I HATE buying new stuff. But I am absolutely dependent on a computer for my job, and my workhorse laptop is finally doing enough scary things that I really do need a new one.
My current laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad T480, and I really love it. I want basically this exact same laptop, but newer. I want all the ports, and no biometric or touchscreen. I'll be using Linux. Recs?
(I got totally overwhelmed browsing the way-too-many options - going to try crowd-sourcing!)
jack
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Minifree Ltd – Linux/BSD preinstalled laptops with Libreboot BIOS replacement
Minifree LtdYvan
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I don't know about the market in your location, but I think in most places the second hand market for ThinkPads is particularly strong due to the number of them second hand from the business market. In the UK there are loads of refurbished ones sold on Amazon marketplace for very good prices. I've not bought a new one in well over a decade. A bit like new cars, new laptops are a bit of a rip off.
It may be worth investigating that to narrow down your options and find a ThinkPad that fits your specs.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Yvan
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of course if the money is there to spend and doesn't have another good use then go for it :)
If you like the ThinkPad you have I'd stick with a ThinkPad, they're still great, I've used them since it was still IBM! Many of them do have the fingerprint scanner these days, mine does, but there's no need to use it. I run Linux too.
In the UK for £500 you can get a really high spec refurbished ThinkPad, I normally spend only about £300 and my current one coles fine with things like 1080p video editing. But has only 16GB ram, so I've got to be careful with those browser tabs.
Elena ``of Valhalla''
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • •@Prof. Sam Lawler @Yvan I'd second the “whatever used thinkpad has the price you want to spend on a laptop”, with two caveats:
* I'm used to the european market, where used thinkpads are easily available at all price ranges
* my current “new and shiny” thinkpad is a T460, an upgrade from a X200 :D
but in my experience, and in the reported experience from a number of debian developers I know, thinkpads are pretty good workhorses, last a long time, they tend to work well under linux and once they hit the second hand market they tend to be good value for their price
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TheMollusk
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I got a reasonable refurb dell latitude from a nearby micro center a couple months back (12th gen i5, 16g ram, 1080p) for 300$. I'd look at similar refurb deals.
It's fine, btw. Drains too much power on standby, but ah well.
Cosmo G
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TheMollusk
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jr conlin —〰—
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Not to add one more choice, but I really like my @frameworkcomputer.
They're designed to be easily repairable, upgradable and I run Ubuntu pretty flawlessly on it, pretty much straight out of the box.
Strong recommend.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Amin Hollon 🏳
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A second to Framework, mine rocks. I've had it a couple years now.
I wrote this review of it on my blog after my first semester using it, if you're interested: benjaminhollon.com/musings/fra…
a semester with the framework laptop
benjaminhollon.comProf. Sam Lawler
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Amin Hollon 🏳
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Prof. Sam Lawler
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🇺🇦 Myke :emacs: :clojure:
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Jeremy
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I have been switching laptop brands for about a decade now. Acer didn't last long, Asus was ok. I have been rockin the same MSI laptop since 2019. Still seems to run fast. Run linux as a daily driver on all of them. Currently on Nobara (Fedora based).
Thinking my next laptop will be from framework frame.work
Fix Consumer Electronics
FrameworkNagaram
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I'm currently running a Thinkpad E495 but I'm going to swap over to either a newer/new Thinkpad T series or a Framework computer. I'm a huge fan of frameworks commitment to repairability and you can get a discount if you're willing to bring your own RAM and SSD.
The big selling point of a framework is you can swap out the motherboard with a new one when upgrade season hits.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Joe
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Lenovo makes good product, just don't get a Yoga model, the hinges fail and they won't cover them under warranty.
I really like the HP laptops. Had a battery issue years ago and they swapped it 18 months out of warranty. They are sturdy and last for many years.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Reed Mideke
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FWIW, arstechnica has some pretty in-depth reviews of the framework laptops
arstechnica.com/tag/framework-…
Tag: framework laptop 13 - Ars Technica
Ars TechnicaMichael JasonSmith
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elent
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Quark Maker
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Everything I've heard about Framework laptops from within the GNU+Linux community has been positive.
