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.
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 personally went with a P15 model and have been beyond happy with mine. Got that numpad too 🙌
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.
What problems with AMD Ryzen? I’ve been happy with them, except one that had excessive power drain on suspend.
Maybe it’s fine with now, but I looked into a Ryzen Thinkpad a couple of years ago and Linux users reported problems with something (maybe power management?).
Also note that Thinkpads up to a couple of years ago (when soldering RAM became a thing) are mostly trivial to open and upgrade RAM / drives, so you don’t have to care about those and can pick up a bargain (look to T480 at the moment (not the TN screen tho), or whatever is 3 years or so old, as that’s the corporate fleets that are getting dumped onto the market).
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!
This may be an unpopular opinion, but you can use pretty much anything you like, as long as it isn’t brand new or extremely old.
Even stuff with Nvidia GPUs and stuff.
Even MS Surface devices work decently.Thing is, for a really smooth experience, where you don’t feel like a second class citizen, and everything works ootb, proper support is advantageous.
I have a Dell XPS laptop, and it works fine. Sometimes, the WiFi switches itself off, and I have to restart the connection, but other than that, everything is flawless.
Thinkpads are great too, since they are also used heavily in offices, where they get thrown out or sold cheaply. Maybe ask there.I personally would recommend something that you can repair yourself, or at least change the battery and memory.
Thank you
Few years old Dell laptop, they are incredible, even easy to open and repair, parts available everywhere, BIOS update even after 5 or 6 years.
You can buy a few years old Latitude for maybe $200, 14", i5 8th gen, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, wifi, bt, webcam, usb-c, name it.
Being 8th gen it runs win11, but they also run Linux pretty well, I’m running MX Linux (debian based) on them and everything is supported.
ThinkPads are my go-to. I just got an X1 Carbon Gen 9 (i5, 16GB) for $350 and put Fedora on it after upgrading the SSD to 1TB. It’s a beautiful laptop.
Of course, there’s the tried and true T480. Love that thing, especially if you get the right display panel and touchpad upgrades. Swappable batteries, upgradeable RAM. Those laptops can be had for cheap on eBay. Also check r/hardwareswap or the Discord for ThinkPad deals.
XPS 13 units can do well with Linux, too. I’m just a ThinkPad fan.
I’ve been wanting to find an alternative to Thinkpads since Lenovo bought them, but despite them not being what they used to be, I just haven’t been happy with any alternatives. I’m hopeful for Framework improving on their modularity, and the System76 in-house design that’s in the works has me intrigued.
Right now I’m looking forward to their eventual redesign of the Z series. I doubt they’ll do it, but I’d love a light workstation class version of the Z16, with slightly higher end graphics, and a vapor chamber. I’m also hopeful that they work on Linux support for their ARM offerings, and bring back the X13s that they offered with Snapdragon 8 a couple years back.
I only had bad experiences with an XPS, then I found out that the Linux model was a cut down version so that Dell didnt have to support the fingerprint reader and other gadgets.
Lenovo at the time were working with Fedora to get all their fingerprint drivers upstreamed so the choice seemed obvious.
AMD T14 Gen 2, and it’s still great.
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
I wanted a thin and light laptop for travel, I was looking between an X1 Carbon 9th gen, or a HP dragonfly gen 2, I ended up scoring a HP with a i5-1145g7, 16gb lpddr4 for $275 on eBay.
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.
Anything that’s not an HP…
I don’t know what it is with them, but I always have problems with their hardware - generally. Printers, laptops, anything…
But I definitely +1 all the Dell comments
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.
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.
“Couldn’t care less”
I’m on my second Lenovo in a row, they seem to be really good for Linux. Actually the previous one did get a drink dumped on it too, and it didn’t phase it at all. The 5 key is a little sticky sometimes but otherwise works fine.
I might be tempted to get a Framework for my next one though, if I can get the cash together for a 16.
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 also have a Lenovo E16 G1 and it’s great. Everything worked out of the box (Manjaro and XFCE) and that’s pretty much all there is to say about it.
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
Thinkpads, macs and dells are what I use.
They’re cheap and have lots of spare parts lying around.
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.
