Linux Laptop for (student) programmer

I can not recommend the framework laptop enough. Love their mission of producing a reparable and user-friendly laptop. You can even buy it without windows, to install your own OS from the get go.

old thinkpad FTW!

got a T430s for 115Euros one year ago

Laptops these days do much better with Linux than before. But if you really want ~0% chance of dealing with driver issues, I'd go with System76 laptops. They're made for Linux, and with Linux pre-installed.

I would highly recommend a Framework if it's within your budget and you care at all about right to repair. Otherwise I'd highly recommend a used Thinkpad as they hold up exceptionally. I've used Linux on both very smoothly.

Thank you all for your suggestions, I will have a look at used thinkpads or tuxedos. Scratches never bothered me.

You are all very helpful!

pickup a t440p for peanuts, can add more ram and processor if you want

Checkout Framework laptops. If they don't do it for you, maybe try System76.

Thinkpads are absolute tanks and support Linux quite well. Would shy away from the T470 and T480 though. The touchpad on those isn't really well implemented. If you don't care about reliability my Surface Laptop Go does Fedora Silverblue 38 really well.

I've used pre-owned corporate thinkpads for years. At least in here we have multiple of stores to purchase previously leased (and since wiped+inspected) laptops for quite cheap (your definition of cheap may vary). Just now I have one waiting at the post office, T495 for 299€. Granted that's never been a top line model, but it's well sufficient for my usage and it'll happily replace the old x240 I've been lugging around.

I've ran them with ubuntu/debian, dualboot and pretty much every combination. They just seem to work, altough there may be more or less hiccups specially with keyboard lights and (to me) minor things like that. Networking, hardware itself, suspend and everything else just works. And there's mountains of information on various wikis etc to check before purchasing.

My usual suggestion: Get a generation-old business or workstation class machine from one of the major manufacturers, as a refurb. Mostly meaning keep an eye on Dell Refurbished or Lenovo Outlet - sometimes you can also get a deal on a refurb via woot - for something that appeals to you. The stock is always changing at those, and there are almost always sales/coupons for around 40% off at the first-party refurb stores, so +/- a week of patience can save you a bunch of money.

Business or workstation class machines (think Dell Latitude or Precision, especially the ones with models that start with a 7, or Thinkpad) are typically mechanically much better built than their consumer counterparts, and usually full of reputable components that are connected in standard ways - low end consumer stuff sometimes has issues where they got weird less-common components or connected things in stupid ways to save a few cents per unit that will cause driver issues.

Waiting a generation gives time for mainline kernel driver support to fully mature to minimize driver problems, and drastically cuts the price.

I've had several machines following that advice, and I think the only driver trouble I've had with them has been with unsupported fingerprint/smartcard readers, which I ...don't care about anyway.

Or, if you want a way cheap beater and don't mind some hackin', grab a used/refurbished AUE Chromebook that is on the Mr. Chromebox Supported List. AUE means they no longer receive ChromeOS updates, so their price craters to like $50, and you can flash a normal UEFI payload and use them as a (feeble, storage starved, low resolution) computer. Not a good main machine, but they make fun beaters for experimenting. There are often batches of them being dumped via woot.

...also, don't buy anything with an Nvidia GPU unless you have a specific compelling reason, it'll be a pain in your ass for the life of the machine.

if you are from the EU i can recommend Tuxedo Computers. they have a wide range of laptops to fit your budget, and among those a lot of customisation options.

the only downside about mine ive noticed, would be that the keyboard legends seem to wear a bit faster than normal. then again that is because they are laser etched, which means for a small upcharge they will put whatever you want on there.

any recent laptop (or even older stuff) would work pretty well with linux. just make sure that you can have access to the BIOS or UEFI. I personally like AMD hardware, but Intel and Nvidia work just as well.

if you can afford it, System 76, Framework, or other linux first manufacturers are nice, but otherwise any normal laptop should work.

If you're bringing it to school, consider the weight and size, also the backpack you'll put it in. Big screen is good, but more annoying to carry around. I have a tiny 13" that I bring between home and work, which works great, because apart from meetings, I never actually use the screen. Might consider the keyboard too, but unless you go apple, I feel like laptop keyboards are always gonna be "eh"

Guild Wars 2 works without issue, though if that''s specifically what you want to play, Guild Wars 2 works better with a good CPU and an SSD, whereas the GPU would be good but doesn't need to be great. That of course depends game per game, just I know that Guild Wars 2 specifically relies a lot on the CPU, and without a SSD it will stutter.

g14 6800s open box is 800 atm at bestbuy , if you're in the US I don't think that deal can be beat.

