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!
Buy a laptop from a vendor that preinatalls Linux. Not because you need them to do that for you, but because it means its more likely to work on Linux without issues.
I run Qubes, but I think this is a great list of Qubes-certified hardware
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/certified-hardware/#qubes-certified-computers
I would get a Thinkpad, either used or new, with that budget. Generally all the hardware will work out of the box, with the possible exception of the fingerprint reader if it exists. RAM and SSD should be replaceable, so if you purchase new just do the upgrade yourself to save some bucks.
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.
I’m a thinkpad guy but how are these dells for everyday use with Linux?
Dell Latitudes and Precisions support Linux pretty well.
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.
If there’s a decent (even online) used market where you live buying a refurbished computer that’s just a few years old can be amazing bang for your buck. 9th-11th gen Intel or Ryzen 2-4th gen. Any of the more business focused lines tend to be fairly well-built and are designed to be relatively long lasting while being relatively well-maintained during their service life. HP Elitebooks, Dell Latitudes, Lenovo Thinkpads, etc.
Sounds like you need a higher end chromebook. I used Mr. Chromebox to load linux onto my Lenovo.
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.
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.
LOL. Got totally down voted for simply explaining what happened. Glad it worked for you. It didn’t work for me. This was probably 10 years ago. I made a dual boot system and the internet simply wouldn’t work in Linux, so I had to keep booting into Windows, research, then switch to Linux to implement. Lather, rinse, repeat.
If Windows 11 is as bad as they say, guess I’ll be experimenting with it again.
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.
Check out https://laptopwithlinux.com/ - new or used.
Go team red would be my advice.
Old Intel systems are solid as well. Something 2022 or older
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.
I think its reasonable to assume that they’ll want to easily be able to take it and use it in different rooms
That’s not a laptop and even if it was the raspberry pi won’t work with stock Linux. You need a custom kernel.
That’s not a laptop
OP mentioned a computer, not a laptop.
You need a custom kernel.
That is completely wrong – there are a couple distros out there that work “out of the box” without the need of a custom kernel. Not just for the rpi, but for many other “obscure” pcs, including a thermostat.
My mantra with Linux hardware is “as normal as possible.”
I make sure it doesn’t have certain brands of Wi-Fi card in them :/ miserable times with broadcom leave me wary
To have one ready out of the box with linux maybe look at the System76 offerings? https://system76.com/
Edit: just got a chance to check and they are slightly above your $1000 criteria. So maybe on his recommendation.
System76 or Framework
System 76
Their laptops ain’t as good as their Desktop which are premium from what I gathered from comments
Look at frame.work they have good documentation about various Linux distros on their machines
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.
They ditched Coreboot?
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.
It looks like work is still being done on Coreboot for the Framework. They got it running on the AMD version. It’s not ready for use yet, but at least there is some progress.
I have, unfortunately they’re too expensive for me.
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