probably all the modern laptops deploy this method for space efficiency.
A dual boot with Windows 10 should be perfect for any software you can’t run on Linux so disable secure boot and install Windows first and then a Linux distribution, the inverse is more complicated so partition the disk during Windows installation and leave some space for Linux and maybe a partition for back-up.
In Linux use a swap file instead of a swap partition because it’s more practical but anytime you could create a swap partition cutting a piece from the end of some other partition.
it’s all clear during installation, first decide whether you want to dual boot because you have to prepare the Windows USB stick too
for Linux follow this procedure, it’s the same for any distribution, Ubuntu dominates but the hardcore privacy users prefer others because they afraid of Canonical’s potential telemetry, Linux, Help w/ Lenovo Yoga - #2 by george
This is an excellent guide. Very Very helpful.