But we'd need to know your budget, and some more of your requirements to help more.

If you dont care about gaming, then an old thinkpad would last you the rest of your life.

Don't make the same mistake I did and get it with a good CPU. Good CPU bad GPU far outweights good GPU bad CPU

Linux is the correct (and only) choice for programmers. 99.9% of the internet runs on Linux. When you get a job, you'll most likely deploy to Linux servers. Other people (MacOS/Winblows) will spend a significant amount of time trying to emulate a Linux environment.

My daily driver is a Dell XPS 13 9310. The build and finish is pretty good. All the hardware works out of the box.

I also used a Lenovo X1 Carbon for a few years. Also very good. I think the speakers sounded better on the X1 compared to the XPS. I think at this point all the hardware is supported by the latest kernel. When I had it, I think I had to wait for microphone support because the X1 had some fancy array of microphones. Eventually the software support caught up though.

Not recommend: I've also tried a System76 laptop. I quickly returned it because the build quality felt super cheap and I had a dead pixel. I also didn't like that the power adapter was a barrel plug. (Although, yes, you can also charge with USB-C, but then you still have a useless barrel plug.)

Not recommend: Framework laptops. They seem cool, and they are, but the build quality is not as good as the XPS or the X1 Carbon. Also, the biggest reason to avoid Framework is due to the poorly supported HiDPI display. This goes for all laptops, by the way.

Finally, I'd also like to mention to be successful in Linux, you have to adopt a different mindset too. If you go into Linux expecting MacOS or expecting Winblows, you're going to be disappointed. Linux is Linux. It's great for computer science. It's not great for video/image editing, music production, gaming. Sure, technically you can find a way to run those apps, but it's not going to be the best experience. Similarly, it doesn't make sense for me to go to MacOS and complain that I can't use systemd or LUKS.

tl;dr

• Linux is the right choice, can't avoid it.
• I'd recommend the Dell XPS 13 or the Lenovo X1 Carbon.
• Avoid HiDPI displays (unless you want to debug issues and still end up with slightly fuzzy apps)
• Avoid NVIDIA
• Different tools for different jobs

don't go expensive, a 500-700$ laptop is perfect for programming. don't buy thin, mac-like laptops. go with beefier workstation laptops. I highly suggest buying a good refurbished laptop. if it has a dedicated GPU, AMD is highly preferable over NVIDIA, but both work.

almost all hardware works really fine with linux nowadays. I have a lenovo legion y540, works great, but if I didn't want to game on it, I would go with a workstation laptop.

slimbook seems to make good laptops made for linux.

Consider the Framework laptops!

Personally I would try to get a ThinkPad from a bankruptcy auction or similar, I got my T15 for around $600.

All depends on your budget. As other have recommended, Framework and Lenovo have some good options.

I'm using an Acer Swift 3, would definitely recommend some of their models (3:2 1440p display, i7, 16gb RAM, 1TB SSD for 850$ CAD)

Check eBay for ThinkPads from 2-3 years ago. They are usually from offices, in good shape and reasonably priced. I used a W500 for 10 years with Debian and it was awesome, then I used an X220 for 5 years with no issues at all.

Thinkpad T480 or HP Dev One for the cheapest you can find. If they're not powerful enough, use them until System76 releases their Virgo. It will have an open source (Coreboot) bios, trackpoint and hot-swappable mechanical keyboard.

You pretty much can't go wrong with a Thinkpad, the T series are solid choices and extremely upgradable (T440 and T480 being the most beloved from my perspective).

If you are a vintage dude you may want to take a look at the X series (I've heard good things from the X220).

For a bit more power you may check the X1 Carbon series, these are more modern, but as a consequence they area bit more enshittified, I really like my X1 carbon gen 7 but man, the usb-c charging port and no ethernet kinda suck.

https://www.bobble.tech/free-stuff/used-thinkpad-buyers-guide

Recently I bought a used Thinkpad T470S 16gb for 350 EUR for some Kernel development stuff and it turned out perfect. The only downside that I can come up is that it doesn't support my 4K monitor.

