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> A well designed linux laptop, with no driver issues, good build quality, that doesn't sacrifice performance for thinness? That's what I'm missing. It exists,
by s_kilk 10y ago
> A well designed linux laptop, with no driver issues, good build quality, that doesn't sacrifice performance for thinness? That's what I'm missing.
It exists, it's the Thinkpad T-series.
I don't get all this hand-wringing over the need for hypothetical great Linux machines when we have Thinkpads available right now.
- Arnt 10y agoWhich T is closest to a Macbook Air 11"? There are many fine linux laptops in the desk-home type, 14"-17". The selection isn't so fine if you're looking for something that'll fit in your lap on the plane or train, and have 8G of RAM. Or at least 4.
- mciancia 10y agoMaybe x260?
- restalis 10y agoYou just trampled over "doesn't sacrifice performance for thinness". And using on my lap in a plane or whatever, like maybe I would when laying on my couch, was never even considered. Are you sure it's a practical measure to judge by a product and isn't just an Apple-tailored one?
- Arnt 10y agoNo I didn't, I'm saying that if a laptop doesn't have an acceptable form factor, its performance (or even existence) doesn't matter. I'm also saying that models in the T series do not offer form factors suitable for everyone, contrary to the GP's claim, and offering the Macbook Air 11" as an example of the kind of form factor not offered.
- haspok 10y agoYou want an XPS 13 then. I just used mine on a Ryanair flight a few days ago, cramped in the middle seat for 3 hours. The XPS 13 fit perfectly on the very small folding table, the top of the screen just sticking under the bottom of the pocket-thing that is always full of useless flyers. I believe it has the same footprint as a MBA 11. And of course, I'm running Linux on it :)
- mmrezaie 10y agoXPS 13 is amazing and with Linux support it is fine, but that keyboard though. You need to test it to see if it fits for you.
- signal11 10y agoI use a Thinkpad X230 - it has a 12.5" display with 8 or 16GB RAM. The latest model appears to be X270 -- same size display. http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/ThinkPad-X270/p/22TP2TX2700 http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/Thi...
- jeremyjh 10y agoX1 Carbon series works great with Linux. Its a little bigger than 11", but still very light and slim and a nice display. I use a Gen 1 (2012) with 8GB ram. Installed originally Ubuntu 12.04, upgraded to 14.04 and 16.04. All worked great. I presently run Arch on it which was also easy to install and works great.
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoMy wife has an X240, something in that series is equivalent to the Air. To be honest I would just go for the Apple, we have had quite a few problems with the Lenovo.
- ac29 10y agoWhat problems? I have the same computer and love it.
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoThe worst one is if I pick it up by the left side it crashes.
- ac29 10y agoAck. That's roughly where the CPU is, I wonder if some of the solder balls are cracking and it needs a reflow. I've never had to deal with Lenovo service, but it might be worth contacting them -- that is definitely a hardware issue.
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoLooking around the internet it seems a common problem with that model, we just pick it up by the right side.
- Lio 10y agoThinkpads are great but if I buy a Thinkpad T-series laptop I'm forced to buy Windows with it. Also it's not supported by the manufacturer. Thinkpads have great support from the Linux community but Lenovo doesn't officially guarantee its use (I would be happy to hear if I'm wrong on that).
- ekianjo 10y agoDont they have a contract with RedHat to ensure compatibility?
- Hydraulix989 10y agoYes, in my experience, the only thing that doesn't work is the fingerprint reader: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/Validity-Fingerprint-Reader-Linux/td-p/3352145 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/Validity-Finge...
- cacarr 10y agoIndeed. Everything works on my X1 Carbon running Arch (via Antergos), except the fingerprint reader.
- kuschku 10y agoYou can buy Thinkpads also preloaded with free DOS. (Usually a lot cheaper)
- sidm83 10y agoThat's not the case always. My first cheap thinkpad worked great, but the 2nd expensive one (T440p) has bad driver support for Wifi (on current and last Ubuntu LTS). Connections are unstable and throughput is ~0.3x of the dongle I use (both 2.4Ghz 802.11n). Hardware - Realtek RTL8192EE PCIe.
- bdavisx 10y agoWhat dongle do you use? I've got a Clevo laptop that otherwise works great w/ Ubuntu, but the wifi is pretty bad.
