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!
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.
And decently easy to repair / have repaired at a computer shop, wether its the battery, RAM, CPU, keyboard, screen, or any and I mean ANY of the external connectors!
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 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 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.
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.
ams
No concerns, just that a bad keyboard can completely ruin a laptop for me (XPS being one). It’s all subjective I guess. After posting the above I came across an entire thread on the subject, most saying the keyboard is good enough. Anyway, I ordered a Framework 13 after reading those comments. Thanks for the reply.
I often skip first gens hence why I got a 12th gen and then upgraded it to a 7040 series. Super happy with the battery life and performance.
My “budget” until my new laptop was “hey you just got a new pc? What was wrong with your old one? Slow as hell? Can I buy it cheap and tinker?”
Friends/family always give me the best price especially when they think it’s just “too old” and think I’m crazy, they don’t know the problem is windows.
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).
there is a x13s arm thinkpad that can run pmos and other distros
its also snapdragon based
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
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€.
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.
Thinkpads, macs and dells are what I use.
They’re cheap and have lots of spare parts lying around.
Plus one for Dell. I get some 4 year old decommissioned dells from my company and a 5300 is now my daily driver
i like my laptop cause i already have it, and have gotten to know it quite well over the past 16 years, but i wouldn’t recommend it. it would be nice to have more than 4gb of memory these days, cause i can’t have too many tabs open on firefox without it bogging down.
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 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.
Thats not budget though, the cheapest macbook is £750
you can get em for pretty cheap used
I’m talking about the refurbished ones.
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?
Maybe - but I seem to recall also checking out Debian testing also = no joy.
I bought a Lenovo about 2 years ago that I’ve been really happy with. I wanted something with a metal shell because I carry my laptop around sometimes and use it balanced on one hand, and my previous Dell (plastic) started flexing and having weird issues with the TouchPad as a result. The Lenovo has been solid. I’m running Kubuntu on it, but my plan is to go Debian at some point.
I cannot say that I have done extensive testing, but the Acer Swift 315-51G and Gigabyte Aero WV8 that I have both worked fine with Linux with zero prior research on my part. No issues with any drivers, even the SD card readers, although I have not checked the fingerprint sensor on the Acer. Maybe I have just been lucky.
Both have hybrid Nvidia graphics, though, and 10-series and prior hybrid graphics especially, as I understand, have issues with high idle power usage unless you manually disable the dGPU when not gaming, which I had to do using envycontrol and nearly doubled my battery life on both. I might avoid hybrid dGPUs and especially older ones unless you need that.
Used laptop-wise, I agree with others that a used business laptop like a Dell would probably be your best bet.
