I’m currently using an HP with Windows 11 and WSL but I’d love to switch to Linux, proper - at least just on my development machine. I’m standard LAMP, though I also would use Node and Rails, too.
I use AI and PS (though I’m familiar with Inkspot and Gimp, if WINE isn’t perfect for them), Visual Studio Code/Codium, Git, and Chrome/Firefox.
What are some of the best places to look for machines that can work for this? I’d prefer Debian, though I’m fine with Ubuntu. I’ve looked at Dell but they seem limited with what is available.
Or just install Linux on any laptop made in the past 10 years.
Is it pretty seamless on a laptop you picked up from a retailer with Windows on it? Like in terms of picking right up and going after installing?
It is usually pretty seamless, but unfortunately some laptops may have some weird quirks or certain things which may not work and may require manual steps. Most common issues you might come across is with suspend/resume - it’s either broken, or it may not resume properly or may crash etc. Other issues could include audio issues, or wifi issues.
This isn’t generally a problem though with popular / “good” models, as these get picked up and fixed pretty quickly. The problem usually is with less popular models, or brand new models which haven’t been tested yet by the wider Linux community.
Good models/brands include Thinkpads, mainstream Dells (especially the XPS series), mainstream HP (especially the EliteBook series) and Framework. Plus there are laptops which come with Linux out-of-the-box, as the ones by System76 and Star Labs. HP also have the Dev One, and Dell have the XPS Developer Edition.
In general, I’d recommend going for a full AMD system (CPU+GPU) because of their better integrated GPU performance, particularly on Linux. Unlike nVidia, you don’t need to install any proprietary drivers for AMD GPUs, which increases system stability and reliability - especially when you update your system.
Fantastic; I’ve always loved Thinkpads with Windows so that’s what I’m leaning to for Linux too.
I see that Framework and System76 were already mentioned. I would add Slimbook and Tuxedo Computers to the list.
I was just in a market for a Linux laptop and I really wanted a Framework but it’s not available in my country so I settled on Slimbook Executive 14 instead. I have it for around a month now and I’m very satisfied.
I’ve (almost) always had good experiences with Lenovo laptops, especially T-series or X1 Carbon.
my random acer works perfectly for me
I wanted to try a framework laptop, but it’s not available in my market. I have had good experiences with dell and thinkpads that have official linux support.
Everyone always says Thinkpads, which is what I might look at. :)
After Superfish I’d NEVER trust Lenovo.
I have a Lenovo I never use because they placed the right shift key and the up arrow key stupidly. As I am typing if I want to capitalize a letter using the right shift key my finger gets the up-arrow key most of the time, I don’t see this for several keystrokes, leading to having to correct the issue. It’s very annoying. It is a nice i7 machine otherwise.
Uhh, get a keyboard?
I have used the machine with a keyboard, but it is a laptop - meant to go places away from a fixed installation. I have an Asus Vivobook with a sane keyboard.
Super glue a small keyboard to it, lol
I bought a ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 last year (with 32GB RAM) and it’s been excellent for hobby dev work and light gaming. Lenovo officially list Linux as one of the supported operating systems. I run Fedora on it and everything worked out of the box. If it’s not urgent, I’d recommend waiting for the Gen 2 which should come out next month. Gen 2 features the AMD Zen 4 CPUs, which is a decent upgrade from the Zen 3+ CPU in the Gen 1.
Thanks! I’m not in a hurry so I might wait!
I’ve not had any trouble with HPs, burn a boot USB and boot a live distro and see if it works.
TBH I must have been lucky because the only linux hardware support grief I’ve had with laptops (a dozen all different brands) has been wifi cards/drivers. The one time I had that problem I coughed up the £20 and replaced the pcie wifi card with an Intel one.
Then again I don’t try to make fingerprint readers work which apparently is a pain
Lenovo X1 Carbon
I am running the latest Debian on an ASUS Vivobook. I obtained the machine at COSTCO.
ThinkPads are the de facto Linux laptop.
There are a lot of options to get a laptop with Linux preinstalled, guarantee that drivers will work, and support.
I don’t see the point of buying a Windows laptop when Linux laptops exist.
ThinkPads DO come with Linux preinstalled. They offer Ubuntu and Fedora Linux. They are also certified for RHEL.
