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Recommendation for Linux friendly laptop

J

jae

Golden Member
My x220 is starting to finally fall apart, so I'm looking for something else to run Fedora. The most intense work I do is a couple virtual boxes running to test/study.

12-14"
Core i5+
1080p

Open to laptops a few years old.
 
This is my x220 currently.
be61fd91a2a5ce92dfd0b2c6729473b4.jpg
 
From what I've read around, Thinkpads are still the gold standard for running GNU/Linux. My last netbook was an Acer I got from the pawn shop. Everything worked(I checked with a live usb) til the next major kernel update, and the broadcom wireless dicked up the sleep. I can work around it, but...

Anyway, I'd recommend whatever from a pawn shop. Test it out beforehand, and you should be able to get something decent cheap.
 
Thinkpad x240/x250 should be a nice step up.

The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu, and they've partnered with Canonical to make sure all the hardware is compatible. It's not Fedora, but I'd be shocked if Fedora didn't also work great out of the box.
 
I run arch on my T420 and it works great. Never had 2 VM open at the same time tho. Usually just one.
 
I have a Dell Inspiron 13 7000 series laptop (Core i5 6200U). It works just fine with Debian 8.2. However, the HD 520 integrated GPU only works with testing and not stable (otherwise, there's no GPU acceleration for anything).
 
THe x240 is haswell, the x250 is broadwell, the current XPS developer edition is also broadwell.

The XPS 13 non-developer edition has been updated to Skylake, I'm not exactly sure what Linux compatibility is like. Usually the wildcard is the wireless chip. My bet is that the developer edition ships with an intel wireless card, while the non-developer edition ships with something cheaper (Broadcom, maybe?).
 
A wireless adapter may not automatically work with a given Linux distro, however there are typically ways of making them work. If nothing else ndiswrapper will allow the use of a Windows driver.

I'm not especially distro loyal, if I can't get one to work I'll use another distro or another version.
 
lxskllr said:
Anyway, I'd recommend whatever from a pawn shop. Test it out beforehand, and you should be able to get something decent cheap.
Click to expand...
IMO, that is a gamble, some of those units are just FILTHY inside. Too bad they won't let you pop it open there.

If there is a big company in your neck of the woods, they tend to get rid of laptops every so often, and those are pretty cheap.
Friend got a Dell latitude for $100, and those handle linux just fine.

Not the fastest though.
 
Any one have any experience with Acer lately. I seen Acer Aspire V3-372T-5051 13.3" on sell for 600 after taxes.

Can't believe I'm considering buying an Acer...
 
jae said:
Any one have any experience with Acer lately. I seen Acer Aspire V3-372T-5051 13.3" on sell for 600 after taxes.

Can't believe I'm considering buying an Acer...
Click to expand...

I don't really follow computers, but I consider $600 "real money" territory, and I'd be hesitant to spend real money on an Acer. I love my $100 netbook, but it's a $100 netbook.
 
Wifi drivers are typically the big issues I had in the past, but maybe it's not an issue these days. (most problems I had were 10 years ago)

Maybe you could go out and see if you can configure a laptop with Linux from one of the major companies. I don't know if they sell them that way anymore, but Dell used to offer some flavors of Linux on their desktops. I'm sure there may be some available...then you can try buying the same model with Windows on it for cheaper (perhaps) and upgrade to Linux. 😉
 
Scarpozzi said:
Wifi drivers are typically the big issues I had in the past, but maybe it's not an issue these days. (most problems I had were 10 years ago)

Maybe you could go out and see if you can configure a laptop with Linux from one of the major companies. I don't know if they sell them that way anymore, but Dell used to offer some flavors of Linux on their desktops. I'm sure there may be some available...then you can try buying the same model with Windows on it for cheaper (perhaps) and upgrade to Linux. 😉
Click to expand...
It's not much. Dell has the XPS Dev and M3800. Theres smaller companies like System76 that sell rebranded Clevo laptops(?).
lxskllr said:
I don't really follow computers, but I consider $600 "real money" territory, and I'd be hesitant to spend real money on an Acer. I love my $100 netbook, but it's a $100 netbook.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know. I seen it on Slickdeals and thought about it as an option. Maybe I can find a used one for decent price... but then again it's a used Acer.. would worry me more about how long it would last.
 
I have the Asus UX305FA. It uses a broadwell core M chip, but the newest version is skylake. Compared to the i5 processors of yester year (sandy bridge and ivy bridge) it is roughly the same performance, but certainly slower than skylake and haswell i5s.

Based on my experience with it over the last six or so months I would say it would handle one virtual machine just fine and all other tasks. It has a 1080p screen, 8gb of memory, and 250gb SSD and a good battery life in linux (6-8 hours web surfing). I run elementary OS (a ubuntu derivative) out of the box - no ndswrapper or proprietary drivers required.

On amazon you can get one in "like new" condition for about 450$, and you can get it brand new for 600$ dollars after rebates.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5wxytmoqnq_b
 
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