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Buying a new computer to run Linux on - suggestions?

Hello. I have never used Linux before in my life, but this post isn’t really about the software. I know there are many guides and threads out there explaining how to set up Linux for beginners.

My question is more about what computers you guys suggest for Linux. I don’t have any old computers lying around at home, I only have a computer assigned by my school that I’ll turn in next year. To my understanding, Linux should be able to work on almost all computers, so I haven’t thought about a specific brand.

My top priorities are (in order):

  • good/great battery life
  • quiet
  • compact and lightweight

Preferably a 13" or 15" screen, though I prefer the former. Just a small machine with a great battery life that also doesn’t make much noise when several apps are open at once. I have looked at Asus before, but I’m not sure what the general consensus is of this brand, so I was hoping to get some suggestions. I’ve also looked at Framework computers, but honestly it’s a bit expensive for me. My budget is ~1000$ (10 000 SEK).

Might be unnecessary information, but: I will be using this computer mainly to write documents, make the occasional presentations, browse the web, and watch videos and movies. So no photo- or video editing nor gaming at all. Like everybody, I hope to buy a computer that will last many years and survive many student theses. Cheers and thanks!

HEXN3T ,
@HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Used ThinkPad or Framework laptop should be a copypasta at this point.

wheresmysurplusvalue ,
@wheresmysurplusvalue@hexbear.net avatar

I’ve got a similar use case and went with an X13 Thinkpad (AMD). It’s good for hardware support, but if you want a good experience for watching videos, I’d look somewhere else. The display and audio are not that good.

Agility0971 ,
@Agility0971@lemmy.world avatar

I can reccomend huawei laptops with metal chassis. I’ve had my matebook x pro for around 6 years. My past laptops made of plastic disentegrted over time

pastermil ,

Clearly you never have a Thinkpad.

cizra ,

Once I a very sleepy adult human happened to accidentally stand smack in the middle of my ThinkPad P50, with plastic everything. It’s 7 years old now, and still works fine.

haui_lemmy ,

Depending on your budget, I would suggest tuxedo‘s aura 15 gen 3. starts at around 800 bucks and is linux first and made in germany.

If you have a lower budget I would go used as someone suggested since a new laptop is nice but unnecessary if you have budget constraints.

Wish you tons of fun.

asap , (edited )
@asap@lemmy.world avatar

www.asus.com/us/…/zenbook-14-oled-um3402/

22 hours battery life.

AMD.

Slim, gorgeous. Runs Linux like a champ.

I have bought only Asus for my last 4 laptops (previously I was Thinkpad), and I have never regretted any of them. Since switching from Windows to Linux earlier this year (Aurora-DX) I have had no issues.

If you want to go even smaller and lighter, this one is awesome but is Intel and doesn’t have as long battery life.

velox_vulnus ,

If you can afford to pour in a little bit more money, get a Thinkpad T14 Gen 5/T16 Gen 3 AMD variant. You can also get the T14 Gen 4/T16 Gen 2 AMD variant, but the RAM will be soldered. The X13 laptop is probably what you’re looking for, if screen is a big deal for you, but they have soldered chipsets, and the only thing modular is the NVME storage. Then there’s the HP Elitebook 835, 845 and the 855, and also the Acer TravelMate (I don’t remember the exact model). By the way, Framework is also available in Sweden, so you may also look into that.

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

That depends on where you live.

In europe I recommend Novacustom or 3mdeb if you want coreboot, Starlabs too.

In the US System76.

0x0 ,

No Tuxedo?

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

Tuxedo has coreboot in some of their laptops afaik.

Their chassis’ are waay better than the clevo garbage I currently have, but

coreboot >> design

propter_hog ,
@propter_hog@hexbear.net avatar

System 76

ryannathans ,

Tldr Amd & amd

Strit ,
@Strit@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show avatar

I will say that a second-hand ThinkPad is a great option. They can be real cheap, but you can also get a pretty decent new one for your budget.

You can likely find great T480-T495 that fits your needs really well.

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

I HIGHLY recommend against the T495. That thing has a great keyboard, fingerprint sensor, okay camera and mics, okay ports. But it is underpowered af, and Thinkpads always have the Thinkpad price.

It has a great chassis, but my coreboot Clevo NV41 has double the performance and kinda same battery life.

Strit ,
@Strit@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show avatar

I disagree with it being underpowered for regular office use and media consumption. If you can get your hands on a 16 GB RAM one, it should be able to handle just about anything other than gaming.

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

The RAM doesnt matter, it has 8GB builtin (or is there a 4GB model??) and one slot flexible.

Yes the CPU is okay for regular office stuff. But the AMD linux support was suboptimal, I had regular suspend-resume issues where the lockscreen would freeze and I needed to hard shutdown.

And… for some reason that thing doesnt even boot anymore. Removed the battery, using official charger. Doesnt boot into the BIOS anymore, no idea what I could do honestly.

Maybw the mobo is damaged…

mortalic ,

Agreed, I love mine.

BarrelAgedBoredom ,

I’m farting around on a T480 for school and light retro gaming. Works great! Super easy to upgrade too

CMDR_Horn ,

Look at frame.work they have good documentation about various Linux distros on their machines

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

I have, unfortunately they’re too expensive for me.

nichtburningturtle ,
@nichtburningturtle@feddit.org avatar

a cheaper version

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

Their firmware updates are pretty late and they ditched coreboot.

But I guess the hardware is awesome. Keep in mind that these thunderbolt adapters suck quite some battery, so having a laptop simply with the ports you need uses up less battery. Also, the modularity may not be needed and causes it to be less stiff.

Chef6652 ,

They ditched Coreboot?

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

They gave some coreboot devs laptops but didnt invest anything apart from that, afaik. The result was not working well enough, so they use insyde (which has pretty cool features but also past security vulnerabilities and it is backdoored by Intel & the NSA)

Like, UEFI being backdoored by the NSA is not a conspiracy. “Persistence” in “end user device data retrieval” was one big goal. Persistence means than an OS reinstall, Secureboot, boot integrity, QubesOS disposable Cubes etc. will all not protect you, as that shit is in the firmware!

No security or privacy without coreboot. Google knows that and has all their servers on coreboot and also all Chromebooks. Android is ARM so that is different but also WORLDS more secure than any secureboot garbage.

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