- bdavisx 10y agoIn case anyone is reading this from a search, I thought I should clarify, the wifi sucks in Ubuntu or Win10, so it doesn't appear related to linux.
- sidm83 10y agoOh OK. My setup is dual boot but I've never had patience enough to spend enough time to test on Win. Just crappy hardware/drivers from Realtek then!
- sidm83 10y agoI use a TP-Link TL-WN823N. Did not require any 3rd party driver installs, just plug and play.
- nissimk 10y agoAlways opt for Intel hardware. They have Linux device driver developers on staff. Sometimes the newest chips are not supported, but they always release something within a few months.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sidm83 10y ago
- dagw 10y agoIt exists, it's the Thinkpad T-series. Does Optimus work the way I'd expect it to these days?
- mmrezaie 10y agoI had bumblebee on my precision 5520, and it works fine. You need to meddle with it a little bit, but after that everything works fine. Actually, I loved it since I could have my X11 memory space controlled by Intel and my Cuda application development wouldn't have messed up the X11 while running. Something you expect to not happen, but happens all the time. Bumblebee and optirun can be better, but it is usable right now.
- pkolaczk 10y agoDoes it allow to connect external displays? Last time I checked bumblebee worked almost fine, but it didn't notice I connected an external display to DP hardwired to dGPU, and dGPU stayed powered-off. I got through a few workarounds for that, and even managed to get something incorrectly displayed, but nothing really worked like it should, so I gave up and I'm using this ugly nvidia-prime thing and just remember to set it in "performance mode" before using my laptop with external displays.
- mmrezaie 9y agoWell, it works fine when I use HDMI for the external display. I have not tested the DisplayPort.
- leggomylibro 10y agoEhhhh.... Bumblebee has kind of fallen into a 'not officially supported' state as of xenial, but it will work if you are willing to spend a bit of time cajoling it by messing with drivers and blacklists and config files. Nvidia also has an official solution now called 'nvidia-prime,' but it's awful. You have to log out and back in to change which card you're using, so you can't just spin up the discrete card for one or two taxing programs in your workflow. But it can work the way you'd expect it to, if that's what you're asking.
- gamache 10y agoT450 owner here, running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Desktop. My machine hangs when I unplug it from the Thinkpad dock. X rendering glitches are an hourly occurrence and X crashes weekly. In laptop mode, the trackpad handling is not up to snuff either. (I guess if I wanted all those features, I could just install Windows.)
- haspok 10y agoYou will most definitely want a recent kernel (16.04 ships with 4.4 - you want 4.8 or later). Also check the Arch wiki about Intel video to see if you can fix your problems with X (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_graphics https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_graphics), eg. switching from SNA to UXA.
- gamache 10y agoThanks for the link -- I'm still hanging when unplugging from the dock, but switching to UXA and disabling 3D accel seems to have quieted the glitches down. I did try some newer kernels a few months ago, but then my wifi stopped working. But this should not be necessary when running a flagship LTS desktop Linux on extremely common hardware from two years ago! I expected more.
- ac29 10y agoLinux hardware support often takes years to mature -- for example, the graphics hardware on my Haswell laptop has seen steady improvements despite being years old. I would strongly recommend against using a LTS linux release from around the time your computer was released. Its just going to be too old. Try Ubuntu 17.04, or take the jump and just use Arch. I use Arch on all my work and home machines, without issue. Maybe twice a year requires 5-10 minutes of extra work during an upgrade to ensure a package update works.
- gamache 10y agoFor what it's worth, I tried a few different OSes, including Ubuntu 16.10 (which was the latest at the time), before settling on 16.04 LTS (which was released a year after the laptop came out). I plan to try 17.04 when I get some time, but I also expect to be disappointed. I got about 10min into an Arch install before laughing myself into a coma -- I've seen smoother Unix installs from the 1990s. But I will reiterate: this is clown shoes. Expecting this kind of effort from desktop users is hostile.
- adamc 10y agoDon't they have poor touchpads?
- s_kilk 10y agoNah, they're really good I find, maybe not as good as the apple glass trackpad, but certainly not bad. Plus, they have the awesome physical buttons along the top, combined with the trackpoint.