this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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I'm considering getting a laptop for Linux and want to know a few things before I do. Some important info before I start: I don't plan on using the laptop for anything too intense, mainly writing, digital art, streaming, browsing, and maybe very mild video editing (cropping at least and shortening at most). I would also prefer the laptop to be inexpensive, preferably under 1000 USD

I mainly want to know if whether I should get a laptop by a manufacturer that specializes in Linux or a laptop that runs a different OS (exp: Windows) to install Linux on later. I've also scouted out quite a few distros and have a good idea of which ones I would like using

I've already looked at a few mainline Linux hardware producers like System76 but want to know if it's worth it before sinking money into it

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Ooo, what do you like about System76? I know they're well respected, but I'd like to hear about it from somebody who actually uses the hardware, especially since Pop!_OS has caught my attention more than once

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

The main thing I like is the hardware support. I knew before purchasing that everything would work, and that helped me feel okay dropping a pretty penny on a new laptop. Besides that, I'd say they're fine. They aren't designing and manufacturing their own hardware (at least not back when I bought one); the laptops are pretty standard off-the-shelf stuff. System76 just promises that it'll all work out-of-the-box. I've never used Pop!_OS, so I can't speak to that. Arch and Debian work great, though.

The only negative I can think of is: once the battery started to go after several years, they didn't have a replacement in their store, but because it's a generic laptop, there were new ones available on Amazon. It just would've been nice to get it from System76.

All-in-all, I'm a happy customer. I'm keeping my eye on Framework, though. The MNT Reform is also interesting. I don't like how thick it is, but that's because it uses 18650s for the battery, which would solve the problem of buying a new battery just to find that all the batteries were manufactured at the same time, so there are no working replacements.

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

Their battery can be replaced with any battery? How to do that? Other manufacture OEM battery?

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

@letbelight
18650s are a standard size. Several companies make decent ones.

It's like taking AA cells, but lithium.
@delial

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

ah... you mean refilling the battery right?

I tried that last time... I have no luck... Poor X220 can't get 10 hours with 9 cell like old times :'(

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not any battery. They just didn't do the original manufacturing, so you can find compatible replacements elsewhere.

I bought the System76 Kudu laptop back in 2016, but it is actually a W670RZ model laptop manufactured by Clevo Co. in China (unlike my previous laptop which was a MacBook Pro manufactured by Apple in China). System76 wasn't the only company selling the W670RZ, so they're not the only ones you can go to for replacement parts.

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

OH, so it's generic product... I see, thank you for the information

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

Ooo, good to know! It sucks they don't offer hardware replacements on-site, but it's good to know that they're easy to find. And I doubt I'm going to be using Arch anytime soon (due to personal inexperience) but I would like to test Pop!_OS. Thank you for the detailed reply :D

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My laptop still runs Ubuntu. But the 500 mb boot partition is basically now non functional and since I use luks on the main partition and hate snap I’m just strongly considering moving to pop. I also use an egpu quite frequently.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ahh, I see. Well, what's your experience with the hardware itself, then? Specifically the durability, weight, etc.

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

Sorry. I dont use a system76 laptop, i looked at getting the Lemur when i bought mine, but stock was hard to come by (it was the whole covid and supply chain nonsense).

I ended up getting a razer blade stealth 13 with the 11th Gen intel CPU.

Ultimately I wanted portability to be the primary thing over all else. BUt a GPU was nice to have.

My laptop is solid. But i tend to take pretty solid care of this stuff. Wouldnt necessarily reccomend any razer product to most personally. Their QA is questionable. And I take certain steps to keep it stable (ie: blocking some of their software at the firewall etc)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

AH. Regardless, thanks for the reply. And I'm happy your Razer is doing u well :)

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

lol me too. Was pretty risky for me, even going in eyes wide open. Would probably do a lemur or framework next laptop. In fact that may be what I get the wife.

That or a MacBook Air. But I’d like to avoid that.

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

I've heard amazing things about noth Framework nd System76! I'm sure u can't go wrong with either :) and I feel ya w/ ur avoidance of Apple products, lol

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

FWIW, I have a galp5, and had a lot of stability issues with Pop. I used it for well over a year, as I thought using their own OS on the machine they sold me would give the best results. Ultimately I spent a lot of time opening support tickets, and trying to work around issues (desktop stuttering, crashes, touchpad randomly would stop responding, etc). I did not find their support team particularly helpful. I finally installed stock Ubuntu, and it's been significantly more stable.

I don't plan to buy from them again. If I were buying now, I'd be looking at Framework (probably their upcoming, larger model with the dedicated GPU).