3d ago

Laptop for Linux

Hey all.

I've booted Linux Mint Debian Edition and Arch on to a couple old machines including my old laptops. The performance is still rather brutal because these machines are so old and their battery lives are rough. They are also bulky and uncomfortable to carry around.

So, I've been thinking about getting a more modern laptop and putting Linux on it but I've been out of the laptop market for so long now I have no idea what's good and what's not anymore. Any recommendations?

I think I've heard decent things about Chromebooks but how's the hardware of those? Are they relatively locked down and don't play nice with Linux? I'm just looking for a machine for daily use (browser, light coding, remote connecting to my desktop for heavier stuff)

Thanks in advance

EDIT: Thank you to everyone for responding, I did not expect so much discussion! I've certainly changed my mind on Chromebooks and will look into the options recommended below in the coming months. Thanks!

60 comments

Tuxedo
- Gonna have to anti-recommend tuxedo unfortunately. Never had a "Linux" laptop before and never had any issues, but two of the newest Infinitybooks have a number of issues with fan control, clock sometimes stuck at 800MHz, weird-ass Ethernet NIC with no upstreamed drivers and so on. It's like a trip to 15 years ago in terms of weird little issues popping up every now and the .
  The tuxedo kernel modules are a mess and not currently upstreamable, their interfaces are inconsistent across lineups/generations which they solve by building a unified Electron monstrosity "control center" on top.
  The idea is nice but any mainstream manufacturer works pretty well these days, and the Schenker laptops with tuxedo software not up to par :/
  
  I’ve Pulse 14 with plain Debian installation and so far didn’t notice any issues. Though admittedly, I’m not a heavy laptop user. Your mileage may vary I guess.
  
  No I mean it's fine mostly and the hardware configuration is very nice: good CPU, lots of RAM, good screen resolution and aspect ratio, a great programming laptop overall. Just the 100-200€ you pay buying from tuxedo don't translate to better Linux support than other vendors.
  
  Were you using it with their custom OS, or did you try to install something else like Linux Mint?
  
  I'm on NixOS right now, but another person on Arch is reporting similar things. Don't get the point of their custom distro instead of just making their stuff portable and easier to set up honestly.
  
  I 100% agree. Whenever these companies start with their own projects I immediately get suspicious that their goal is to enshittify down the line with vendor lock-in.
  The only reasons why I'm seriously considering a Tuxedo are 1. European brand and 2. Double SSD.
  Not a lot of laptops seem to be offering double SSD while being Linux compatible, so my hands are kinda tied.
  
  My primary needs were a big HiDPI screen, lots of memory, good CPU and it meets all of them. The only other devices meeting those are the high end ThinkPads that are no doubt nicer, but also double the price sooo it's all good.
  But someone who buys primarily for great Linux support might be disappointed.
  I also have to say I haven't spent much time investigating the issues I faced for time reasons, maybe some of them can be fixed easily.
  
  Have you tried talking to customer support? I hear they are quite responsive.
  
  I have not to be honest lol. Keeping an eye on this issue in particular https://github.com/AaronErhardt/tuxedo-rs/issues/117 but come summer I should have time to look into it more.

60 comments