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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!

GustavoM ,
@GustavoM@lemmy.world avatar

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.

Then go for a Raspberry pi 3. (No, not rpi 4 or the rpi 5 one). It’s cheap, with a power draw low enough to leave it running 24/7 (it will not increase your energy bills by the slightest). Downside is that you’ll have to learn some Linux “tricks” that will (definitely) “grind your gears”, but eh… it’ll be a fun ride if you are willing to lose some sanity for the sake of enjoying a “It’s like nothing is happening to my power bills at all!” power of the convenience it’ll bring to your life and your lifestyle as well.

BingBong , (edited )

To have one ready out of the box with linux maybe look at the System76 offerings? system76.com

Edit: just got a chance to check and they are slightly above your $1000 criteria. So maybe on his recommendation.

Professorozone ,

Ummm, good luck. When I tried to use Linux on a new machine I built and had a bunch of problems, people on the forums told me to wait six months for someone to write drivers for the components.

cyberpunk007 ,

I built an amd system with Nvidia graphics card in 2019 and it works fine. Wi-Fi Bluetooth Ethernet 144hz display etc all work fine.

CrabAndBroom ,

If money wasn’t an object I think I’d get a Framework but I’ve always had a good experience with Lenovo for a more budget-friendly option. My last two laptops have been Lenovos and have both worked super well with Linux.

tla ,

Check out laptopwithlinux.com - new or used.

Jayb151 ,

I love my dell 5300 latitude with fedora. Touchscreen, 13 inches, super compact. And a dime a dozen as you can find used enterprise laptops on eBay/Facebook market.

Slap a large nvme in there and you’re good to go for like, under 300. With the leftover cash, you can even get a docking station and monitor if you wanted a dank setup at home.

jpablo68 ,

I’m a thinkpad guy but how are these dells for everyday use with Linux?

jollyrogue ,

Dell Latitudes and Precisions support Linux pretty well.

Jayb151 ,

Ya, like jolly rouge said, they’re pretty good. I have had an occasional issue where the track pad didn’t want to work after waking the PC up. But otherwise it’s been bullet proof. All the hot keys work no problem. I haven’t had any of the weird “can’t wake from suspended state” issues I’ve had with older PCs. I basically leave my laptop plugged in next to my desk and it’s ready at a moments notice. I use Windows for gaming and work btw. But I’ve even installed Valheim on my laptop just to see if it would work and it totally does. No complaints on fedora. I used endeavor on it as well and I want to say even pop is. Just a bit of distro going there, no reason I ditched the other two other than just preferring fedora in the end.

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Used/off-lease ThinkPad T-series.

cRazi_man , (edited )

I’ve just been through the process you’ve described and bought a laptop. Your budget is way overkill for your use (documents, browsing, video watching).

I recently bought myself a “like new” second hand Dell Latitude (5300, I think), 8th gen i7, 16GB Ram for £150 and it is amazing with OpenSUSE.

I got my wife a new HP Aero 13 (Ryzen) a couple of years ago and even that was £580 brand new and has been great.

Consider the secondhand market. A lot of laptops will meet your criteria.

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

You’re right. I actually bought my current Pixel phone secondhand, so I’ll check out the market for computers. Do you know of any red flags to watch out for in secondhand computer ads?

borari ,

I wouldn’t buy a used MacBook from an individual seller unless I could meet in person to verify there’s no BIOS/TPM lock going on that would prevent me from doing a secure erase and wiping the SSD to start fresh. A laptop with a replaceable ssd is probably less of an issue, but I’d still feel more comfortable having a picture of the BIOS showing no password set or anything, and a picture of it booted to desktop at minimum so you know it isn’t a stolen laptop that has a password no one knows. If you’re buying from like a second hand recycler or something, anyone that sells through significant volume of devices, I’d be much more comfortable just pulling the trigger sight unseen.

cRazi_man , (edited )

I used eBay so I could get a refund if the laptop wasn’t as advertised. I spent weeks looking at new listings looking for a good deal. I eventually found an amazing deal from a hospice that was selling excess stock. I’ve worked in a hospice before and know this would have only ever been used sparingly in an office and be very well looked after.

On eBay I would avoid anyone who hasn’t written out a complete description and detailed pictures of condition and specifics. Like the other comment says, the BIOS being unlocked is very important. Read descriptions carefully. People fall victim to buying expensive things that can’t be returned because it was mentioned in the listing (e.g. buying a box only for a very expensive price). For any laptop I find, I search for forum posts from other users about how that model works with Linux and videos for a teardown to make sure that RAM, WiFi module, etc can be upgraded. Make sure the charger is included.

Search eBay for “8th Gen 13 inch 16GB”, then sort by lowest price for buy-it-now. That’s what I did for a number of weeks. Got one for myself and a great one for my dad as well. Good experience both times.

HotsauceHurricane ,

Sounds like you need a higher end chromebook. I used Mr. Chromebox to load linux onto my Lenovo.

circuitfarmer ,
@circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

If it were me, I’d first be looking at used Thinkpads (with the caveat to make sure the specific Thinkpad has hardware which is generally supported). I’d also look into Linux-friendly manufacturers, like frame.work or System76.

Omega_Jimes ,

Ive had great success with their all amd systems, and older machines go on sale often, so you can score a Ryzan 6850 w/ 16GB of RAM for 700-800CAD if little else matters.

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.

Telorand ,

Unrelated question: I like Bazzite, but I would really like to also have the Dev tooling of Aurora DX. Does Aurora use the same fsync kernel as Bazzite? Have/do you do any gaming on Aurora? If so, how has it been?

asap ,
@asap@lemmy.world avatar

I believe you can run one of the ujust scripts to add all the same dev tooling to Bazzite.

I have a Steam Deck for my gaming, which is funnily enough the thing that got me into Linux in the first place.

Telorand ,

I’ll have to check. I have a laptop running Bazzite, but I don’t recall its ujust recipes including dev tooling. I think Aurora/Bluefin and Bazzite have different sets of commands.

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