Framework, System76, Tuxedo... all good choices.
A lot of distros are embracing Wayland, especially with the latest versions of KDE Plasma. I've been a traditionalist, having run Linux Mint Cinnamon full time from 2015 to the beginning of 2024, but for most of the past year I've been running Fedora 40 then 41 KDE.
Definitely time to ditch windows.
Yurolop
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I recommend KDE Slimbook too alongside Framework, and Tuxedo Computers
For something extremely cheap check out HP Elitebook laptops. $1,500 for a 32-64 GB RAM, AMD, and 4TB Storage laptop of HP is extremely good
What are ya trying to use it for?
Thanasis Kinias
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I just wanted to second the Framework rec. I used ThinkPads exclusively for nearly 20 years, but the quality has been deteriorating, and after my last one abruptly bricked while I was at a conference I decided to find something new.
I really like the Framework 13. It’s less than 2yr old, so I can’t speak to its durability. It feels less sturdy than old ThinkPads, but those were machines of a different era.
Prof. Sam Lawler
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •I assembled my new Framework laptop this morning! I was SUPER nervous about assembling a laptop, but they have great video and written instructions on their website, and it booted into bios with no issue! I'm really excited about having a laptop that is designed to be repairable, and I hope it lasts me for a LONG time
Turns out that the slowest part of this process is actually waiting for my rural internet to download the latest version of Ubuntu...
Thanks for the recommendations, fediverse.
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…might work for coffee…
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Love to see this kind of feedback for framework.
Even tho I did not recommend it I am happy it works out and it gives a boost to good hardware documentation and yes, it can be done.
Good job!
Alan Levine
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Curious to hear how it goes, have heard great things about the Frameworks laptop.
As unpopular as the Linux geeks will tell me, I am still making regular use of a 2013 MacBookPro in which I have myself replaced the factory HD with a flash drive. It's had a good run, I just have to replace a battery in my older 2009 one, and I still own a working 2002 iBook (battery replaced once) that operates an old OS.
I love keeping old stuff going long.
Matt Rogerson
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Tony Meredith
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •After the event, the non-profit UK Consumers' Association applauds your choice too!
which.co.uk/reviews/laptops/fr…
Framework Laptop 16 (2024) review | 16-inches 2.146kg AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB Ram, 500GB SSD Laptop - Which?
Which?Prof. Sam Lawler
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One of the coolest things about this laptop is how you buy a bunch of ports and you can extremely easily swap them out as needed.
I bought an ethernet port and it's ENORMOUS and hangs over the side of the laptop! Annoying! But I realized I only use ethernet on campus, so I can just leave it with the ethernet cable at my desk. Cool.
95% of the packaging is cardboard, which is delightful.
Weird: both my cats desperately want to lick the metal laptop case. Why?!
scy
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N7BFS
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Sounds like an interesting product.
Thanks for sharing
Prof. Sam Lawler
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jr conlin —〰—
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@N7BFS
Bluetooth and wifi6 are stock. The radio is pretty solid too.
And, yeah, the swappable ports are awesome. Added bonus is that they are USB-C plugs, so they work on other devices should you ever need.
Stock Ubuntu recognized everything. (I went with Lubuntu, which installs LXQT as the desktop, since it's lighter weight.)
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Ubuntu *finally* downloaded, got it onto a bootable USB, and it's installing!
Now the not-so-fun process of figuring out what files to transfer over from my current workhorse laptop to my new fancy workhorse laptop.
Fortunately the weather outside is absolute shit (freezing rain and super windy), so it's an excellent day to stay inside and mess around with computers all afternoon!
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Rachegedanken (Ltd Ed.)
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Need to get that process going myself.
Microsoft keeps reminding me 😵💫
Health Is Wealth
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Brody 🚀 Brooks
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Ken Butler
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isn't the answer to "which files to transfer from my old laptop to the new one" something like "all of them, because I have a boatload of disk space now"?
