Hey all. I’ve recently swapped to Linux and I’ve been really enjoying it so far. I’m still pretty new to basically every aspect of it, though, so I’m not super sure what things I should be wary of with regard to hardware, in particular with Mint.
I was looking at buying a newer laptop to keep up with my main game, but it occurred to me that newer hardware may come with either a host of issues or be less supported than older hardware.
Any advice for laptops in this regard?
Usually wifi cards are the biggest potential issue. If you’re buying something brand new that hasn’t been out yet for that long, your best bet is to probably use something arch-based as a distro so that you get the latest kernel versions. When i bought my ideapad years ago i tried installing void on it, but the kernel on the iso was too old and my wifi card wasn’t recognized. I had to use usb tethering on my phone to update the system. After that everything was working.
Oof, thanks for the heads up. I honestly think I have a pretty good list of components to double check at this point and it’s driving me away from anything bleeding edge. Whatever I end up getting, it’ll be something that’s new-ish right now, but I’ll be buying it a year from now.
I did check out System76 and even if the price is a bit high, it would be kind of nice to support a company in the EU. That alone has a bit of appeal. I haven’t seen Framework before, though. I’ll look them up, thanks for the tip!
you don’t have to use or like Ubuntu, but they do have a certified hardware list that might be helpful
Oh wow, that’s actually super helpful! Thanks!
I have a framework 13 running fedora and I absolutely love it. Upfront costs are expensive though - long term cost might be more reasonable (or even less) if I upgrade it for years/decades. Bit early to tell. But I do love it. Best laptop I’ve ever had (and I’ve had them all - even a thinkpad)
Wow, really? I was just looking at these and they are super interesting. You’re not wrong about that up front cost, though, yikes. What is it that makes them so seemingly modular? Is it proprietary stuff? Or is it just the focus of how it’s constructed? I’d be super leery about getting locked into ‘their ecosystem’ if they suddenly went under or something.
Maybe you can make a live CD, buy it, test it, keep it or give it back?
Lenovo ThinkPads work very nicely with Linux, and there’s a large second-hand market. The T and X series are especially great I find.
The usual advice about avoiding soldered RAM holds in general, but right now used laptops are being bought just for stripping RAM. So I think putting up with soldered RAM in second hand devices (I’d go for at least 32G) can be a smart move because it may be a better deal (and often a smaller form factor).
Yeah, tell me about it on the price. I’m tempted to just bite the bullet on low framerates to see if prices come down, but this upgrade is already close to a year out anyway, so who knows. Maybe it goes up? Maybe society collapses, haha.
I’ve never ended up upgrading RAM in a laptop, though. Is soldered versus not soldered really that huge of a deal? I mean, outside of what you mentioned here regarding the price.
Soldered RAM is just about impossible to upgrade/replace, you have to desolder it and do a bunch of other tasks. I have only ever seen one person do it on a modern laptop and it looked horrendous: https://gregdavill.com/posts/dell-xps13-ram-upgrade/
I would just completely abandon any plans to upgrade a soldered RAM laptop unless you are extremely skilled.
Unsoldered RAM is just push fit sockets that have a release clip you need to pull if the socket is already populated. The RAM can only go in one way, its super super easy. Just make sure you double check the spec of RAM you buying against the laptop specs to make sure you buy the right sort.
If you want a compatible laptop, you get one that has a version that comes with Linux, without major kernel changes. For example, the DELL laptops. The DELL laptops get hate, but they are tested against Linux. I personally got the 5640: https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/129/776/310/532/073/original/ffe65da00bfd0b39.jpg It now runs Mint and Debian-Testing.
I paid just $900 euros with 32GB of RAM, and my husband got the same with 64GB of RAM for $1000 here in Greece. Everything works 100%, except touchpad’s palm rejection (I made a bug report about it).
Depends. Sometimes you’ll get a PC magazine or blog cover an upcoming laptop and test Linux compatibility. Or someone writes a long Reddit post after they got it, or updates the Arch Wiki. There definitely are ways to learn about Linux-compatibility with new models. We used to have Amazon comments and reviews…Just be super cautious with all the AI bots and fake comparison sites out there.
And it’s a bit more complicated with gaming stuff. Sometimes they’ll add a weird webcam, or unsupported RGB LED controller, or have weird quirks in the firmware. Some other model lines like a business laptop from Dell or Lenovo tend to be just fine and you’ll get 100% Linux compatibility. There’s no guarantee, but any way, after a few Linux nerds blogged about it you should be fine.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll make sure I’m checking individual components for compatibility long before I hover the buy button. Another user mentioned buying a year old as well, so I’ll probably also take that advice. And thanks for the heads up about fake comparison sites and such!
I’m using a 10 years old Razer Blade Stealth 13 on Debian and so far no only minor problems with it.
