Looking to buy a laptop [SOLVED]

[sydbat]

As the title suggests, I am looking to buy a laptop that we can bring with us when we travel.

It doesn't have to be super high spec, but should be able to run Linux (Ubuntu or Mint) without major issues out of the box. It should have a good long battery life and a decent processor, graphics card, WiFi, and Bluetooth so we can stream content and run Steam remotely. And all this for (hopefully) under $1000 CAD.

I have done a bit of research and found that Lenovo laptops seem to work very well with Linux. However, they also seem to be untrusted by some because they are a Chinese company. Other options that are not Chinese owned do not seem to be as good. Confusing.

About graphics - how much does it matter if it is onboard the CPU or a separate card? Which is better - Intel, Nvidia, or AMD?

Any suggestions are welcome.

[Hoser Rob]

Intel has the best Linux compatibility. WHile they have some proprietary firmware all their drivers are open source, porovided by Intel. You don't have to deal with reversed engineered open source drivers, which are actually pretty much the norm and are always lacking features. Lenovo, Dell, and HP mid level business laptops are good for this. Mind you, Intel doesn't do gaming graphic cards.

Intel wireless cards are great, they're as good as Broadcom ones are bad in Linux.

You also don't want bleeding edge hardware in Linux, especially with long term support releases like Mint or its Ubuntu base. The drivers take about 6 months longer to come out in Linux.

I often recommend finding something that's discounted because it's last year's model.

[mangizmo]

Lenovo Thinkpads work great with Linux, I use a T420, there are loads of ex corporate Thinkpads on Ebay with warranty, excellent machines and very repairable and an absoloute bargain too, I have just bought a T420 with 8GB Ram delivered and 12 months warranty for £92.00 !!

[sydbat]

I like the idea of last years model so it is much less expensive. And I have been using Linux exclusively for nearly 20 years and understand the driver/kernel limitations on bleeding edge hardware. So older-ish is fine.

Can Intel graphics run a streamed game via Steam? If I understand correctly, my gaming box at home just sends the video signal to whatever device I am accessing it with, and does all the heavy lifting. For example, Steam Link on my phone is kind of like Teamviewer, where I am just accessing the desktop of my computer at home, and the home computer is doing all the work. Or does the remote device also need to do some of the work?

So, with hopefully clarifying a bit, should it be integrated graphics or a separate graphics card for what I need? Gaming is not primary, but streaming from my server and the internets in general with no issues will be. Plus general other internet related activities (email 'n' things).

[FinixFighter]

These are some manufacturers that sell laptops with Linux preinstalled (you could give them a look if you don't know them already)
Tuxedo: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com
Slimbook: https://slimbook.es/en/
Purism: https://puri.sm/
Microtech: https://microtech.store/?lang=en

I also attach a link to a review of a Tuxedo laptop, made by "The Linux Experiment"
https://odysee.com/@TheLinuxExperiment: ... ryzen-on:2

[old_noob]

I have had very good luck with Dell Latitude laptops. You can get something ~5 years old with good specs for a very good price. Bought 2 E6440's recently for 20 bucks each (gov't surplus, w/o hard drives). One is perfect, the other has sketchy speakers, not complaining at that price point.

[user6c57b8]

Looking to buy a laptop ... Any suggestions are welcome.

I heard good things about Thinkpads.
If I were to restart my PC/laptop collection I'd go to Wal-mart & pick up a ~$380 Dell Inspiron laptop with >= 8GB of RAM.
I tried those twice with Windows 8.0 (pre-installed) and Windows 10 (pre-installed) & Linux (ie. Mint/Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/Puppy-Linux) working right out-of-the-box (or should I say DVD/USB?). And the Dell Inspiron hardware worked great. Although on Debian I think I have to get the non-free Bluetooth drivers to get the Bluetooth to work.

[John_B]

As the title suggests, I am looking to buy a laptop that we can bring with us when we travel.

It doesn't have to be super high spec, but should be able to run Linux (Ubuntu or Mint) without major issues out of the box. It should have a good long battery life and a decent processor, graphics card, WiFi, and Bluetooth so we can stream content and run Steam remotely. And all this for (hopefully) under $1000 CAD.

I have done a bit of research and found that Lenovo laptops seem to work very well with Linux. However, they also seem to be untrusted by some because they are a Chinese company. Other options that are not Chinese owned do not seem to be as good. Confusing.

About graphics - how much does it matter if it is onboard the CPU or a separate card? Which is better - Intel, Nvidia, or AMD?

Any suggestions are welcome.

Only choose a Latitude or Precision model whose original operating systems included Ubuntu. Also, get the one year warranty.

Dell Refurbished
https://dellrefurbished.ca/

[rambo919]

https://frame.work

Still a startup though.

[MurphCID]

I love this one: https://hpdevone.com/ 8 cores 16 threads. 16gb ram, and 1 tb NVME, and user upgradeable for $1099 US.

[antikythera]

I have done a bit of research and found that Lenovo laptops seem to work very well with Linux. However, they also seem to be untrusted by some because they are a Chinese company. Other options that are not Chinese owned do not seem to be as good. Confusing.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Chinese owned is one thing but 99.9% of components fitted to all computers are designed and made in China. You cannot really avoid buying anything electrical without some Chinese component in.

Lenovo PCs do not phone home to the Chinese government. The paranoia runs far too deep in some folk.

FYI Dell laptop motherboards are made by foxconn in China (some of their laptops are entirely assembled there - only the custom orders are not), as are Apple iPhones, MacBooks, iMacs, HP laptops too.

Realtek are Chinese, they supply audio and network chips to all manufacturers. You are hard pushed to find any system without one of their products soldered on including Intel based laptops.

[antikythera]

These are some manufacturers that sell laptops with Linux preinstalled (you could give them a look if you don't know them already)
Tuxedo: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com
Slimbook: https://slimbook.es/en/
Purism: https://puri.sm/
Microtech: https://microtech.store/?lang=en

I also attach a link to a review of a Tuxedo laptop, made by "The Linux Experiment"
https://odysee.com/@TheLinuxExperiment: ... ryzen-on:2

All those options also use barebones laptops assembled in China

[sydbat]

Finally picked up a used Lenovo a couple of weeks ago. $650 CAD. Lease back. Not quite 3 years old. Runs Mint 21 perfectly.

Thank you for all your suggestions.