Ask HN: Linux Laptop Options for 2020?

I was in a similar place in December 2019. Two main options before me: Dell XPS or the Thinkpad X1 Extreme

Both are great machines, but I went for the Thinkpad.

Reasons:

1. The near zero bezels of the Dell XPS look great, but I use an external monitor most of the time.

2. Thinkpad keyboards. Enough said. Best in breed.

3. Upgradability. Thinkpads are still one of the most upgradable laptops. Almost every part can be upgraded.

4. Thinkpad aesthetics and military grade hardware testing.

5. I find the build quality of the Thinkpad's better than Dell XPS.

Downsides of the Thinkpad is battery life, especially if you go for the 4k version of the screen. With that I get 4 to 6 hours depending on type of usages. Doesn't really bother me though. I find that enough. I'm not a sit in a cafe all day unplugged kind of users. I need my multiple external monitors.

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Linux support you ask?

I have a dual boot with Windows 10. The Linux setup is Debian based XFCE desktop. Everything works fine. Bluetooth, HDMI, you name it. Even the Nvidia 1650 works perfect.

I bought a Thinkpad P52S last year and installed Pop_OS. It's built on top of Ubuntu and I highly recommend it over Ubuntu. I used a macbook for ~7 years before this, and then Ubuntu for a ~1 year. Pop_OS is much more similar to macOS that anything else I've tried.

With the Ubuntu Tweaks tool, it's been a dream to run. Required very little configuration, shortcuts to switching

I primarly use it for Python (virtualenvs) and a little docker.

I bought the P52S because it had all the hardware ports (Ethernet couple of USBs, a SIM card slot and a proper HDMI port. If those aren't important to you, you could get by with a lighter Carbon.

I have a 15.6" LG Gram running Mint 19 and I love it. It's lighter than a 13" MacBook Air and I usually get ~10 hours of battery life. My only complaints are the very high-gloss screen and the flimsy, proprietary power connector (edit: it looks like current versions use Thunderbolt instead). Also, I like the keyboard, but I'm not picky about keyboards so you may not want to trust my judgment on that.

I was about to ask the same question.

The default answer is a ThinkPad. X1C and T495s (AMD Ryzen!) are very interesting options. Sadly delivery times are really long now due to Intel supply problems or COVID disruptions.

Dell XPS 2020 is cool, but I have had many QC problems with Dell expensive hardware. So I try to skip Dell except for UltraSharp screens.

T2 chip will block access to disk in most recent Macs, so that's not an option. Which is unfortunate, as some MacBook Airs were perfect Linux machines. Linus himself used one a few years ago as his main machine before switching to a Pixel.

IMHO, surprisingly, Microsoft Surface devices are worth considering. The most recent batch is mostly Intel/AMD hardware top-down.

Surface Go works perfectly with a mainline kernel. Surface Book 2, Pro 7 and Laptop 3 work quite well, except minor glitches and touch support (which is still being worked out in some models). A caveat is that camera support is non-existent in non-Book devices. Some Windows Hello cameras are weird I guess. Else, hardware is fantastic, keyboard is a delight and those 3:2 screens are really good.