Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
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There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Hello everyone,
I seem to be needing some advice on buying a new laptop. My old HP died on me, and I need a new one rather soon. I don't really have the money to spend on a "proper" machine, so I'm looking at cheaper alternatives (all I need it for is word processing, browsing, and some basic photo work in darktable). I've found two that might work, but when googling them I keep finding issues. Most posts on this seem to be a year or two and a couple of kernels back. So, I thought I would ask here if there's anyone with experience of these machines recently. I plan to run Mint 19.3 only (no need for windows). The ones I'm thinking about are:
- Acer Aspire 3 A314 (pentium N5000, integrated Intel graphics)
- Lenovo Ideapad S145 (pentium 5405U, integrated graphics)
I've read some people have had problems with the wifi and touchpad not working in Linux on the Lenovo, and some have had problems installing Linux at all on the Acer. My old HP 250 G3 worked fine with Linux, I'll give it that, but then again I had other problems with it (really bad screen, the plastic around the usb ports started cracking after a few weeks, the wifi had really bad coverage etc), so I kind of feel less inclined to buy one more... This post on the other hand I'm writing on an old acer netbook that seems to have survived everything, including being dragged over three continents in a backpack.
So, what I'd like to hear is if anyone here has had any personal experience with using linux on these, and perhaps even give me some kind of recommendation. My ideal solution would of course be to have more cash for a new laptop, but that's just not going to happen...
All the best,
Longbottom
I seem to be needing some advice on buying a new laptop. My old HP died on me, and I need a new one rather soon. I don't really have the money to spend on a "proper" machine, so I'm looking at cheaper alternatives (all I need it for is word processing, browsing, and some basic photo work in darktable). I've found two that might work, but when googling them I keep finding issues. Most posts on this seem to be a year or two and a couple of kernels back. So, I thought I would ask here if there's anyone with experience of these machines recently. I plan to run Mint 19.3 only (no need for windows). The ones I'm thinking about are:
- Acer Aspire 3 A314 (pentium N5000, integrated Intel graphics)
- Lenovo Ideapad S145 (pentium 5405U, integrated graphics)
I've read some people have had problems with the wifi and touchpad not working in Linux on the Lenovo, and some have had problems installing Linux at all on the Acer. My old HP 250 G3 worked fine with Linux, I'll give it that, but then again I had other problems with it (really bad screen, the plastic around the usb ports started cracking after a few weeks, the wifi had really bad coverage etc), so I kind of feel less inclined to buy one more... This post on the other hand I'm writing on an old acer netbook that seems to have survived everything, including being dragged over three continents in a backpack.
So, what I'd like to hear is if anyone here has had any personal experience with using linux on these, and perhaps even give me some kind of recommendation. My ideal solution would of course be to have more cash for a new laptop, but that's just not going to happen...
All the best,
Longbottom
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
A simple search of the forum would have revealed that the majority of users here highly recommend second-hand Lenovo Thinkpad laptops, such as T420. Refurbished models are available on Amazon for around $US200.Longbottom wrote: ⤴Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:10 pm So, what I'd like to hear is if anyone here has had any personal experience with using linux on these, and perhaps even give me some kind of recommendation. My ideal solution would of course be to have more cash for a new laptop, but that's just not going to happen...
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Lenovo ThinkPad T420, T450...Can be bought for cheap on Amazon for around 220.00 US dollars...DAMIEN
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad- ... B00W4AMWCI
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad- ... B00T3MIZO4
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad- ... B00W4AMWCI
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad- ... B00T3MIZO4
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Thanks for the reply. I usually prefer new stuff to used out of lots of really bad experience - I'm a rather unlucky person, I suppose. Buying off Amazon would also mean some hazzle with the customs agency, who love rummaging through parcels from outside the EU, and always means a delay for at least a week or two due to slow paper work. But thanks, anyway, I appreciate the ideas!
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Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Newegg sometimes has interesting things on offer. Refurbished, but with warranty.Longbottom wrote: ⤴Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:38 pm Thanks for the reply. I usually prefer new stuff to used out of lots of really bad experience - I'm a rather unlucky person, I suppose. Buying off Amazon would also mean some hazzle with the customs agency, who love rummaging through parcels from outside the EU, and always means a delay for at least a week or two due to slow paper work. But thanks, anyway, I appreciate the ideas!
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
I would second Newegg.com I'm Using a lenovo T450 that I bought there and it works great with Mint. came with 18 month warranty.
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
Registered Linux User #462608
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
I sorry that you have had bad experience with second hand stuff. I usually purchase old machines from Govt Auction and they serve me extremely well. Occasionally I get a dud (usually a key that does not work) but that is about it. You can usually test the machines before bidding. The last couple of machines have waaay out performed a cheap laptop I purchased new a couple of years earlier. in not just "grunt" but also in battery life and battery life is about the only thing you cannot test t auction.