Or, perhaps, see which files you become most annoyed at not having on the new laptop, and assuage your annoyance every so often.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Posting from new laptop, with lots of files and stuff from my old laptop. Cool.
(Now time to venture out into the still-incredibly-shitty-weather to walk the dogs and feed the animals)
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Dewey
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Prof. Sam Lawler
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I should really acknowledge that I'm extremely privileged to have a decent research computer grant that I needed to use, that was the whole reason I was able to afford this fancy-pants laptop. It continues to be great! I've gotten almost all the software I need installed on it, no major hiccups yet.
My old laptop still has some life left in it, and will get used by undergrad research students, and I hope this Framework one lasts me well over a decade.
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rrmutt
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Quark Maker
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Nick
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Roy Adams
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experience.
My personal laptop is finally reaching end of life after over 10 years. (Even a lightweight Ubuntu Budgie install is faltering these days.)
I had been considering a Framework for the repair and upgradability so it is good to hear a positive personal experience.
Eye
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Jess F
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Fuse
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •The case is probably just cool - temperature cool - or with some factory fresh aromatics and therefore a nice lick!
BUT! A mate of mine had a cat who took an interest in licking the metal case of a repurposed power supply. (It was old lab equipment... the "power supply" that is, not the cat..)
We worked out that one panel of the case was 'live' with about 14V DC due to a pinched internal cable that compromised its insulation. His cat never forgave him for fixing the PS.
There's a very low chance of your new laptop case being 'live', but if you've got a voltmeter...
Rolf Steinort (314.8 ppm)
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Andreas Brunthaler
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Matt Panaro
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •(and which version)?
I would be much obliged
Pusher of Pixels
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used vs new: I know you're not in the US but if US prices influence CA prices based on your experience, the potential US tariffs might say go with new/higher end now or soon and milk it for 4-5 years til we see if sanity reasserts itself down here.
You could even name it The GOAT for the plan to milk it
Prof. Sam Lawler
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Ken Butler
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I just splurged (well, my teaching fund splurged) on a system76, which came with ubuntu 22 installed. (They also have their own linux variant called pop os, but you can choose ubuntu.)
Before that, my last two laptops (and my desktop) had been Dells, which have worked very well for me (typing on the less old Dell now). People say things about Dell, but I put Ubuntu on all of them and never had any problems.
pizzapal
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Mia Schambeck
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Depending in your need, maybe a MNT Reform may be worth a look.
mntre.com/
The new RK3588 Mainboards are quite capable for small ARM boards and for repairs and sustainability there is nothing better out there. You need to check software compatibility though.
MNT Research GmbH
mntre.comProf. Sam Lawler
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Leon Overweel
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Prof. Sam Lawler
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Oblomov
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@Uilebheist @valhalla @yvan
can confirm that new ThinkPads are SHIT. Mine lost the USB-C port after a few months, and now has lost the builtin keyboard and the trackpoint keys. Colleague of mine had to send hers for repair (out of warranty) because a key got stuck and couldn't be reset. And I've seen other similarly negative reports here on Fedi.
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Quark Maker
in reply to Prof. Sam Lawler • • •Also, you might want to look at Only Office if Libre Office isn't sufficient in trading back and forth in MS Office documents. Personally, I've used Libre Office for years and been very happy with it, but sometimes there's cases where it isn't perfectly compatible. Only Office is supposed to address that.
Any idea which distro you're going to use?
Also... highly recommend you check out both the Destination Linux and Linux Unplugged podcasts. Both are enjoyable and professional.
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Prof. Sam Lawler
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Mark
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It's not exciting or sexy, but I've had good luck with my Dell Inspiron 15. I got the Ryzen version in 2020. It's running Fedora 41 but I've also used Ubuntu 24.04. It seems to require Fedora's more recent kernels.
It's got a fingerprint reader which doesn't work under Linux, so maybe that fits your criteria? It has both kinds of USB, HDMI, and an SD card. Some of them are under $400 CAD.
Elyse M Grasso
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