My wife is looking for a portable device primarily for modeling in Blender and optionally for drawing in Krita. So we looking for something with a GNU/Linux support from manufacturer.
We considered https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/TUXEDO-InfinityFlex-14-Gen1, it looks nice, but maybe you have other suggestions? Do you have experience with convertibles, how convenient is to draw on them?
We also considered https://earth.starlabs.systems/pages/starlite for drawing and a separate device for Blender, but having two devices might not be convenient…
Laptops from over 5 years ago are well supported by Linux (for the most part). However, the very modern laptops have bits and pieces that aren’t supported, from fan profiles, to the new intel webcams etc. They will run Linux, but you might fry them if your fans don’t work properly. So your best bet would be to get either an old one (I got a Macbook Air from 2015 with 8GB RAM, works great), or get a Tuxedo, or a System76 one, or a couple more Linux-specific ones. And it’s not because suddenly Linux does worse job supporting hardware, but it’s because these machines are. getting more complex and they need drivers for every little thing. Back in the day, things were more generic (e.g. the fans) and worked with a single driver.
They will run Linux, but you might fry them if your fans don’t work properly.
The EFI will control the fans just fine.
Does linux support from manufacturer really matter?
The tuxe laptop convertible may seem nice and if she wants to draw on the screen then you are going to be limited on other options. But I would be worried about that intel gpu.
If you want to do 3d modeling you will need something that is gaming grade. I would rather game on a crappy card than model using one. But i also confess i am not up to date with the last few years of developments in that space.
In my very humble experience with digital art a proper dedicated drawing tablet beats any kind of touchscreen drawing.
So if you comfortable installing a chosen linux distro from a usb. (It really is not difficult, ai and YouTube can guide you trough it) and she is not already adept at touchscreen drawing i would suggest:
Lenovo Legion Both my partner and their mom have one with a different graphics card. Most of this line have nvidia rtx cards and all of those will do the job. Naturally more expensive models will have newer/faster cards.
Wacom intuos i am biased to call wacom tablets great because i have never used any others. I can say the intuos line is much nicer then the older bamboo pen and touch/fun line. Models come in different sizes
Does linux support from manufacturer really matter?
Only they can truly answer for themselves, but from a business standpoint, yes. It might. Being able to get support direct from the people who made/sold the laptop, whether it be in the form of a warranty or tech support, could save you from having down time when you need to be working.
No manufacturer support. But zephyrus g14 (2022) is my favorite laptop ever. Very few issues with Linux.
For blender nvidia gpu is a the best for cycles as it has optiX support.
If she does ONLY modeling and uses eevee renders without viewport previews then integrated graphics could work.
If she wants viewport preview then dedicated GPU is a must. IDK how fares AMD gpu in blender as I didn’t have one for years.
Some gaming laptops with dedicated GPUs need external kernel modules just to work if they even have one.
My best bet would be to go for old gaming laptop.
My second best bet would be to go for system76 as they have some gaming laptops
cycles is hilariously usable on weak hardware (though faster hardware is definitely desirable), I tried it on my Intel hd4000 and it somehow works
Can you explain a bit what did you do?
How is cycles in viewport behaving?
