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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?

ebits21 ,
@ebits21@lemmy.ca avatar

I love my Thinkpad.

Lots of Linux devs love their Thinkpads.

The result is that Thinkpads are very well supported. They’re also generally very well made so I hope to use it for a decade.

estebanlm ,
@estebanlm@lemmy.ml avatar

I have a tuxedo. I love it. But…

  1. it supports just its own version of linux (TuxedoOS, based on KDE) and Ubuntu. I use Majaro and I have to tweak it the same way as I would do it with any other non-linux computer.
  2. I had a problem with sound and needed to send the computer to germany so they were able to check at it and fix it (replacing the mother board). Client service is good, but I live at 1w distance of germany (france)… what happens with people living far away?
  3. Is certainly good… but not cheap :)
canis_majoris ,
@canis_majoris@lemmy.ca avatar

I find Ubuntu to be the best out of the box. I would not use Arch as a productivity machine. My laptop runs EndeavourOS and I was able to get it to a decent place for dicking around. Manjaro hardware manager helps the process of getting the Nivida driver, but Nvidia recently open sourced their newer drivers so they are generally included upstream as part of most package managers. I just had to install nvidia-dkms and it works fine for gaming now. I can do DXVK stuff with Lutris (WoW), run Proton emulation (basically everything else), or just natively run Vulkan games.

If I were to have to stick to a distro to make professional day-to-day use with I would probably pick Ubuntu. It’s the most well supported overall by communities, and it’s one of the most consistent experiences within the Linux environment. Every other distro has some stupid hacky way of connecting to proprietary clouds, while Ubuntu just has native OneDrive and GDrive capabilities. Having access to those shared drives for my org is one of the most important parts of my job, and on most distros I just can’t access them outside of the browser.

estebanlm ,
@estebanlm@lemmy.ml avatar

I have been using Manjaro as my daily driver for years now (I work making a programming language), and I have absolutely no complains ;) … but this thread is to talk about hardware :P

moist_towelettes ,

I bought a System76 Pangolin 11, then replaced it with a ThinkPad X13 within a few months because the battery life was trash. Total workhorse but it would die on me in meetings if I was sharing my screen.

Chapo_is_Red ,

I’d guess build quality is a big factor for most of those recommenders. I like Lenovo, even though other computers have better specs, because Lenovo’s are tough and reasonably priced.

sounddrill ,

Give me something less than 15k INR and I might consider it

nestEggParrot ,

Where do you get usedlthinkpads for that price? All i find are 4th gen mini pc refurbished at at price. Best hw was a 8550u, 8gb ram Asus chromebox. Would love to get a decent used thinkpad for 15k.

sounddrill ,

Intel 4th gen is alright imo

BobbyBandwidth ,
@BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world avatar

Linux is DIY by nature. Buying a fancy, brand new laptop is not.

Not saying you can’t do both. I’m just saying the Linux ethos lends to more crafty people.

Frederic ,

For me it’s Dell, when I bought my (used) Latitude E5470 there was even Ubuntu running officially on it IIRC at the time. I like the small Dell because there’s ton of them 3+ years old, parts available everywhere, they are pretty solid and made for corporate world, they are no toy like Asus. A $1500 model can be had for like $200-300 after a couple of years. I installed MX Linux on it, everything works perfectly without touching or configuring anything.

For instance now you can find a nice E7480 for 200-300$, with Core I7, 8GB or 16GB RAM, SSD, 1080p, NFC, fingerprint, USB-PD dock compatible, etc.

agent_flounder ,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.one avatar

I’ve had good luck with Dell Latitudes* from work and personal purchase from several years ago. I would probably tend to get one again when I update. I had zero issues installing Mint on one of the E6410s.

We switched to HP at work and mine have been reliable also and a nice minimalist look and decently thin form factor. I’d consider those too.

20gramsWrench ,

those manufacturer either have to charge thouthands, or use the cheapest possible hardware they can find to be interesting compared to the thinkpads of old, which can take a punch or two and get replacement parts

boo ,
@boo@lemmy.one avatar

Not sure, but, I dont think any of them are available outside usa/europe. Lenovo has more global coverage

sic_semper_tyrannis ,

Framework is available outside of those areas.

canis_majoris ,
@canis_majoris@lemmy.ca avatar

Yeah but it’s incredibly expensive for the gimmick of upgradability down the line. It’s like buying a maxed out MacBook Pro worth of disassembled components, bringing your own RAM, SSD and OS. As much as I want repairable, upgradable, holy grail laptops, they are way to expensive for the average consumer right now. A 16 without RAM/SSD/OS comes out to like 3k CAD – including everything with assembly, it comes out to over 3.5k.

morhp ,

It’s available, but they’re still US based and basically importing it, you don’t have proper EU customer protection or EU warranty* for example. I wouldn’t buy it just because of that.

  • They give 2 years of warranty for their EU customers, but not EU wide as would be required if actually selling from the EU. You also have basically no chance to sue then or otherwise demand anything if they for some reason ignore your warranty claim.
boo ,
@boo@lemmy.one avatar

I just checked Japan, India, Brazil. They dont operate there…

BubblyMango ,

Some of these dont really ship worldwide. Not all of them offer a good bang for the buck in terms of hardware specs, and big companies sometimes offer more options (system76 traditionally didnt offer screens over FHD, most laptops are only 14"…).

gravitas_deficiency ,

People will say many things. But at the end of the day, it’s the keyboard. I honestly cannot think of a company that does keyboards better than Lenovo (formerly IBM).

BitSound ,

The X1 Carbon series is popular with Linux kernel devs, so it’s had a lot of TLC. It makes a big difference for some stuff like sleeping. My Thinkpads handled sleeping really well, and I could expect to leave it sitting for at least a week and come back to somewhat low battery. My Framework laptops, as nice as they are otherwise, will drain the battery during sleep in 24h, no matter what I’ve tried. The situation is apparently better on the newer-gen Framework laptops, and IMO Framework’s open nature will lead to a similar situation to Thinkpads, but it’s not quite there yet.

Apart from sleep, I’ve heard complaints about the manufacturing quality of some of the other options, but haven’t used them myself so can’t verify. Might be why some people recommend the Thinkpads, though. I do really like the quality of the Framework, and I’d recommend people take a look at them over Thinkpads now, unless they care about sleep battery usage.

To chime in with some of the other answers, price also makes a difference. Thinkpads have been around long enough that there’s a nice large used market. I got a rock-solid Thinkpad T480 for a few hundred dollars from some dude on Craigslist. My Framework is higher-specced and was paid for by my work, but it still starts out ~$800. I think it’ll just take time before other manufacturers have a similar situation.

sab ,

Bought my last few laptops from Tuxedo. Their 13" infinibook can be quite noisy, but I’m having a blast with the Polaris I bought last year.

TheButtonJustSpins ,

What do you like about it?

sab ,

First off all, the components are selected for the Linux compatibility, so it’s guaranteed to work. But they also provide some tools to make sure you use the preferred drivers, a control center tool for customising fan speeds, etc. All of which are open source. They even provide the windows drivers for all configs for when you want to dusk boot (and those are even fairly up to date).

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.

SoaringDE ,

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

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