What are good linux laptops for 2018? • Hacker News Board

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#51

Post by eat_veggies » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 12:16 AM UTC

xur17 wrote: post #12

eat_veggies wrote: post #8

I put linux on my x1 carbon (gen 5) and it works well enough. Some notes, in no particular order: * great keyboard * kind of shit trackpad * trackpoint is pretty nice at least * hidpi is a pain in the ass to set up ..* looks great once you get it working ..* some apps like Zoom refuse to scale up, so the buttons are tiny * light weight * really long battery

Have you found a good way to adjust the trackpoint speed on your X1 Carbon? It's way too slow on my gen 4, and way too fast on my gen 6 (even after configuring it to max speed on the gen 4).

I'm not sure if what I did was the normal way to do it, but:

`xinput list` gave me my trackpoint device's name. Mine is "TPPS/2 Elan TrackPoint"

`xinput list-props "TPPS/2 Elan TrackPoint"` gives a list of properties you can change.

"libinput Accel Speed (302):" looked promising, so I changed it via:

`xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 Elan TrackPoint" 302 0.2` where 302 is the code given in parentheses above, and 0.2 is the speed.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#52

Post by noir_lord » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 12:27 AM UTC

dfox wrote: post #39

noir_lord wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T470P didn't, I'm typing this on a Core-i7-7700HQ w/32GB RAM and the 2560x1440@14" screen. Cracking little machine for massively less than an Apple machine with a faster processor and until recently twice the max RAM the 'Pro' could have.

Truth to be told, T470p is weird beast because of it's incredible thicknes compared to non -p models. I think that most people who really need the power are better served by P series anyway.

Yes and no, it is much thicker than the regular T470's but it's still not thick by any measure I'd care about.

My criteria for too thick/heavy is "can I use it on my knee for a few hours without it feeling like someone parked a deathstar on my legs?" in that realm the T470P is just fine.

Aesthetically they are marmite though especially when put next to my GF's Asus Zenbook (One looks like it came from an advanced society, the other like it's used by the engineers of that advanced society).

The really strange one for me was that the T470P lacks a Thunderbolt 3 port despite the 470's having it.

Not a big issue for me because I drive a 4K display with DP just fine, I'd also have liked to have not gotten the 940MX, nothing wrong with it I just don't use it, the onboard intel graphics are absolutely fine for 99.9% of what I do.

Honestly I love the thing, it's been the least hassle, nicest laptop I've had since (ironically) my last Thinkpad around ~2003.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#53

Post by chimeracoder » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 12:32 AM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #47

meguest wrote: post #2

I have a Dell XPS 15 and to be frank I would advise against it. Good points: - Strong hardware - Looks nice Bad points: - M2 SSD requires changing some BIOS preferences to work on Linux - Nvidia graphics card is a pain on Ubuntu. Do a Google search for nouveau.modeset - The fans are on most of the time, even during idle. The machine isn't hot either - it just likes to run the fans - The 1920x1080 screen isn't that gr…

I am not sure these points of yours are fully valid: > M2 SSD requires changing some BIOS preferences to work on Linux I never had to do this. That is weird. > Nvidia graphics card is a pain on Ubuntu. Do a Google search for nouveau.modeset This is true but it affects all computers Ubuntu with NVIDIA and Intel integrated graphics and is not unique to Dell laptops. This screws up our desktops at work that have integra…

> I use a USB-C docking station at my desks. Once you get a docking station that connects everything, including power via a single small USB-C you never go back. You just need a dongle when traveling.

Which dock do you use?

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#54

Post by kaffee » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 12:39 AM UTC

I've been really happy with the Lenovo X260 and, were I in the market today, would get an X280.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#55

Post by bhouston » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 12:56 AM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #53

bhouston wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure these points of yours are fully valid: > M2 SSD requires changing some BIOS preferences to work on Linux I never had to do this. That is weird. > Nvidia graphics card is a pain on Ubuntu. Do a Google search for nouveau.modeset This is true but it affects all computers Ubuntu with NVIDIA and Intel integrated graphics and is not unique to Dell laptops. This screws up our desktops at work that have integra…

> I use a USB-C docking station at my desks. Once you get a docking station that connects everything, including power via a single small USB-C you never go back. You just need a dongle when traveling. Which dock do you use?

Currently the TB16, but I think the D6000 is likely just as good and smaller.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#56

Post by ioddly » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 3:20 AM UTC

I bought a refurbished Thinkpad X230 earlier this year and I'm very happy with it.

What tipped me over the edge is the repairability and modifiability of the laptops. After an ASUS laptop broke and I was only able to fix it because some random eBayer was selling a working keyboard, I swore off non-business laptops. There's a whole community of people who do nothing but mod Thinkpads, and companies that just refurbish ones (which have often been sitting in some office somewhere and are in great condition). Linux runs fantastically on it as well.

As for the trackpad...well, it's not great, but I use the trackpoint which I've always preferred. The keyboard on the other hand is amazing.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#57

Post by RaleyField » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 3:22 AM UTC

eat_veggies wrote: post #8

I put linux on my x1 carbon (gen 5) and it works well enough. Some notes, in no particular order: * great keyboard * kind of shit trackpad * trackpoint is pretty nice at least * hidpi is a pain in the ass to set up ..* looks great once you get it working ..* some apps like Zoom refuse to scale up, so the buttons are tiny * light weight * really long battery

Google Superfish. Seriously.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#58

Post by godot » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 5:46 AM UTC

lykr0n wrote: post #42

stevesimmons wrote: post #33

I bought the new Dell XPS15 with 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and Nvidia GPU the week it was released, and straightaway installed Ubuntu 18.04. It is powerful enough to last me three years and the price was good. I am mostly happy with it - superfast, great screen. The two problems I had were when installing the Nvidia drivers, plus the fans stay on more than I think they should. Rather than waste hours trying to solve these,…

I would try Fedora 28, or if you are a bit more technical- Arch. I'm running Arch on a 13" and it works flawlessly. I've had a lot better experiences using Fedora when compared to Ubuntu.

If you want to use Arch but are not that hardcore-technical (command line installer etc.), try Antergos. It's like Arch ez-mode -- GUI installer, installs with a GUI of your choice (Gnome by default), uses all the Arch packages. I am running Antergos on a Lenovo Ideapad 720s and it's a pleasant experience.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#59

Post by godot » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 5:54 AM UTC

I recently set up a personal use Linux laptop. I picked the Lenovo Ideapad 720s. There was a good price and I really like lightweight and thin laptops. I set up Antergos on it and am a very happy user now. I run VS Code to work on side projects and work in both nodejs and php/apache and everything works flawlessly.

The setup itself involved a lot of gotchas, I wrote a post about it: https://medium.com/@bigilui/installing-antergos-linux-on-a-l... Hope it helps if you decide to do it.

Re: What are good linux laptops for 2018?

#60

Post by tartrate » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 6:31 AM UTC

Another few weeks old Lenovo T480 user here.

What I like: 32GB RAM option. No dedicated GPU. Good trackpoint and great keyboard. Arch runs like a charm.

Note regarding the batteries: Internal and external battery, both easy to exchange. It however drains the most healthy battery first (down to 5%) before it starts draining the second one. I'd rather have it always drain the external battery first since that one is easier to replace.