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Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

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Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#31

Post by logn »

Look for a discounted Lenovo ThinkPad that you can test out in store to make sure it has a sturdy keyboard and can handle key presses without a hollow feeling.

I'd recommend trying to install Alpine Linux as a challenge and it ends up teaching you a lot about the simplicity of the OS and beauty of OpenRC.

Otherwise, Debian is a very reliable and easy to use/install OS and well tested on Lenovo hardware. Failing that, install Ubuntu which has invested much in compatibility with ThinkPads, specifically X1's but those are expensive and cheaper models are often just as compatible.

If you have problems running wireless, the easiest solution is sometimes to figure out if your wifi card is officially supported and swap out the one in the PC with an older and more compatible wifi card.

Sleep and hibernate are often problematic. Find a workaround that works well enough.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#32

Post by 0atman »

shp0ngle wrote: post #27
itomato wrote: post #22

Refurb M1 Air + Asahi. Wait a cycle then maybe do the same with the M2.

What is the current status of Asahi? Seems to be still in Alpha

I daily drive asahi on a mac mini m1 - everything I need to build my music, podcasts, code, and yt videos[1] works great.

The raspberry pi has given us 10 years of warm-up for ARM compatibility.

[1] eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY0XwMOSzq4

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#33

Post by 0atman »

RSHEPP wrote: post #29
itomato wrote: post #22

Refurb M1 Air + Asahi. Wait a cycle then maybe do the same with the M2.

Does Asahi maintain the crazy battery life these have? The battery life on my work Macbook Pro has me interested in switch to an Air for personal use.

Still needs some optimisation, but my m1 air oh asahi still has crazy battery life. Gets better every month!

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#34

Post by RSHEPP »

0atman wrote: post #30
itomato wrote: post #22

Refurb M1 Air + Asahi. Wait a cycle then maybe do the same with the M2.

This is it - nothing beats my asahi m1 air on anything: price, battery life, desktop cpu grunt, no throttling either thermally or on battery. I can't believe the best arm machine is made by Apple, 3 years on. Eventually we'll have arm machines made by other PC manufacturers, I'm most excited by Lenovo, but till then. $600 gets you a powerhouse of a machine.

where are you buying these for $600? Lowest I am seeing is $800.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#35

Post by RSHEPP »

0atman wrote: post #33
RSHEPP wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Asahi maintain the crazy battery life these have? The battery life on my work Macbook Pro has me interested in switch to an Air for personal use.

Still needs some optimisation, but my m1 air oh asahi still has crazy battery life. Gets better every month!

Has to be better than the 1.5 hrs I get on my Acer running Mint.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#36

Post by dejawu »

Give the MacBook (12-inch, 2015-2019) a look. They're Intel based and you can find a top end model for a few hundred bucks on ebay. I love mine - the weight and size make it incredibly easy to move with. They're also great to have as a second laptop, which never made sense given their price when new, but now that they're cheaper they're perfect for the role.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#37

Post by smeej »

vhodges wrote: post #6

I am quite happy with my 12th gen 13" Framework running NixOS. Everything I need seems to work out of the box (sleep/resume (not using hibernate though), Touchpad, camera, mic, etc) and seems quite stable. The 13th Gen (w/i7 only?) has a bigger batter so battery life should be better (a chief concern for some - though I am almost always plugged in). The new version also has an option for a matte screen. There's also…

-1 Framework. Mine does not sleep. I've tried it all, and it won't sleep. It certainly won't hibernate. It's either on or it's off.

It's nice to use at home, but it's pretty much useless anywhere else.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#38

Post by shebnik »

Running Mint 20 on ThinkPad P15 Gen 1 with GPU installed. It took some time to get it working through GPU on Display Port (but I don't recall what I did). Was fine for ~about year, but recently I am having Telegram crashing when clicked on a picture or video. (Mysteriously, this happens only when displaying through DP with 4k resolution - 1080p is still working).

Other than that no other issues.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#39

Post by firewire »

My current daily driver is a Thinkpad X230 running Mint which honestly does everything I need it to. The processor holds up pretty well and the storage and RAM are easily upgradable. The screen is my only real gripe and even that is merely fine. I've heard others upgrade them with different IPS panels too though I haven't looked much into that.

However, if you want something with the horsepower of the M2 MacBooks I have colleagues that run the Dell XPS 13.

One company that always interested me in the Linux specific laptop space is Star Labs out of the UK. They seem to have a competitive offering in the Starbook line when compared to manufacturers like Purism and System 76. They also have a very small netbook style laptop but the processor seems pretty weak on it.

Re: Ask HN: I Want to have a small Linux laptop. What are my options?

#40

Post by giantrobot »

oneearedrabbit wrote: post #8

This may be a bit esoteric -- eee pc 701/901 if you get can get by with Atom N270.

Such a system could be fine up until you need to open a graphical browser. If you can get by with 2008 workloads it would be fine. I don't say this as a disparaging comment about the eeePC, it was an alright machine for the workloads of its era. It's more a problem with modern websites being festooned with JavaScript.

The other issue with an older eeePC is the original SSD may have non-trivial wear issues and the battery is likely shot. Unless you get the machine for next to nothing fixing those issues will cost as much as just a brand new cheapo laptop.

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