this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
118 points (96.8% liked)

Linux

50208 readers
1762 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hi everyone, I use Linux on all my machines since a decade. Unfortunately my laptops are getting older and I will probably have to change them soon. Which Laptops would you recommend me to buy in 2025 a part Librem?

I don't have a high budget but I'm still looking for something relatively recent. I looked on H-node but it seems that there are not a lot of recent things.

I use Debian as a distro.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Best is Framework in every regard. Works 100%, great Linux support, specify exactly what you want and it's fully repairable. (They're also by far the most satisfying machine to unbox, given you have to plug it all together yourself)

Lenovo and Dell are okay, in my experience. The odd thing but generally fair quality hardware and reasonably compatible. (Thinkpad quality isn't what it used to be, so don't pay a premium thinking it'll last, Lenovo are trading on its past glories)

Avoid HP - shoddy flimsy things now, and with a lot of bespoke drivers (graphics and audio, plus function buttons in particular)

There's quite a lot of random-branded Chinese laptops around now. I've no direct experience of them, but I imagine they're exactly how you'd expect them to be. Cheap, tailored for the OS they ship with, but will probably work to some degree. Linux is past its initial hardware problems (and to be fair, hardware is problematic now)

There's another thread that's a few years old, but still contains some useful info - such as "Check the Arch Wiki"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

Thinkpad t480 with libreboot from minifree

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Thinkpad X1 Carbon if you're swimming in money and want the lightest possible laptop, Thinkpad T14 if not.

Asus Zenbooks are kinda neat machines too, and taiwanese instead of chinese, but probably not quite as reliable.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Thinkpad t480, they can be found pretty cheap second hand, then install libreboot. Can be upgraded with 64 GB of ram and a 4K screen.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

So that's why everyone recommends the T480 over the T580.

The T580 doesn't have a libreboot build.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Up until very recently the t480 didnt either

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Brb gonna go libreboot my sister's t580 when that comes out

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

You would probrally have to wait a very long time, keep in mind not all features (ex: Thunderbolt 3) are working on the t480. In addition I dont think the t580 is even supported by coreboot yet.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're a bit expensive up front, but I'm really enjoying my Framework.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 hours ago

That is very likely to be my next laptop.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Do you want mainstream brands that work well with Linux? Lenovo or Dell

Do you want smaller brands that are specialised and support Linux? Tuxedo, System76, Slimbook, Purism...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 22 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Tuxedo is a bit hit or miss. Used one for 2 years and wasn't happy with the case quality. The plastic basically broke at some edges and screw holes

The hardware also wasn't as Linux compatible as they claim. 5Ghz wifi just didn't work reliably. With their support page saying the fix is to disable 5Ghz

[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

I want to support tuxedo, as an European brand, but the last one I bought had such a shitty screen that got worse and worse over the years. They seem to have improved the hardware somewhat but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm loving my Framework, have Mint on there. Thinkpads are also well regarded I believe

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

I personally buy refurbished. Lately I got a Lenovo X280 thinkpad, for $160 with 8 GB of RAM, 1080p screen. Worked fine, Linux flies on it.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 day ago (19 children)

Try Framework.

You'll get a laptop sized to your budget and you'll be able to grow with it, upgrade any part your budget will allow in the future.

Their linux support is excellent.

load more comments (19 replies)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

I had system76 and now on tuxedo. I will buy tuxedo again...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

I have an all amd alienware m17 r5 I got $2000 off at around 1200$ pretty fire, 6850mxt = 3080 laptop, ive had no issues running most things, msfs needs hella tweaking on windows but past that even vr stuff mostly works fine

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Frameworks cool if you can afford it, but if you want the best perfomance/deals, then laptops go on sale for half off or 70% off often, you just gotta check daily since they sell out within the day for those deals

Give yourself a month to look at deals, its around week 3 for me where I usually purchasep

[–] [email protected] 1 points 21 hours ago

I recentlly swapped to cachyos, works way better than windows, had hella driver issues on windows, I forgot and reinstalled my windows os (shrunken partition, just in case I need it) had the same issues.

All I've had to download is like two extensions in the package manager for the amd gpu to work in blender, everywhere else it workd well instantly (because of cachyos and all it installs)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

If you have budget, Thinkpads can't go wrong. You can also find refurbished.

Tuxedo and Framework are also excellent choices.

[–] lupusblackfur 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

Used ThinkPad's are pretty common on Ebay.

They're what I use. Also with Debian.

"Recent" is a factor of how much you're willing to shell out.

$300.00USD will get you a good Debian compatible box. You may want to then replace the battery and/or add RAM. Those are both found inexpensively also.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

Go to an electronics recycling center and get a retired thinkpad (or 5). Once they’re decommissioned by corporations, they wipe the drive and send them off to be recycled.

[–] lambipapp 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've been eyeing the slimbook lineup as of late. I am just waiting for someone to drop a review of the slimbook creative.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (12 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

They have core boot, which is a big plus, but the hardware itself is not open source.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I bought a Framework laptop then threw Pop OS on it. I have no issues. They sell refurbished devices and they are modular so you can swap out whatever is giving you issues.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›