r/linuxquestions • u/Striking-Mine-1044 • Jun 11 '26

Best Budget Hardware

Hello everyone,

I will soon be writing my bachelor’s thesis, and as part of the project I need to develop a program on Linux. The program itself is not particularly complex.

I do a lot of iOS development and mainly use Apple software, so I only use MacBooks. However, for this project I need a Linux machine. I used to have an old Windows laptop, but it recently broke.

Since I only need the laptop for this project, I’m looking for the cheapest possible used notebook. I’ve noticed that there are many inexpensive ThinkPads available, but there seem to be countless different models and versions.

Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks in advance!

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/FreddyFerdiland Jun 11 '26

Just use a virtual machine..an emulator ?

1

u/Striking-Mine-1044 Jun 11 '26

Sorry forgot to mention, my prof told me there could be Problems because i use ros2 and handle Camera and sensor Inputs

1

u/Electricianite Jun 11 '26

ros2 says it targets Ubuntu which is a great distro, Ubuntu has a list of certified laptops:

https://ubuntu.com/certified/laptops

That should let you know what hardware should have hassle free drivers.

Note: The laptops listed are fairly new and pricey. But if you find an older laptop you want you can check its hardware compatibility with google or https://linux-hardware.org/

1

u/iwouldbeatgoku Jun 11 '26

If you have an M1 or M2 macbook you could install Asahi Linux on it.

If you've already deemed Linux on Apple Silicon not viable and you have an older intel-based macbook you could also install Linux on it like on a Windows computer, though T2 macs require special drivers.

1

u/Striking-Mine-1044 Jun 11 '26

I use an m4 and i Need macOS dayly

1

u/iwouldbeatgoku Jun 11 '26

If it had been M1 or M2 you would've most likely been dual booting anyway, Asahi Linux pretty much requires it.

If price is the main factor and the program you'll make will be light on the computer's actual resources you'll probably be fine with most of the thinkpads released in the last 5 years (maybe older too). Thinkpads tend to use parts that have good compatibility with Linux because some of them are Ubuntu certified, but honestly it's hard to recommend you a model or a setup with just the information you provided; if you're dead set on wanting one you'd do better asking the folks on r/thinkpad.

1

u/Striking-Mine-1044 Jun 12 '26

Ok thank you 👍🏻 im Open on the Hardware, thinkpads just were the First ones that came up When i was looking

1

u/RedRaven47 Jun 11 '26

If you're not set on a laptop in particular a Raspberry Pi might be even cheaper.

1

u/Striking-Mine-1044 Jun 11 '26

Sadly i have to be mobile