Hey, I wanna know your preferred laptops, used is better and to run Linux on it. Something with at least 16gb and 512 SSD is good. Budget range. Thank you!
I just bought the Slimbook Executive and although there’s I’m not a fan of the charger, it’s a beast.
I’ve had good experiences with most modern Dell Laptops. Also Thinkpads. What’s “budget range” to you?
Wouldn’t go really beyond 600 bucks And old or new thinkpads?
New ish. My current Thinkpad is a P14s Gen 1 with a Ryzen 4750U 16GB of RAM, and it came with a 512GB SSD. I paid just under $300 for it on eBay and well worth the cost. I wouldn’t get anything that is still a TXXX variant anymore though (e g. T490), they simplified the product line. So T490 was replaced by the E14 Gen 1, and the P14s Gen 1 is an AMD variant.
Highly recommend. One thing worth noting though is to double check the fingerprint reader if you desire that, the E14 Gen 1 has a reader not compatible with Linux in a functional way. The P14s Gen 1 however does.
And do you a t14 is worthing it?
I haven’t used a T14, just the E14 and the P14S.
If you’re on a small budget, look for older ThinkPad laptops, you can get them for good prices and in good condition and Linux works very well on them.
For mid-range try to find an older Dell XPS 13, they sold those as certified Linux devices nicknamed “Developer Edition” and with an Ubuntu LTS version preinstalled. I have one of those and I run Arch on it. It runs perfectly fine. Also: superb build quality! It’s a very great device.
Thx
Not all Thinkpads work equally well. For the best experience, get an all-Intel one, from one of the more expensive business lines, like the T-series. Consumer models are definitely worse, because employees of big Linux-using tech firms are getting the pro models.
So it’s preferable to take a x, p or t series?
I haven’t kept up with all the various lines they’re up to now, but that looks about right. Also obviously doesn’t hurt to google the exact model. Someone I know got an old tabletty Thinkpad with a touchscreen (don’t know what model) and on that one the webcam doesn’t work on Linux, so something like that can happen.
I bought an E595 back then and it works great. But I dont know how the actual E series behave. There werent also no problems at all with Linux. More important is the question which wifi module you choose, and mine had one from realtek (there were no Intel Option sadly) and the wifi performance wasnt that great because of that.
I am gonna get a shit ton of hate for this… MacBook air. Yes, I am on a Linux sublemmy, saying that I like macs but the hardware is just too good to justify spending money on a x86 laptop.
Though, those new snapdragon X Elite laptops do look pretty spicy… Too bad they weren’t yet announced when I bought my Mac.
Are running 2 Dell’s at home with Linux desktop on them. A 7280 and a 7480 model. Support for drivers etc just works. Dell get’s A+ from me in regards to ease of use with support for Linux. HP’s, not so much - what a struggle…
HP EliteBook 840 G5 or another EliteBook model. Even on Debian everything works fine after a clean install (including special keys), they never die and have a pleasant design.
We are using 845 G8/9/10/11 (AMDs) at work and from my testing with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS I have the opposite experience - nothing works. First problem as I recall (+1 year since I tested) was wifi driver problems.
Maybe that’s a specific Ubuntu thing?
I have an old Lenovo W550s Thinkpad with a 2GB Dedicated Nvidia and an i5 5500U. It’s got two batteries and sips power. It’s only 4 cores, but for what I run it does great. I get fairly consistent 60fps on low settings for “boomer shooters” like Selaco. The thing is an absolute beast and hardly flexes. The plastic is cracked and I can just hand it to my kids without a care in the world. Dump a drink on it, drop it, I could care less. I had them help me change out the RAM and SSD because it’s essentially bound for the dumpster and any value I get out of it is the cherry on top.
That and I can run pretty much and retro gaming console on it to about the Wii/GameCube, which blows my mind. All for probably like $200 of hardware.
A “factory seconds” framework 13 might fit your budget, and you get a laptop that is easily repairable and upgradeable. The 11th gen i7 version that starts at $500 is what I have been using for a couple of years now and still runs great.
They also have refurbished laptops, but those seem to start a little bit more expensive.
Love my 11th gen framework, but there is an issue with the 11th gens where the CMOS battery will die rather quickly. If it does die then the laptop needs to be plugged in to turn on, even if it is fully charged. Framework is aware of the issue and will send a free replacement battery or, if you can solder, a mod that will eliminate the issue for good.
Still love framework and would definitely recommend them - but the 11th gen line (their first product) has a few gotchas
I’m thinking about buying a Framework 13 myself, but I worry the keyboard will be a huge downgrade on my current ThinkPad T480. Are the Framework keyboards any good?
I have no complaints with the framework keyboard, is there a particular issue you’re concerned about? The track pad is almost apple quality. Certainly better than most laptops I’ve used.
I prefer to have no laptop at all (but I guess you didn’t want to hear that)
When it comes to expensive laptops, there are plenty of good options for Linux. But for cheaper stuff, your best bet might be a second hand DELL, a model that specifically says that it supports Linux (newer models use some new Intel webcams etc that don’t have support on linux yet).
I bought a ThinkPad new in 2014 for my study for like 1200 euro’s. She’s still happily purring today. Around 2019 I made the mistake of emptying a cup of tea into the ThinkPad accidentally and then holding it upside down to get the water out. I think I should’ve just let it leak out of the bottom since the laptop has holes for that, but I panicked. This broke the keyboard, but not the rest of the laptop. I got an official new keyboard for like 100 euro’s which came with a tool and the simple instructions, and since then everything has been working flawlessly.
So I recommend ThinkPads, although I can’t really say anything about compatibility of new models
Dell Latitude 5000 series are usually bought by corporations for employees. They are made of sturdy metal, and have features like backlit keyboards and physical trackpad buttons. Then, after 2-3 years, or if they have some minor problem, they end up in a giant stack that either never gets diagnosed, or just gets sent to recycling.
I have had fantastic luck getting a couple of these either direct from the company I’m working for, or from ebay or a company that recycles laptops. They usually don’t actually have a problem, and if they do, parts are readily available on ebay. You can end up with a high-spec laptop from just a few years ago for practically nothing.
Thinkpads, macs and dells are what I use.
They’re cheap and have lots of spare parts lying around.
HP EliteBook 840 G5 or other EliteBook models. Even on Debian everything works fine after a clean install (including special keys), they never die and have a pleasant design. You can get one second hand, modern i7 (8th gen +) CPU + 16 GB of RAM for around 500€.
My HP envy x360 AMD with Fedora here. Build quality is really good and the laptop has a nice design.
I have 2 lenovos (ideapad and yoga) and a pinebook. I’m happy with all of them, though I’m happiest with the pinebook and yoga’s impressive battery lives
In the past, ThinkPads, but my next one will probably be an ARM-based one for the performance and power efficiency (e.g. Snapdragon X Elite).
