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Why do people still recommend Thinkpads for Linux when there are Linux-oriented manufacturers now?

I’ve noticed in the Linux community whenever someone asks for a recommendation on a laptop that runs Linux the answer is always “Get a Thinkpad” yet Lenovo doesn’t seem to be a big Linux contributor or ally. There’s also at least six Linux/FOSS-oriented computer manufacturers now:

So what gives? Why the love for a primarily Windows-oriented laptop when there are better alternatives?

Drug_Shareni ,
  • cheap (companies sell off their stocks when upgrading so you get a few years old business laptop for a fraction of the price)
  • cheap and plentiful parts
  • popular models are usually easy to upgrade and repair
  • it’s built so coked up business sharks can throw it across the office
  • best laptop keyboards
  • trackpoint and physical mouse buttons
  • great Linux support
1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

I don’t like thinkpads anymore. They used to be great but Lenovo decided to kill off their best feature - the keyboards.

My fingers actually hurt when typing on a ThinkPad keyboard now. They are so shit.

I think people are nostalgic and they remember what the brand used to be. But I’m not impressed by them anymore. They keep scoring top marks at notebookcheck reviews however, but every new ThinkPad has disappointed me with bad screen or bad looks or feel.

sentient_loom ,
@sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works avatar

I have an amazing screen on my T16. But I wish it had a better keyboard and more upgrade options.

filister ,

To be honest, they also made them less serviceable. But in the not so long past they used to be really great. You can easily find replacement parts, upgrade them. If I have to buy a new one, I would buy Framework, if second hand is an option, ThinkPad is unbeatable, but you need to do a small research which model doesn’t have soldered RAM and offers battery replacement.

TheAnonymouseJoker ,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

Not that hard. Each ThinkPad model has a PSREF sheet you can download in 5 seconds, and check everything down to the screen brightness in nits, and all kinds of slots and ports on motherboard. This kind of standardised, easy to procure documentation does not exist for any laptop maker at all.

Muffi ,

Spare parts and resilience. Thinkpads are the most tanky laptops available.

bruhduh ,
@bruhduh@lemmy.world avatar

You don’t know yet about clevo laptops, my first laptop from 2015 and running good as new

Agent641 ,

Heck, why buy a pre-made laptop anyway, just take this bag of microchips and this spool of solder and compile your own!

theragu40 ,

Don’t be silly, you also need some chewing gum and bits of string.

lud ,

Integrated circuits‽

I make my CPUs using individual transistors on a breadboard.

Ajen ,

The way God intended

Rogers ,

Used thinkpads especially the older ones (t480 and older) have a ton of extra parts floating around, and you can get them cheap. I built a t480 with 8th gen i7 from parts for around $170 over a year ago, it has been a great experience. I upgraded the trackpad and keyboard and plan to upgrade the screen, cooling, and battery next.

devfuuu ,

It really depends on where you are located for the things to be worth it. I had to buy a new keyboard for my t470 a few months ago after dropping a full latte on the computer top - only the keyboard got fucked, drain holes worked awesome and only need a little of internal drying and cleanup - and just that cost me 100 €.

It really is the best laptop I ever had and I had on my hands a much more recent X1 and currently a Dell XPS, both which I hated.

What I can say and be happy is that after all these years I can still at least find parts and buy them, any other computer I simply wouldn’t be able to find any parts or after market for it.

But in my country basically impossible to find market for it or parts and only recently did people were able to order some few models from their online store, the thinkpads simply weren’t sold besides business deals around here.

pwr22 ,

Entroware is another you could add to the list. I had a good experience buying from them. They do the usual Clevo OEM things.

MonkderZweite ,

I have some preferences in hardware (Vendors are still riding the 4k-in-laptop-size bandwagon) and Thinkpad has good customizability.

Just looked into Malibal, they have no less than WQHD currently and i get a top of the line customized Thinkpad for less than their 2000+.