Consequently my advice is :
- do you actually “need” a new one or do you just “want” one? if the later then could be 2nd hand
- if you do then share either what your “main game” is or what its requirements are, because e.g Slay the Spire runs on nearly anything
- do not buy something brand new unless you are ready to tinker, consider something a year old
- whatever you do, check online review specifically on Linux installations, that will let you know if something somehow (typically inconsequential, e.g. LED tweaking) requires proprietary software
- consider buying directly from a Linux pre-installed vendor, this way you are 100% sure it will work (but it’s typically not cheap)
My go-to is FFXIV, but I run it with a pretty large number of mods, which is what is hard to keep up with on my current laptop. Between that and just not being able to play any modern game, (in particular, I wanted to be able to play the new Silent Hill F), it’s definitely more of a want, but it’s a pretty strong want. 😅
My current laptop is about 6 years old, and it’s getting to the point where my frame rate during raids is dipping below 60 frames quite frequently, even with the minimum settings, which is what got me looking at upgrading.
I’ll look at Linux pre-installed vendors, though, I hadn’t thought about that. And the year old tech is a super good tip also, thanks!
try cachyos for a performance boost, it did wonders on my desktop
You can save buckets of money looking for used hardware. I got a crazy nice laptop from Craigslist for <$300.
If you can, bring a live USB stick with you and test it out before you purchase. Check peripherals like wifi, audio, camera, bluetooth, etc.
Make sure the ram is upgradable. A lot of them are soldered on these days and you’re stuck with that amount forever.
Latest Lenovo T series come with LPCAMM2 which should replace that soldered nightmare.
https://www.ifixit.com/News/115827/new-thinkpads-score-perfect-10-repairability
https://www.ifixit.com/News/95078/lpcamm2-memory-is-finally-here
Definitely look for a 2nd hand one, you’ll have less issues.
Don’t go toooo old as some had wifi issues back in the day (no / partial drivers)
There’s a lot of refurbs by major brands (ie Dell) that are ex-corp lease models with some kind of warranty (which won’t cover the battery) because of the Win10 purge.
I think the GPU is the main issue if you’re wanting to play games… and as others have said, gimmicks like touchscreens and fingerprint readers can be hit & miss.
I’ve installed Mint on Lenovo, Dell and HP laptops with no major issues.
I’m a pretty big fan of Lenovo so far. My experience with their hardware has been pretty much complaint-free. It’s what I’m using right now with Mint, as well. GPU is definitely part of my current issue, the other is RAM, and the last is SSD space.
GPU is just getting old, I certainly don’t have the RAM I need, and I sprung for the 500gb model because at the time this was primarily a game dev machine that only ever played Kerbal Space Program, haha.
What is this game? And depending on your needs the T480 should be more than good enough
My go-to is FFXIV, but I run it fairly heavily modded as do most of the group I play with, so I don’t have a super firm set of minimum specs since it fluctuates pretty heavily.
Besides that, every now and then, a modern game comes out that I’d like to play on Steam, like Silent Hill F, which is just completely beyond my laptop at this point.
Ok yeah that does give me a good idea but what general price range are you thinking about? Also does it have to be a laptop? I can find a desktop that can play basically anything for a good price.
Let me clearify why I’m reccomending you get a desktop, silent hill f is extremely demanding. I mean the reccomend GPU is a 2080Ti or a 6800XT. Especially right now that’s gonna be expensive but I can guarantee if you want that on a laptop prepare to pay several grand, on a desktop however I can find options at or below a grand (keep in mind used because PC prices are insane rn).
Yeah, unfortunately I’m stuck with laptops for now. I’ve had to move at a minimum once a year for the last six years or so, so I basically don’t keep anything I can’t put into a pair of hiking bags to lug around with me.
Without getting into specifics, I am ideally taking a temporary job that will give me a fair amount of disposable income, but I’m committed for a year with an option to do a second year.
It’s kind of a rare opportunity for me and I’m not even certain I’ll get it, but if I do, then the price of an upgrade doesn’t really matter to me much, within reason. It’s essentially going to be my only valuable item for the foreseeable future, for work, play, hobbies, all of it, so I don’t mind putting extra money into this to make sure it works well and lives a good, long time. I mean, I’m not gonna throw 4 grand at a laptop, but some of these other pricey ones at like System76 and Framework aren’t off the table for me at this point.
Are you looking for a gaming laptop with a dedicated gpu or just a newer one with a faster cpu/igpu?
A gaming laptop. My current one is fine for most everything else at this point. I don’t game super hard, but when I play my go-to game or try out something new, I wanna at least not be bouncing between 30-45 FPS.
Fingerprint readers and touchscreens can be hit or miss for Linux support.
I think this is a list of supported readers. When you get a shortlist of devices you want to purchase, compare its fingerprint reader with this list: https://fprint.freedesktop.org/supported-devices.html