I'm suggesting used Thinkpad or Tuxedo.

check out Tuxedo laptops. they're made for Linux so you won't have driver issues. you can use their distro or any other

they're not cheap, but form what i've read/heard the build quality is very good. they're from germany

An old thinkpad (or new). Looking for laptops made with linux (Tuxedo, system76). Or maybe a framework. As far as I know any laptop with a good screen, RAM, and storage. And at least for me a lackibg I/O (ethernet, headphone jack, mutliple USBs) is a dealbreaker

You can never go wrong with a thinkpad (T or X series). They are durable computers for general use (In this example, software development).

It all depends and your budget and priorities. If you care about coreboot and Intel ME, go with system76 or an old thinkpad. Otherwise, Dell latitudes and new thinkpads are sufficient. Based on your description, I think system76 would be the way to go, but you might also want to check out a thinkpad p52.

I just bought a T480 Thinkpad off of eBay a few weeks ago for around $150 USD and put fedora 38 on it. Purchased a larger battery for $45 and an extra 8gb ram for like $20 and honestly couldn't be happier with it.

Anything by Lenovo usually works well with Linux. Make sure it's doesn't have Nvidia card but rather AMD graphics or intel graphics.

They are also typically the cheapest laptops. Try get Intel core i5 or Ryzen 5 CPU. That should be enough power to do anything you need.

As far as OS is concerned, I HIGHLY recommend Ubuntu desktop. It is by far the best Linux distro and especially good for programming as huge amounts of programmers use it as the desktop of choice.

Ubuntu also makes the most Software when it comes to cloud, servers, apps, IOT etc and they all work well together. Which is why Devs/programmers love Ubuntu so much.

If you want to learn how to program (C++, Jave, etc.), the most hardware demanding task is using the browser. So, your requirements couldn't be any lower. Any toaster from the past say 8 years will do fine.

E.g. have a look the the Dell Latitude 7480. You can get it second hand in really good shape upwards from 200 EUR. It's well built, well repairable, works well with Linux and the battery lasts a day.

Forget about GPUs. (iGPUs are sufficient, dGPUs are expensive, unnecessary for your use-case and draw lots of battery.)

P.S. And have a look at Arch Linux.

P.P.S. You might also have a look at war games.

Any old windows laptop. I have some old Lenovos I use. I’d look out for something with 16 gb ram, an ssd instead of a hard drive

I also just learned about thin clients which seem cool. Not sure if applicable to your needs

Assuming you're fine with non-free drivers I don't think there's too much to worry about nowadays (at least that's what I've gathered from personal experience & the lack of hearing other scomplain).

That said, I've never had any issues with HP devices, and even an HP Chromebook worked without too much hassle.

Thinkpads are also a classic Linux machine, and I doubt you could go wrong with those either.

If you want to buy new (or can find one used): framework, no contest

Used, just see what's available around you on offerup/craigslist/fb market/etc then google that laptop and linux, or see if you can find an archwiki page for that model. This is what i did a while ago, i found a used thinkpad t14s for a good price, checked the archwiki page for it ( https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_Thinkpad_T14s_(AMD)_Gen_1 ) and everything i cared about was marked as working, and it's worked well for me

I've been having a great time with my HP Elitebook 845 G9 which I got on sale for $950. It's crazy expensive now due to inflation but you might be able to snag it on sale somewhere. Mine came with an AMD Ryzen 6800U with 32GB of RAM and I manually replaced the SSD with a cheap 1TB one I found on Amazon. There's a FreeDOS option that allows you save $200 bucks by not buying a Windows license.

I find that the key components to check for Linux compatibility are the Wifi, webcam, and sound modules. For wifi, anything with an Intel or Atheros chip is usually supported very well

Don’t make the mistake I did and go with mac. Apple has great products but they used planned obsolescence to make you waste money on new equipment on a regular basis. Windows just bites. So go with a Linux laptop for sure. Your money will stretch out further for sure. Thinkpads X1 Carbón are great. Older generations have great battery life. If you game there’s other thinkpad a that have graphics carda. Thinkpads work great with Linux usually. Specially carbon x1

Do you need a touchscreen for handwritten notes? My laptop can do that and I have the pen for it too and it works really well. I could give you the details of what laptop it is and what software I use if that's something you need.

Go for Framework, you can upgrade components in a few years instead of buying a whole new laptop.

even better if you can stick it out for a few months and get their new one when it releases

You seem to be German, so your solution is a Tuxedo laptop or computer. A German Linux hardware company.

Thinkpads are popular and well respected among linux users, and the trackpoint is dope as well. If you want a gpu workstation that also works for gaming, check out the P series.

Any laptop will work.