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Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

#21

Post by derekp7 »

Chromebooks with Crostini make for a good "second laptop". It is finally getting to the point where it is usable as my daily driver.

The main advantage is that in ChromeOS, things like Netflix and Hulu work at full resolution. And everything is touch optimized. Under Crostini, Linux apps are getting very well integrated.

Note, that there are still a few things that are in the works yet. I'm on the beta channel, and just got v74, which gives audio support to Linux apps. And 3d is still being worked out. (Audio in isn't in place yet though, for security reasons).

I also have a Thinkpad X1 Yoga, which so far has been 0 trouble with Linux (suspend/hibernate work as expected). The only thing that doesn't work is the fingerprint scanner. Thinkpads in general are fairly well supported, partly because many Red Hat developers carry thinkpads from what I've heard.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

#23

Post by annoyedmacuser »

mobilio wrote: post #15
gtf21 wrote: post #6

I have been wondering about this too. I'm pretty attached to my 2014 MBP (running macOS) but dislike the latest line of Macs (and want to have a linux laptop). I've been looking mostly at the new Dell XPS 13 range as they look really good. I just worry that the build quality will never match up to Apple's.

Same here - MBP/MBA fan. But i'm afraid to migrate to new ones due keyboard issues.

Made an account just to comment on this. The new keyboards are a nightmare. My keys on my 2016 Macbook Pro kept sticking and after a while started falling off. To fix it, they have to replace large parts of the machine, including the screen, so your machine is likely to be in the shop for the better part of a week. Once repaired, the problem will persist, because it's not like they're actually able to correct the design flaw by giving you a new keyboard.

I've been a loyal Mac user for about 16 years - even used to run Yellow Dog Linux on my old PPC - but I've started migrating my family to the Dell XPS for their new laptops. From what I read, the new rubber components in the most recent laptops don't really fix the issue either. I'd stay away.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

#26

Post by cmroanirgo »

My MBA 2013 just barfed and while I was waiting to get my new one in I decided to install xubuntu 18 LTS on a 2007 Sony Vaio (2mb, Core 2 Duo, tiny and slow harddrive). While it's nowhere near as fast as an SSD, it loads reasonably well and looks reasonable out of the box, and definitely usable for browsing/typing and a bit of compiling.

So what I'm saying is that I'm not sure if the question is specific enough.

That said, any el cheapo laptop will run well, & a good SSD with a bit of ram is all I'd be looking for if I were buying new... or I'd go top-end & gorgeous, like a Lenovo.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

#27

Post by taf2 »

derekp7 wrote: post #21

Chromebooks with Crostini make for a good "second laptop". It is finally getting to the point where it is usable as my daily driver. The main advantage is that in ChromeOS, things like Netflix and Hulu work at full resolution. And everything is touch optimized. Under Crostini, Linux apps are getting very well integrated. Note, that there are still a few things that are in the works yet. I'm on the beta channel, and j…

I agree, after the MacBook keyboard touchbar thing I’ve started using a chrome slate tablet and was amazed by how fast it is. It doesn’t have fans so it can’t be fast for long compute operations but short compiles or bursts are very fast. The keyboard is simple but yea tablet keyboard but it’s so small and lite I can carry with me almost everywhere. The biggest issue for me is when restarting the device for upgrades I lose my whole Linux even setup. Although I enjoyed finally learning how to use tabs in screen.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best laptop to run Linux in 2019?

#28

Post by pizza234 »

hestefisk wrote: post #7

Surface Book is not bad. No suspend though.

I owned multiple Surface devises, and while I think it's a good machine for development in general, it's definitely not a "best laptop to run Linux", due to incomplete hardware support.

In addition to the sleep, the webcam is not supported at all, and the wifi driver is far from perfect.

An extremely annoying issue, although not relevant to Linux itself, is that the Fn key frequently disables itself, and there's no way to lock it (there was in the SP3). I've verified this on both a Surface Book and a Surface Book 2.

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