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Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
You suit yourself it is your money, but
Hard to beat the compatibility of thinkpads with Linux. x, t, (w and L too) * 10, 20, 30. You'll save money too, to buy extra SSDs, etc.
As far as worrying, E-bay, and PP have superb buyer protection. You will NEVER get ripped off.
FWIW I wouldn't trade my T420 for something new off the shelf. And buying a new one just means I've spent 3- 4 hundred more for ZERO extra functionality. Most cases less functionality.
Hard to beat the compatibility of thinkpads with Linux. x, t, (w and L too) * 10, 20, 30. You'll save money too, to buy extra SSDs, etc.
As far as worrying, E-bay, and PP have superb buyer protection. You will NEVER get ripped off.
FWIW I wouldn't trade my T420 for something new off the shelf. And buying a new one just means I've spent 3- 4 hundred more for ZERO extra functionality. Most cases less functionality.
Mint 20.0, and 21.0 MATE on Thinkpads, 3 X T420, T450, T470, and X200
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Thinkpad users don't care about that... because a replacement keyboard is like, $25 and the replacement is a 3 to 5 screw operation. Easy as can be.
If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
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Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
I bought a Lenovo 14w brand new direct from Lenovo for $130 US (on sale). Mint 19.3 installs with zero issues and everything works. 10-14 hours of battery life depending on how I use it. Also have a Lenovo ideapad 720s ($600) and ideapad 330($300) both with Mint 19.3 running perfectly.
inxi -F for the 14w
inxi -F for the 14w
Code: Select all
System:
Host: Mint-Lenovo14w Kernel: 5.0.0-37-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.6 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81MQ000JUS v: Lenovo 14w
serial: <root required>
Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0K13476 WIN serial: <root required>
UEFI: LENOVO v: ANCN24WW(V1.04) date: 05/07/2019
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 38.5 Wh condition: 57.6/57.0 Wh (101%)
CPU:
Topology: Dual Core model: AMD A6-9220C RADEON R5 5 COMPUTE CORES 2C+3G
bits: 64 type: MCP L2 cache: 1024 KiB
Speed: 1197 MHz min/max: 1200/1800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1243 2: 1208
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Stoney [Radeon R2/R3/R4/R5 Graphics] driver: amdgpu
v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: amdgpu,ati
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD STONEY (DRM 3.27.0 5.0.0-37-generic LLVM 8.0.0)
v: 4.5 Mesa 19.0.8
Audio:
Device-1: AMD driver: snd_hda_intel
Device-2: AMD Family 15h Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.0.0-37-generic
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
driver: ath10k_pci
IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: f8:a2:d6:f2:ab:ad
Device-2: Atheros type: USB driver: btusb
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 58.24 GiB used: 7.28 GiB (12.5%)
ID-1: /dev/mmcblk1 model: DA4064 size: 58.24 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 11.20 GiB used: 6.85 GiB (61.2%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/mmcblk1p3
ID-2: /home size: 45.58 GiB used: 428.4 MiB (0.9%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/mmcblk1p2
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 34.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 34 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 192 Uptime: 1h 08m Memory: 3.79 GiB used: 1.46 GiB (38.4%)
Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.32
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16C/32T | MSI MPG x570 Gaming Plus | 2TB Mushkin Pilot-E NVMe | 1TB Crucial P1 NVMe | 2x 2TB Inland Gen4 NVMe | 32GB Trident Z DDR4 3600 | Nvidia RTX4090 | Fedora 39 Cinnamon | Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon | Kernel 5.15.x lowlatency
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Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
i'll third that newegg recommendation!
brother just bought a dell i5 with 8gb's memory for $250 that i don't think is a bad deal. plus has a warranty. haven't ever had a bad experience with newegg either.
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Thanks for all the input. As I believe I mentioned above, I'm based in Europe, so buying off American vendors was not really an alternative due to time and customs issues (they really delay parcels from third countries a lot here).
Anyway, I bought the Acer (I really needed a computer quickly), and everything is working splendidly out of the box (except my USB stick was broken when installing, so it took some extra time), although a bit slowly. But I think i can use the ram from my old laptop to fix that at least a bit.
Anyway, I bought the Acer (I really needed a computer quickly), and everything is working splendidly out of the box (except my USB stick was broken when installing, so it took some extra time), although a bit slowly. But I think i can use the ram from my old laptop to fix that at least a bit.
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
eBay has dozens of them.
The one I'm running now (Lenovo ThinkPad X140e) cost $60.
It runs all Linux distros I tried very quick.
If you're into 3 figures after the $ sign you've paid too much.
The one I'm running now (Lenovo ThinkPad X140e) cost $60.
It runs all Linux distros I tried very quick.
If you're into 3 figures after the $ sign you've paid too much.
Re: Help chosing budget laptop for Mint
Tiger Direct has some great deals too! I've bought several items from them including our (then new) desktop and a refurbished laptop which is my main machine.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
http://www.tigerdirect.com/