I feel like this is a case for framework support. They were better than your generic IT team when I interacted with them. Maybe they have a better idea of what is going wrong.

From experience, older thinkpads usually sell for cheap, come with an inbuilt monitor, and are built sturdy. Highly recommend.

I would keep it simple and use the zoom web client and restrict as much as possible.

However, if you must have an app, they support linux. Then you can sandbox it as you would other apps on your machine.

Going into another partition might be a bit safer, but I’m not sure the privacy vs convinience tradeoff works.

I saw that. I get around 5-6 hrs right now (with napkin math - 61W/55W = 1.1 * 6 = 6.6hrs?) . To be honest I am not sure if the difference is worth it. It is incomparable to the massive capacity of something like an M1.

I think using a framework is a unique experience. I don’t worry about breaking it nearly as much as I did with my old thinkpads. Like my hardware key shorted itself and took my usb port with it. But, instead of it costing me a new laptop, it was 1 week, ~$10, and I was back in business.

Also, Linux support has been great so far. The only thing I had to do was install the brightness stuff they document.

I also heard they’re working on coreboot, so that may be a thing. Also the fact that the motherboard is released to all repair shops is quite nice (at least there is some potential for some type of community audit).

Also, the laptop is super slick. The only complaint I have is maybe the battery life, but I’m not on the newest generation, and I don’t know what has changed. Highly recommend.

I found OsmAnd~ to not only be good on foot, but also on bike. It sometimes plans more aggressive routes than google which saves time (side streets for less distance, opposite directions on one ways…). Take this with a grain of salt though, because I ride primarily in NYC.