this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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I'm in the market for a Linux friendly ultralight laptop to check web apps and run terminal, nothing fancier then that. Do any cheap systems exits these days? I was looking at a chrome book but apparently the mediatek chip doesn't play nicely with FOSS.

Any thoughts?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

What about something like the Thinkpad X201? It's not ultralight but it is quite small.

Other than that I'd probably say a Chromebook with a Linux install. Second hand they are quite cheap and can likely do what you are after. A lot of them have passive cooling which is nice for a couch device. I was able to install libreboot on my C201P quite easily and now it just runs a traditional Linux install

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm writing this on my x201 on my couch. I love it, but it's not a great couch laptop. It's kind of heavy, runs hot, and has poor battery life vs more-recent comparables.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah the heat would be what would make me hesistate to use it as a couch laptop but if OP wants something cheap I would say it's an okay option

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I used to have X230 as a daily driver for laptop (I got separate desktop) and it's a really nice machine for it's size. Only the display is a bit lacking by todays standards as it's only 1368x768, but for 150€ (give or take) it's not too bad.