Hey, I wanna know your preferred laptops, used is better and to run Linux on it. Something with at least 16gb and 512 SSD is good. Budget range. Thank you!
If you’re on a small budget, look for older ThinkPad laptops, you can get them for good prices and in good condition and Linux works very well on them.
For mid-range try to find an older Dell XPS 13, they sold those as certified Linux devices nicknamed “Developer Edition” and with an Ubuntu LTS version preinstalled. I have one of those and I run Arch on it. It runs perfectly fine. Also: superb build quality! It’s a very great device.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but you can use pretty much anything you like, as long as it isn’t brand new or extremely old.
Even stuff with Nvidia GPUs and stuff.
Even MS Surface devices work decently.
Thing is, for a really smooth experience, where you don’t feel like a second class citizen, and everything works ootb, proper support is advantageous.
I have a Dell XPS laptop, and it works fine. Sometimes, the WiFi switches itself off, and I have to restart the connection, but other than that, everything is flawless.
Thinkpads are great too, since they are also used heavily in offices, where they get thrown out or sold cheaply. Maybe ask there.
I personally would recommend something that you can repair yourself, or at least change the battery and memory.
I wouldn’t recommend macs in general. Anything with a touch bar (intels from ca 2018-19 and on) are tricky to get to run Linux at all, anything with apple silicon is very experimental, and the older models have Broadcom Wi-Fi that doesn’t ship with drivers on any distribution I know of.
This is a pity because MacBooks pro from ca 2013-2015 are great; cheap second hand because they’re out of support in macOS, good screens, excellent build quality and fast enough for anything you want to do with them.
They’re cheap because the battery is just about old enough to become a danger pillow.
A “factory seconds” framework 13 might fit your budget, and you get a laptop that is easily repairable and upgradeable. The 11th gen i7 version that starts at $500 is what I have been using for a couple of years now and still runs great.
They also have refurbished laptops, but those seem to start a little bit more expensive.
Love my 11th gen framework, but there is an issue with the 11th gens where the CMOS battery will die rather quickly. If it does die then the laptop needs to be plugged in to turn on, even if it is fully charged. Framework is aware of the issue and will send a free replacement battery or, if you can solder, a mod that will eliminate the issue for good.
Still love framework and would definitely recommend them - but the 11th gen line (their first product) has a few gotchas
I’m thinking about buying a Framework 13 myself, but I worry the keyboard will be a huge downgrade on my current ThinkPad T480. Are the Framework keyboards any good?
