7mo ago

Which are your preferred laptops?

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!

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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 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.
  
  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!

79 comments