Lenovo X/T/P Series. Heavy discounts on the Lenovo website right now. And an abundance of refurbs on ebay that are in pretty much brand new condition.
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS / Fedora / Manjaro are all good on this platform.
Have fun picking!
Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
31–40 of 103 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#32I made the switch to a Dell Precision laptop (or mobile workstation as Dell calls it) for work and speced it to the max a few years ago. I specifically wanted to run Ubuntu. I've had it for 3 years now and it's never let me down.
Also very happy with this choice. I'm on my second Dell Precision.
Also nice that Ubuntu comes pre-installed and is officially supported.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#33Lenovo X/T/P Series. Heavy discounts on the Lenovo website right now. And an abundance of refurbs on ebay that are in pretty much brand new condition. Ubuntu 18.04 LTS / Fedora / Manjaro are all good on this platform. Have fun picking!
I'm looking at a X390 really hard, the 32GB is a dream
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#34I received a (Dell) Alienware at work and no matter what I've tried, the trackpad does not work in Linux. I've tried every supposed remedy on the Internet. So at least I would avoid that brand.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#35My xps15 9560 has been a basketcase under ubuntu or arch linux, mostly due to the nvidia gpu never playing well with, well any other gpu. In general I'd recommend avoiding anything with a "hybrid" gpu solution. The downside is you're stuck with a crappy intel gpu, which at high-res (4k) on my xps15 is pretty crap, so I wouldn't get anything beyond a 1080p display with it. I think life would be much better if we could…
Had a similar experience with an Alienware laptop a few years back. It was a headache to try to configure drivers.
Thankfully, you could actually enable only one GPU in the BIOS! That, paired with AMD gradually improving their drivers over the years, ended up making Linux configuration not too bad. Definitely ate through the battery, though.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#36I have an Acer Swift 3 with AMD 2700u APU and while it's certainly not as high end as the top range MBP, it's pretty damn good (literally no issues, everything works perfectly) and the chipset is impressively quick. The higher end Acer laptops would probably be a decent alternative (and the open source AMD drivers are very good).
Lenovo ThinkPads are well known for their Linux support, I had one and loved most things about it. And of course Dell has been selling Linux laptops.
There's tons of options, just go with the hardware and features you want and google compatibility, but there's not too much that Linux doesn't support.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#37I still use my 2011 MacBook Pro daily, and has been running Linux for the majority of its life. I must say it has been the best Linux machine I have ever had. It will be very hard to replace. Just put an SSD in it so I will only replace it once the motherboard or other components die, however I have a spare (donated) so it can be used for parts.
I am seriously considering buying a Lenovo x1 carbon when it does kick the bucket. Apparently popular with devs for BSD and Linux. Plus has amazing battery life, is light, awesome keyboard. I would get a refurbished ex corp or gov machine, they are just too expensive new.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#38Depends strongly on what you are looking for:
Lightweight = Lenovo X range or Razer stelth
Workhorse = Dell Xps15 or Lenovo T480
All rounder = Xps 13
I would say the I find the keyboard on the xps range terrible (better than mac mind you) but thinkpad always has the best keyboards.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#39Lenovo X1 Carbon. I've been using Linux on it for over 4 years now, with zero complaints. When doing consulting engagements, I also ask my clients to issue a Carbon to me, and without fail they do.
Usable keyboard, the "nub", high density screen, long battery life, small size, and light weight. I struggle to see what could be improved about it.
When the one I'm typing this on (my personal workhorse) kicks the bucket, it will be replaced by another X1 Carbon. The only caveat is, the 15" "Extreme" model has an NVIDIA GPU, and that's a PITA in Linux, since GPU switching is still an esoteric feature, so your options are either to not use the discrete GPU, or to spend hours following obscure readmes to set it up. And in the latter case it still won't be anywhere near as good as Windows GPU switching, let alone macOS, and will likely break after a software update a few months down the road. But that's easy to avoid: just don't buy the 15" model.
Re: Ask HN: Best Linux Laptop Replacing a Macbook Pro?
#40The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition is the usual recommendation as far as having the most "Macbook"-like design (e.g. slim, unibody aluminum, but powerful).* ThinkPads generally have pretty solid Linux support, and System76 makes a line of Linux-only laptops, although both of them will be a good bit chunkier than your MBP. Neither are bad laptops if you're willing to trade sleekness for a tad more power or durability.…
XPS seems to me more like a replacement for the MacBook Air 11” size wise... except that it has a 13” HiDPI screen and a 6 core processor. I keep mine in an 11” MBA case. I’ve found mine to be really good. They seem to have fixed issues with the trackpad that bothered me. Only things I’m not keen on are the PgUp, PgDn key positions above the cursor keys and mixing the 4k screen with a 1440 external screen. I opted to…
> XPS seems to me more like a replacement for the MacBook Air 11” size wise... except that it has a 13” HiDPI screen and a 6 core processor. I keep mine in an 11” MBA case.
Well sure, but I have yet to hear someone say that they actually liked the 13" MBP's giant bezel. It was a testament, at the time, to the XPS 13's ingenuity that it managed to fit a 13" screen into what was basically an 11" laptop chassis.
My XPS 13 9343 has served me well for several years, although the battery life on this model was a meager four hours, and the QHD+ resolution on a 13" screen still feels like it's a DPI that modern OS's have yet to handle elegantly, even four years later.