SoaringDE ,

Had Tuxedo experience: 3/5 at most Had ThinkPad experience: 4/5 at least

weshgo ,
@weshgo@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

for a lot of people (me included), a cheap second hand thinkpad (or dell pro) with a light distro would be more than enough to cover their computing needs for years.

sentient_loom ,
@sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works avatar

What king of dell pro compares to a thinkpad?

weshgo ,
@weshgo@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

not sure what you mean, but I find that Dells are also cheap (second hand) easy to find, reliable, solid and easy to maintain (like the hardware is easy to access for cleaning and replacing/updating).

edit : I’m using a latitude 5470 with lubuntu. I bought it second in a pawn shop a few years ago and added some RAM last year, it still runs like a charm.

MartinXYZ ,

I believe Dell even has some models that come with Linux preinstalled.

techognito ,
@techognito@lemmy.world avatar

Dell, HP and Lenovo can deliver with Linux pre-installed

sunbeam60 ,

Not just deliver - they support them. I’ve got a Dell micro-PC running as an Ubuntu Server and it regularly receives BIOS and firmware updates from Dell through the default fwupgdr-mgr.

pwr22 ,

Which HP models have good official Linux support these days? I thought they had stopped supporting the one(s) they did and I’ve had a bunch of bad experiences generally :(.

TheCaconym ,

I wouldn’t trust a manufacturer-installed system to be honest

Given the size of the userbase I doubt they’d invest in developing and adding preinstalled similar adware as their windows OEM systems but you never know

Better order it without OS

KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX ,
@KIM_JONG_JUICEBOX@lemmy.ml avatar

Didn’t Lenovo like 15 years ago make a line of desktops that shipped with some redhat derivative installed? Or am I thinking of something else?

FiskFisk33 ,

i think I saw a few only a couple of years ago

techognito ,
@techognito@lemmy.world avatar

They still sell with Fedora pre-installed

Chewy7324 ,

Price, keyboard and build quaility are my main reasons for buying a Thinkpad 3 years ago.

They are available for a good price second hand and their keyboard is the best laptop keyboard I’ve tried. Most of those Linux manufacturers use Clevo designs and thus the keyboard isn’t amazing. Even if they design a laptop themselves it’s difficult to nail the keayboard.

My next laptop will probably be from framework. But that depends whether I’m willing too spend as much and the other options available. And framework doesn’t even sell laptops with Linux preinstalled.

estebanlm ,
@estebanlm@lemmy.ml avatar

for another (other than Tuxedo) EU based solution: slimbook.es/en/
(They are at Valencia, Spain).
But I have no about idea its quality as I have never tried one.

_cnt0 , (edited )
@_cnt0@lemmy.villa-straylight.social avatar

I have a Slimbook PRO X AMD. Except for the rubber bands on the bottom coming loose after ~2 years, it just works. And I never had a laptop from any manufacturer where the rubber feet/bands did not start to peel of after a few years.

combat_brandonism ,

oh cool I didn’t realize they’ve got an AMD model now

_cnt0 ,
@_cnt0@lemmy.villa-straylight.social avatar

now

They have had it for a while ;-)

ps: I hope I got the tense right. Not a native speaker and slightly drunk. They still have it.

f00bar ,

Just got one of their Executive line, with their own Ubuntu fork, and is keeping up quite nicely. I was looking for thinkpads but read about the quality drop in latest models, so I gave them a try. They do a decent job re. drivers and support a range of Linux distros.

Aria ,

System76, Framework, Malibal and Purism are assembled or shipped out of the USA, which means they spy on users. So now you’re down to two manufacturers.

Promethilaus ,

While as a British person I’m naturally biased against the USA 🤣 not all US companies are bad and spy on their users come on this isn’t China

Aria ,

No they all do, it’s illegal not to. Were none of you paying attention to Snowden?

art ,
@art@lemmy.world avatar

In the US a lot of business use them. It’s not uncommon to see a pallet of “old” ThinkPads at the swapmeet selling for less than $200. We’re talking x1 Carbons. These machines have upgradable SSDs, Wifi, and battery. For less than $300 you can get a BEAST of a machine that runs Linux very very well.

nestEggParrot ,

Wish i had access to such cheap hardware. Companies in my country use them till it gets junked and most refurbishers sell for maybe 20% less than brand new but with significanly reduced warranty.

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