Hi everyone, I use Linux on all my machines since a decade. Unfortunately my laptops are getting older and I will probably have to change them soon. Which Laptops would you recommend me to buy in 2025 a part Librem?
I don’t have a high budget but I’m still looking for something relatively recent. I looked on H-node but it seems that there are not a lot of recent things.
I use Debian as a distro.
DELL Latitude laptops. They’re designed for work, come with repair guides from DELL, and have upgradeability. The 5310 is one of the longest-lasting laptops for battery life you can get for $200-300 on ebay (over 8 hours battery video streaming, I’ve done this) that still has half decent specs (16-64GB RAM upgradeable, upgradeable m.2 wifi / bt adapter, NVMe SSD upgradeable, i5 10th gen)
Runs fine on Debian Stable
I have a dell xps from a few years around and wouldn’t recommend it to my enemies. Just this week it froze and crashed 3 times. Obviously all related to the stupid nvidia and hybrid graphics it has… so maybe if you can get one without that shitty piece of hardware maybe it’s fine.
Latitude is my rec, not XPS. IDK why the XPS always seems to have issues.
As for “stupid hybrid graphics”, my HP Gaming 15 is a few years old now and still kicking… AMD/nVidia GTX dual graphics. Only reason I had to replace a board was because the heatsink wasn’t attached properly from the factory.
And yes, it is a linux laptop too.
Just to second that, the model series is Latitude, not Inspiron. and yeah, the i5 processor options I got over the years beat the i7 on processing power. The Precision models are a step up, but not any kind of low cost and seem not quite as tough.
Try Framework.
You’ll get a laptop sized to your budget and you’ll be able to grow with it, upgrade any part your budget will allow in the future.
Their linux support is excellent.
not to be a downer but you could very likely buy a higher performing laptop than even the top framework laptop for less money than even a minimal build
Yes, but that’s not the point of framework
Framework is a great concept, a great idea for places technology could go, but even its newest offerings are janky. I’ve seen the reviews from people who want to love them. I too want to love them. The modular tech they’re built around is cool as hell but in terms of daily use laptop that moves with you day in day out, it just ain’t it, imho.
Ive run Linux on multiple think pads, a razer laptop, and an asus gaming laptop, and they all work fine. Buy the hardware that works for you, and put Linux on it. It’s that simple.
I daily drive my framework 13 since the first batch, upgraded twice the mobo. I run it on arch Linux, 0 issue whatsoever even after a year bringing it on site like the Texan boonies or on boats in the middle of the golf of Mexico … Compatibility wise with linux, 100% of the peripherals work, even the finger reader thing.
I don’t want to denigrate people that it works for, because I know the people that love them love them.
Has the battery life (more specifically drain while in suspend) gotten better? I’ve heard horror stories on that, port availability (pretty limited ports because each port attachment takes up so much space) and some complaints about build quality and durability.
Out of the box battery was not great for the 11th gen, but with the correct settings I get 0.4-0.5% drain/h in standby.
Just converted their Chromebook over to an AMD system running Fedora. Battery life is what you make it. If you run the processor on performance with the screen brightness high, yeah, it can go quickly. But I can also get a full work day out of it no problem, you just have to keep things in perspective. Plus, you can literally swap to a bigger battery. What other laptop can do that?
Build quality is the same as any other Linux laptop; that is to say, it doesn’t use the fanciest metals; the aluminum is cheap, but so is System76’s metal, which is what it is when you’re keeping costs down for customized laptops. Don’t drop your laptop; you’ll be fine.
Ports are a little limited, but nothing out of the norm for smaller laptops either. You do have the option to swap ports at any time, so there is plenty of versatility you can literally carry with you. Hell, don’t MacBooks only have two ports? Things could be much worse.
The truth is, there is no perfect Linux laptop. Either the Framework appeals, or it doesn’t. Trust that the same way you’re nitpicking Framework could be done to any brand. Find the one you like, and go with it. For some of us, that’s Framework, as it gets closer to our ideal than any other, which is kinda what using Linux is all about: fulfilling our personal ideals.
It’s definitely not jank. Huge fan of mine as well as some other folks here. Fw13 with AMD.
Love mine and daily drive it. Not janky, zero issues. Everything works on Linux. Not sure what you’re referring to.
Can you get more bang for your buck? Yes, to start. But let’s compare after a couple of upgrades on mine vs whole laptop replacements with other brands.
commenter was suggesting that framework allows you to “grow with your budget”
i don’t think this is exactly true in most situations
You can also buy it second hand or get an older version for less money and upgrade later.
The upgradability and reparability is also a cost saving factor on the longer run. I broke the screen once and instead of buying a new laptop or have a costly repair, I just got a replacement for 200 bucks and fixed it easily myself.
That’s cool. Performance per dollar isn’t the only factor for a laptop.
Size
Weight
Durability
Battery life
I/O and other features.
