Which Laptop Is Best For Linux? (SOLVED)

[KamenRiderNecro]

If this is the wrong place for this question, I apologize in advance!

I am planning on getting another laptop, since my ASUS is not what it used to be, sadly. I'm eyeballing several options, here, and I'd like to get y'all's opinions as to which one would be the best option to install Linux Mint on?

I have:

Dell Latitude or Latitude E6410
HP/Compaq NC6400
IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad (either T61 or T420, or X200S)
HP ProBook 6445b
Dell XPS13 UltraBook

Of those options, which do you folks think would be the best for my needs (Internet use, word processing, YouTube, etc)? I keep hearing that newer machines aren't Linux friendly at all, and that older machines tend to work better for Linux Mint (these machines are all averaging 4GB of RAM and some can even take up to 8GB). What say you good folks?

[Scupper]

Hi KamenRiderNecro,

I installed Mint 18.3 on my old Dell Latitude e6420 a few months ago....couldn't be happier, the machine runs better than ever!

Regards.

[KamenRiderNecro]

Hi KamenRiderNecro,

I installed Mint 18.3 on my old Dell Latitude e6420 a few months ago....couldn't be happier, the machine runs better than ever!

Regards.

Excellent! How much RAM can that thing take--4 GB or 8GB? And what desktop are you running? I was thinking of an lighter version like MATE or XFCE for mine.

[KBD47]

Works great on Thinkpads. I have a T420 and X220 and would recommend either or both.

[Scupper]

It's running cinnamon, and has 8 gig ram.

[KamenRiderNecro]

It's running cinnamon, and has 8 gig ram.

Really? I would think an older machine like that would have issues with Cinnamon? Correct me if I'm wrong, someone...and is it DDR3 RAM? Because if so, I can likely pop the RAM from the ASUS into that machine and max it out.

[Scupper]

Sorry for the late response. Yes DDR3 I believe.

[KamenRiderNecro]

Sorry for the late response. Yes DDR3 I believe.

Sounds good to me, so far!

[AndyMH]

Highly recommend Thinkpads. Running on a T430 with 18.3 cinnamon. Mint installs 'out of the box' with no issues. Comes with an i5 and is reasonably quick and more than able to handle mint. Also have a T60 and think you would find a T61 a bit slow.

Buy second hand corporate, excellent value. Build quality outstanding. Most parts easily obtainable (ebay).

Also upgradeable, bought mine with a 240G SSD and 4GB RAM (DDR3). Upgraded to 8GB RAM and more recently to 16GB (don't really need this much for mint, but doing a lot of work at the moment in win7 running in virtualbox). Also replaced the DVD/CDRW in the ultrabay with a 1TB HDD (for use as a backup drive). Have also replaced the i5-3320M with an i7-3632QM. Think I've probably taken it as far as I can, but a very nice machine.

Outlay:

T430 - can be picked up from less than £300.
16GB - £120 (2x8)
1TB HDD + ultrabay caddy - £50.
i7 cpu - £80 (second hand).

Note - they come with a number of options, most have bluetooth, some are 1600x900 screens, most 1366x768. Some had a dedicated GPU, most (including mine) is built into the CPU

[Moem]

My daily driver is a X201 Thinkpad with 8GB of RAM. Runs Cinnamon very nicely and does everything I want it to except for making tea. I love the keyboard and the build quality on Thinkpads. Have recently replaced the cooling fan on this one, you can fix or replace pretty much anything on these machines.

[Hoser Rob]

It's running cinnamon, and has 8 gig ram.

Really? I would think an older machine like that would have issues with Cinnamon? ...

Depends. The video card is actually most important with a DE like Cinnamon, which needs 3D hardware video acceleration just by itself. AN older Nvidia card would probably work fine if it's a reasonably powerful one because Nvidia has better Linux support. If it was older AMD graphics it'd be doubtful.

[KamenRiderNecro]

It's running cinnamon, and has 8 gig ram.

Oh, before I forget--what, if any, special measures did you have to take with your Dell before installation? As in tweaking the BIOS and what have you. I'm fixing to install a SSD to replace the regular HDD and then installing Mint on the SSD. Anything I need to know/look out for? That goes for any of the other machines mentioned on here as well, such as the ThinkPad laptops, I ought to mention.

[Moem]

My Thinkpads are old enough that I've never had to mess with UEFI to be able to install Mint on them. Installation has always been exceedingly easy.

