I use the Mac M1 and wouldn't suggest it for linux unless all the functionality you need is explicitly supported. Most stuff does work for me as a java dev. However, Asahi doesn't support docking to a monitor which prevents me from using it solely as a linux machine.
Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
101–110 of 440 posts
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#102I was recently in a similar boat, as the combination of discord + twitch was really making my 11 year old i5-2520M-based T420 really show its age (WHY IS A DESKTOP CHAT CLIENT AN ELECTRON APP??!??!) even with 16 GiB RAM in Arch Linux. I settled on a 16GB X13 Gen 2 from the outlet store (which seemed like a deal at ~520 USD). Coincidentally that's where I bought the T420 in 2011. The outlet store seems like a good way…
>WHY IS A DESKTOP CHAT CLIENT AN ELECTRON APP??!??!
Because the current software development approach/practices/tools used close to everywhere are fundamentally flawed driving software development cost to absurdity and making it not viable to not use electron (which allows you to reuse most of the web-client code). At best you get a specialized version for phone apps, but even that is often not worth the money.
And it's not something as simple as "just use approach X" or "tool Y" or "language Z" it a much more complex, subtle and deeply rooted problem across all of the industry, universities and other people driving the software industry.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#103My (not quite so new) laptop is a Lenovo P53 with a 4K screen. It took me several weeks to realise that it's also a touch screen. I can't remember ordering that touch capability as an option when I was customizing the basic machine. Standard Mint Mate installation. Previous laptop was a Lenovo T410 - it's now coming up for its 13th birthday. Still works well.
And these can be bought at really good prices secondhand from companies clearing out old IT assets. I'm typing on a maxed out P52 I bought ~ 2 years old at 20% of the original price.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#104My framework laptop has served me very well for the last year or so. This is one of the few pieces of open source hardware that is genuinely better (IMO) than many other larger hardware brands. The entire device is just so well built and the upgrade path is so well defined.
How is the weight/ mobility/ versatility? I jumped on the System76 train initially and feel burned. I'm looking for an alternative for my next machine. Its gotta actually have functional battery life next round. I expected a firmware update at some point from system76 to resolve this and it basically has never happened.
System76 is working on a firmware update which targets all models listed here: https://github.com/system76/firmware-open/issues/340
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#105My framework laptop has served me very well for the last year or so. This is one of the few pieces of open source hardware that is genuinely better (IMO) than many other larger hardware brands. The entire device is just so well built and the upgrade path is so well defined.
How is the weight/ mobility/ versatility? I jumped on the System76 train initially and feel burned. I'm looking for an alternative for my next machine. Its gotta actually have functional battery life next round. I expected a firmware update at some point from system76 to resolve this and it basically has never happened.
I love the form factor, but the battery is my second biggest gripe with my Framework (after fractional scaling still not supported by many apps). Even after tweaking settings ad nauseam, I cannot get the suspend battery life to last more than 12-16 hours.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#106As someone who has been using a Thinkpad X1 with Linux on it since 2014, I'd probably strongly consider getting another one. Framework is the only other tempting choice, but some people voiced concerns about Linux compability with the latest revision. Might be worth messing around with it though.
Hi, my name is Matt Hartley. I'm the new Linux Lead for Framework. Our laptops have great support for both Ubuntu and Fedora. I'm typing this from Fedora right now. We also have community support for other distros as well.
Any specific notes for Fedora? I just bought one yesterday.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#107Framework if your driven by Libre Software ideals.
My personal vote is for the Lenovo. My last 5 laptops have all been various Lenovo T and P series. They're easy to upgrade, they don't break, and Linux is well supported.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is the weight/ mobility/ versatility? I jumped on the System76 train initially and feel burned. I'm looking for an alternative for my next machine. Its gotta actually have functional battery life next round. I expected a firmware update at some point from system76 to resolve this and it basically has never happened.
I love the form factor, but the battery is my second biggest gripe with my Framework (after fractional scaling still not supported by many apps). Even after tweaking settings ad nauseam, I cannot get the suspend battery life to last more than 12-16 hours.
If that's for an 11th gen model, that's taking into account the problems with HDMI/displayport extensions, and either not using them, or using the beta firmware update?
The limited suspended battery life is admittedly rather annoying for me as well, but it doesn't seem as bad as it is in your case.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#109I use (and roll out at my work) Lenovo's with AMD chips, going back to the T495, then T14 Gen 1 and T14 Gen 2, not had a need to get any new laptops for a while, but would get T14 Gen 3 if we did.
They have all been really good, although did need to run Ubuntu interim releases until 22.04 LTS to get the latest kernels which helped with a number of things. Also, make sure to change the BIOS sleep setting. It'll default to Windows which can cause sleep and resume to not work properly in Linux.
Upgraded RAM where possible to 32GB and 512GB SSDs. Unfortunately they only ship the laptops with Windows in Australia, so need to wipe and install a fresh Ubuntu when they arrive.
Re: Poll: What's the best laptop for Linux these days?
#110I have the HP Dev One and it's pretty darn good and inexpensive.
I don't have an HP Dev One, but I bought the HP Aero 13 for my S.O. last year as a Christmas gift, and am silently jealous of it anytime I see her using it. It's crazy lightweight (under 1kg!!!) and portable, and the keyboard and display are surprisingly nice. HP have really stepped up their game.