A Linux laptop

Some time ago I had to dig a bit deeper into Bluetooth protocol to figure out the issue with another device not being to connect to ours (problem ended up being their SDP driver that failed if device didn't provide UUID16, so substandard implementation there, shame on them.)  Kali linux, being essentially a custom-made tool for all kinds of analyzing and testing of this kind, proved to be very useful as it comes loaded with tools to see in detail what happens with Bluetooth connections.

I had to use my laptop to run Kali from a live CD and doing that I came to conclusion that I would need a dedicated Linux computer from now on - live images, while very handy, are just way too slow and bothersome for normal use (and a brief experiment with virtualized system indicated that it was just too unreliable - USB Bluetooth modules just didn't work properly)

So I decided to go and get a cheap-ish laptop I could install Linux to for future use. However, when I started to go through list of cheap laptops available I ran into a problem: essentially every single one of them were listed of having issues either with WIFI or Bluetooth drivers, or worst, both. Considering that Bluetooth was pretty high on my "need to do that" list, this was unacceptable.

So I shelved the idea for some time.

Later, however, I took a look at the laptop I originally ran the Kali in - both WLAN and Bluetooth ran fine with it (laptop was old(ish) Asus X550 series, by the way.)  So... Why wouldn't I install Linux to that?

So, I walked in a shop, got another Laptop for Windows use, moved everything over and installed Linux Mint Cinnammon to older laptop. And now I have nicely working laptop for Linux and newer one for doing legacy stuff in Windows. As a bonus, Linux laptop actually has full disk encryption I can trust, unlike windows one that wants to upload my encryption keys to their servers...