[Scupper]

It's running cinnamon, and has 8 gig ram.

Oh, before I forget--what, if any, special measures did you have to take with your Dell before installation? As in tweaking the BIOS and what have you. I'm fixing to install a SSD to replace the regular HDD and then installing Mint on the SSD. Anything I need to know/look out for? That goes for any of the other machines mentioned on here as well, such as the ThinkPad laptops, I ought to mention.

This machine ran windows 7 64 bit all its life until late last year when it suffered hard drive failure.
I'd resisted upgrading it to W 10, so when this happened I gave it a clean out, installed a new 500 GB hard drive, and decided to install a new operating system. Mint was recommended to me by a friend ....so away I went. I'd had very little experience with Linux prior to this install....I'm happy to have made the change, hated everything about windows after 7, can't see myself going back!

No special tweaks....the BIOS was up to date, (version A21)
It does have nVidia graphics with Optimus, switchable graphics?...a little over my head, and I think that was the cause of some system freezing after the initial install....wasn't using the right driver, but all sorted now.
The e6410 must only be a model before this one....I like these Dells, very solid!

[kc1di]

I'm using a Dell 1654 here for a number of years. runs cinnamon fine on 4 gb ram.
also have had a Lenovo T420 and that ran great with 4 gigs of ram and 320gb Hd don't remember having to do anything to the bios to get them running. Gave that one to the granddaughter, Just upgraded it for her to 18.3 and still runs fine.

good luck on what ever you choose.

[Kabé]

Hi KamenRiderNecro,

Just my experience with a Dell XPS 13 (skylake generation):
I got one of the most basic configurations of this laptop, for a reasonable price because refurbished (4G ram, FHD screen - I didn't want the glossy HiRes screens - and W10 installed), got immediately rid of Windows to install Mint Mate 17.3, a bit more than a year ago. I had to upgrade the kernel from 4.4 to 4.6/4.8 to get everything to work properly, especially the Wifi, but since then it works wondefully well and it is a very nice, small, really portable laptop, with a nice screen and a good keayboard.
Now I have 18.3 (I stick to Mate) installed and everything works flawlessly. I use it mainly for office applications, internet and video (including video projection for my teaching classes, with an Omars multiport adapter). For me it is the perfect laptop for its size, the screen size and the things I use it for - enough power under the hood.
I think that with the newer kernels, you won't have any worry with this laptop regarding installation of Mint.

Best,
K

[Pierre]

those older machines - - preferably.

and most preferably,, those that have win-7 still on them,
as you can then dual_boot them.

now, having said that bit, don't forget those Ex Vista PCs - - I've got several of these Lenovo's,
& they do work quite well.
these machines were typically running the 32bit version of Vista,
and yet, it seems that most of them have a 64bit CPU,, it's just that their hardware is a bit light on. . .
- - lot's of these PCs are now hitting the 2nd hand market ATM.
win-7 PCs will be another few years away, before they also get dumped by their owners.

[Fiduggin67]

+1 for older Machines. I have a number of laptops, most of them old to very old (one all the way back to 2000 and running Bodhi with 1GB ram very nicely,) As I type I am using a 10 year old Toshiba Equium with 2GB ram and a recently upgraded SSD. I am running Mint Cinnamon and it runs bright and snappy. I have a newish laptop with much higher specs (A10 processor with 16GB ram), but it is UEFI and secure boot and I won't even try to jump through the hoops you have to do to dual boot Windows 10 with Linux.

I am very satisfied with my old Toshiba.

The specs you are describing in your options should run very well, especially with an SSD.

Bob

[KamenRiderNecro]

Thanks to all of you who weighed in on this one! I decided to go with this particular laptop in the end:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latitude- ... 2749.l2649

So, long story short, I recall that I will have to make certain that Secure Boot is off, and what else would y'all suggest I do to ease installation of the SSD and of Mint? Double checking so I can have all my ducks in one row, here. I'm considering either a Samsung EVO or an Intel 545s, both of which I have on hand. Thanks again, y'all!

[Reddog1]

Disable 'Windows Quick Boot' (different BIOS call it different things--"fast boot", etc). Linux doesn't need it and it can interfere with Grub. That and 'Secure Boot' should get you there--I never had a Dell that wasn't easy to install Linux on--can't say that about Asus