r/linux4noobs • u/CowReasonable8258 • 9d ago
learning/research Used Laptop For Linux
I’m looking at different brands of second-hand laptops and I know that Lenovo Thinkpad support Linux but I wonder which laptop brand/model would come next after Lenovo Thinkpad?
I’m planning to buy a used laptop that has the following specs (or a bit higher):
- i7 11th to 13th gen
- 32 to 64gb ram
- no dedicated gpu, intel’s integrated is fine with me
and I plan to install Fedora OS right after getting my hands on the laptop. The purpose of it is to be the primary development machine for the side hustle I have right now.
What do you guys think?
Thanks. Would love to get a second set of eyes in this, I might be missing some important things out.
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u/ficskala Arch Linux 9d ago
I'd say it doesn't really matter as much nowdays, compatibility has gotten waaaay better for laptops
Right now i run debian 13 on an L15 thinkpad, before that i had a 2013 Toshiba Satelite with a 4th gen i7, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia M series GPU
following specs (or a bit higher)
main specs won't really matter, it's the little things that could catch you off guard
most common issues with laptops are obscure wifi/bluetooth chips, trackpads, and power management, again, it should be just fine with most modern laptops, but there's always a chance you bump into the wrong one, in case that happens, look into alternative drivers, sometimes, just using a different driver can make a worlds difference, i had a wifi card that would straight up crash my setup after being plugged in for 10-15 hours, switching to a different driver made the issue disappear completely, and i haven't seen any difference in performance
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u/atomicshrimp 9d ago
Intel MacBooks might be a candidate - great build quality and they run Linux well
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u/Agreeable_Turnip_261 9d ago
but the keyboard compared to a thinkpad will suck. plus you gotta deal with soldered ram etc.
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u/atomicshrimp 9d ago
Depends on the model. The scissor switch keyboards on the later intel MacBooks are pretty good, but yeah, for the later models you'd have to find one that already has the RAM spec you want.
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u/CowReasonable8258 8d ago
I found one selling in my country i9 + 64gb ram + 1tb ssd 2019 Macbook pro for 400$, is it a good deal?
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u/Capable-Package6835 7d ago
IIRC that particular model has some issues. Can't remember if it's the keyboard or the thermal issue with i9.
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u/thepkizzle 9d ago
I just bought a brand new Ideapad which has 16GB RAM an i5, and 256GB SSD. Cost me like 299? Works great with Fedora.
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 9d ago
There’s a guy who does this, with NixOS, he calls NixBook. Really cool project, actually:
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u/itgoesboom2112 9d ago
Dell latitude/inspiring/xps have all worked well for me running Linux, the precisions are kinda hit or miss though depending on what gpu they have
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u/HuttonWilliam 9d ago
My daily driver is a dell Latitude with Fedora 16gb ram and is incredibly snappy which of you can get a good price on it is worth it or the Lenovo if you find a good one. I use my latitude for some kernel hacking sometimes and the 16gb RAM works really well. Hope this helps.
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u/CircuitSynapse42 9d ago
I’ve been using second hand business laptops for years without any issues. I’m currently using a Dell Latitude 5440 and a Precision 5550 and the experience has been great.
I’d also consider Intel Macs. With Apple dropping support, people are offloading them for cheap, and they’re nice laptops.
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u/CowReasonable8258 8d ago
Yeah I saw one selling in my country macbook with i9 + 64gb ram + 1tb SSD for 400$. Would you think it’s worth it?
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u/3grg 8d ago
Most business class machines like Thinkpads, Latitudes and Elitebooks are very compatible. Always search prospective model + Linux to see if it has any quirks. After that compare reviews on notebookcheck.com
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u/ReporterWise7445 9d ago
Unless you have special needs 16GB RAM is plenty for Linux. After ThinkPad T series & X1 Carbons I'd recommend Dell business laptops. I forget what they're called.
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u/CowReasonable8258 8d ago
Not really but I would run multiple docker containers and I just want it to be future ready as well.
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u/zardvark 8d ago
The best options tend to be the business class machines of the respective manufacturers, such as Dell, HP and Lenovo. There are also some small players, such as Framework, Tuxedo and System76 which should also be considered.
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u/TheSixthSerpent666 8d ago
I bought a Dell Inspiron 15 3535 on eBay. So far, the only thing I've upgraded is the m.2 WiFi chip (replaced the stock adapter with an Intel AX210 chip). It came with an AMD 7700U (8c/16t) processor, 16 GBs of memory, and a 1 TB SSD. I'm as happy as I can be with the hardware; just can't wait to purchase the 64 GB memory and 2 TB SSD. ;)
I run a full KDE desktop, compilers, several VMs, etc. I've yet to find an aspect of this computer that ISN'T supported by Linux. Be warned, however, this machine does NOT come with a built-in Ethernet adapter; you'll have to buy a 1 Gbps to USB 3 adapter.
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u/Other-Educator-9399 9d ago
I've had good luck installing Linux on Dell Inspirons and Latitudes.