Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#11

Post by dotcoma » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 9:37 AM UTC

dudul wrote: post #4

Do you really save money when buying a non Windows laptop?

At least you don’t give money to Redmond…

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#12

Post by hnthrowaway0328 » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 12:20 PM UTC

Dell refurbished. Sometimes the laptops come without an OS.

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#13

Post by gregors » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 4:09 PM UTC

I don't know where you are located, but in the US I find deals throughout the year on laptops with windows pre-installed that are cheaper than linux only laptops.

So if your goal is to save money I would look there first. The Dell outlet store is a good place to get last gen or refurbished laptops with great savings.

I've had good experiences with:

* ThinkPads

* last gen XPS 15 laptops (9520, 9530)

* Asus zephyrus M16

Having seen a coworker's System76 laptop, I have to say. I would pass on that unless you find one at an absolute great price.

Try to buy them with the lowest ram and ssd and do the upgrade yourself. For example I am running 96GB DDR5 in the M16 with no problems.

Also, I haven't gotten my hands on one, but the HP Dev One laptop was linux first and are quite inexpensive. They only had one run, but I am seeing them online used for $500.

I've also not had a chance to get my hands on a starlab laptop but I would very much like to.

https://us.starlabs.systems/

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#14

Post by qustrolabe » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 4:16 PM UTC

Best thing to do is to search for widely used in linux community laptop to be sure that all it's features supported by linux or at least every problem well documented on sites like archwiki, even if it has Windows pre-installed.

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#15

Post by solardev » Sat, Jan 20, 2024, 8:00 PM UTC

Buy a used laptop from a year or two ago. Save tons of money and put whatever you want on it.

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#16

Post by meristohm » Sun, Jan 21, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

gregors wrote: post #13

I don't know where you are located, but in the US I find deals throughout the year on laptops with windows pre-installed that are cheaper than linux only laptops. So if your goal is to save money I would look there first. The Dell outlet store is a good place to get last gen or refurbished laptops with great savings. I've had good experiences with: * ThinkPads * last gen XPS 15 laptops (9520, 9530) * Asus zephyrus M1…

I bought a Dell laptop from the Dell Outlet store and put Linux Mint Debian Edition on it, no problem.

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#17

Post by thrwwycbr » Mon, Jan 22, 2024, 10:26 AM UTC

As an alternative to the ones you mentioned, Starlab Systems comes to mind.

General advice: If possible, buy one with a current Ryzen model. Chances are, the 64GB max is not the limit but that they can be upgraded to 2x48GB Crucial SODIMMs.

[1] https://starlabs.systems/

Re: Ask HN: Buying Laptop Without Windows?

#18

Post by dawidw » Mon, Jan 22, 2024, 12:54 PM UTC

laptopwithlinux.com

I've bought one, works fine, no problem at all