[Lain]

@ lain: that's why I've been eyeing the Lenovo T450, the GPU, CPU, Display, Memory, HDD, all are upgradeable in it, if you can get the parts, to the point that a laptop bought for $100 could equal a 1K laptop for $600 after upgrades lol.

I actually got a T430s for my girlfriend a while ago. 300CAD but it also came with 8GB RAM and a 300GB SSD. Not too bad, especially for value.
Refurb thinkpads are great, just gotta make sure the refurbisher is competent, since I've seen a bunch of refurbs that completely break (screen popping out of frame entirely/fractured plastic) for one reason or another.

I used to use a W500 at home, but more recently switched to a raspiberry pi based solution.

not enough adaptability with the ports and ran a bit slow.

still cyberdecks are a ways out yet.

I've eyeballed the idea of a cyberdeck a few times, but I figured that if I did make something like that on the run, I'd want absolutely full control over the hardware.
I'm not talking installing linux.
I'm talking getting an FPGA and soldering circuits together inside, and getting another interface to program it on the go. Got a bunch of MCU's lying around , so I'm thinking if I can use a beaglebone as a programming interface (along with a tiny screen and keyboard,) then I can have true full control over things.

I don't know how useful it would be aside from maybe breaking DoorKing boxes to get access to apartment buildings, but honestly you can just do that with a screwdriver and a couple jumper wires Would be a fun project nonetheless.