A not dogshit network card
An actually usuable trackpad
I’m sure I could list more. But those are all things that are important on a laptop and you can’t change after you buy it.
Yes, Framework!
It’s great, works perfectly, and you support something (principals, ways) worth supporting!
Something what won’t lead to/support further enshitification of all the things.
(And we might even get usable RISC–V laptops fairly soon - to even further ditch megacorps.)
Used ThinkPad’s are pretty common on Ebay.
They’re what I use. Also with Debian.
“Recent” is a factor of how much you’re willing to shell out.
$300.00USD will get you a good Debian compatible box. You may want to then replace the battery and/or add RAM. Those are both found inexpensively also.
I second used or new Thinkpads. They have good linux support. I use a p14s with arch (btw).
New thinkpads are trash unfortunately. Lenovo really cheaped out on their build quality. I’ve had to fix multiple lenovo laptops and one of their all-in-ones and the corners they cut made the repairs either impossible or extremely difficult.
One new ideapad had to go back to them twice with motherboard issues.
Replacing the keyboard is impossible, you need to replace the whole front panel of the case becuase the keyboard is plastic rivited in place.
The all-in-one started as a simple ram and storage upgrade, but in order to do that the whole back panel needs to come off. Its snapped on but the LCD panel itself doesn’t have any subframe around it, so when opening the back panel theres a very high chance of you cracking the display.
They’re still far better than everything else on the market.
IdeaPads also aren’t ThinkPads. Those are the consumer grade garbage you’d want to stay away from.
Yup, “Thinkpad” not the other Think… or …pad. The consumer targeted stuff is bad, even the Lenovo sales rep I got my P14s told me so.
the thinkpad E/L series are also kinda gnarly
They’re a bit expensive up front, but I’m really enjoying my Framework.
That is very likely to be my next laptop.
I bought a Framework laptop then threw Pop OS on it. I have no issues. They sell refurbished devices and they are modular so you can swap out whatever is giving you issues.
Have you gotten any of the mystery boxes from them?
I have not. I’m not aware of them.
I’m hearing good things about Framework, provided you get the hinge upgrade.
If you need something beefier, personally I’m using a Lenovo Legion 7 (2024 version… that white one, bought it a few months ago), and I’m loving it. Linux Mint worked out of the box, but I chose to replace the stock wifi driver with a better one.
What’s the deal with the hinge upgrade?
I had one of the initial batches and the hinge was too weak. They came out with stronger ones that are much better which I now have. It was cheap and easy to replace
Do they just use the good ones in new models now?
I have no first hand experience, but I read about it here recently:
https://www.projectgus.com/2024/09/18-months-with-framework-laptop/He has another post named “20 months…etc”, where he has done something tweaks and upgrades, and it’s all good.
I have a thinkpad t470 from some years ago as my personal laptop has still works perfectly fine. I destroyed a few things in it, like usb ports and have some scratches on the screen, but linux support has always been good. Best think It has is the hardware design that if you drop liquids on top of it then it doesn’t reach the motherboard. It saved it when I dropped a full latte on top and I really though it was gonna go to the trash… Fortunately I only had to buy a new keyboard that is something easy to replace.
Anyway, I will also need to buy a new computer soon fro work and am very interested in getting a framework laptop or another thinkpad if it has things like the great feature above still in place.
Also been eyeing with extreme interest some tuxedo laptops.
These are the well known to work I guess.
Been happy with my Purism Librem 14, and soon they’ll have a 16". I think today, I’d probably buy their 11" tablet. Perfect travel size and you don’t need to put it away during takeoff and landing of flights.
I had system76 and now on tuxedo. I will buy tuxedo again…
I personally buy refurbished. Lately I got a Lenovo X280 thinkpad, for $160 with 8 GB of RAM, 1080p screen. Worked fine, Linux flies on it.
You said not a high budget, and yet everyone here is saying Framework even though the they are $900 to $1,000 at the low end. To me that is not budget.
Pine64 is affordable but maybe too slow to be a daily driver, unless you feel confident finding your way through ultralightweight software and the command line and can do most of your problem solving that way.
For other pre-built options, there’s Starlabs and System76 but those are similarly priced to Librem and Framework.
Beyond that I might just research Windows laptops that are agreeable to being formatted.
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I’ve been eyeing the slimbook lineup as of late. I am just waiting for someone to drop a review of the slimbook creative.
That logo on the bezzel, though
😬
I have had a Tuxedo InfinityBook 14 Gen7, and I’ve been happy with it. They focus on hardware that has a good compatibility with Linux, so it works well out of the box without any tinkering. You say you don’t have a high budget though, so these might be too expensive (I believe you can get similar specs at a lower price), but I’ve also been very satisfied with the after sales service they have provided - I’ve had some issues with it since I got it, but if it was Tuxedo specific (or appeared to me to be Tuxedo specific), and thus not easy to find general troubleshooting help online, I contacted them and I was helped out promptly, both via e-mail and the phone.
