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I never imagined myself using a Linux desktop everyday, but I don't want to pay Apple for 64gb of RAM and an acceptable number of monitors via my docking statio

I never imagined myself using a Linux desktop everyday, but I don't want to pay Apple for 64gb of RAM and an acceptable number of monitors via my docking station, and Microsoft is just becoming terrible. Going to have to figure out what to switch to... Yikes!

jacquesm 3y ago
I use a $300 second hand W540 maxed out on RAM (32G, I don't think it would take 16G modules but I haven't looked into that, this is sufficient) with two external monitors attached. Uses a tiny bit of power compared to the desktop that it replaced (when I switched the house over to solar power I did a conservation exercise first and my desktop was one of the worst offenders) and everything works as far as I can tell. This box has been up and running for two years non-stop now, the only big change I made to the original is to put a nice fat SSD in it and to remove the battery because it never gets unplugged anyway. As OS I use Ubuntu Studio which makes for a nice development platform for music related software.
- runjake 3y ago
  What is your general distro of choice? I saw another comment mentioning Debian. If that, which branch?
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    I'm using Ubuntu Studio because it has a ton of audio and music related stuff built in.
- daft_pink 3y ago
  I have a recent XPS 15 with nvidia graphics, 64gb of ram and 2tb ssd. That cost me about $1,500 including upgraded drives myself. But spec out a 14" Macbook Pro this way and it's easily 3,800-4,000. I don't need something second hand cheap, but I don't want to pay $4,000 either.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    That's a nice little rig. I needed something that could drive my monitors without change from the previous setup and that wasn't something I could easily find in a new laptop so that's why I ended up with this old beast. But 64G would be nice to have. I checked the price of the only XPS that is available on Dell.nl and it goes for 4200 euros! https://www.dell.com/nl-nl/shop/dell-laptops-en-notebooks/sr/laptops/xps-laptops/64-gb?appliedRefinements=37698 https://www.dell.com/nl-nl/shop/dell-laptops-en-notebooks/sr...
WolfeReader 3y ago
You can put Linux Mint on a bootable USB and try it, to see if it works well with your hardware. Mint is a great first Linux for former Windows users, since its desktop has a similar layout and it comes with a lot of free, good software, and maybe the best GUI software package manager ever. Other distros have other advantages - I'm a happy NixOS user now - but Mint makes an excellent first Linux.
- schwank 3y ago
  I've been on Mint Cinnamon for probably close to 10 years now after spending the first half of my career developing applications for Windows platform with MS tooling and backend. I saw the direction they were going with Win8 and made the switch and have never looked back. My main desktop went out of support earlier this year, but it has been so stable I can't be bothered to rebuild it. I have apps for everything I need from photo and video editing and management, to gaming, to productivity and development. My newer laptops have more recent builds and likewise have worked without issue. Really the only speedbump I have are a couple of Windows only things like a Dymo label printer and some automotive tuning software, so I run a dual boot on one XPS 15. Unfortunately at work I can't run Linux so I use a MBP as it's far better than Windows, however it still infuriates me regularly and I don't use any other Apple products. I've previously contributed to Mint and was recently thinking I need to send some more money, so thanks for the reminder!
deleted 3y ago
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bee_rider 3y ago
I did puppy linux on a flash drive for a while, then jumped straight to Arch. Recently I switched to Ubuntu because I’d switched to a laptop, and I thought it would handle things more nicely for me. I regret it. It does too much. I’d recommend the first two steps I took, though.

jacquesm 3y ago

I use a $300 second hand W540 maxed out on RAM (32G, I don't think it would take 16G modules but I haven't looked into that, this is sufficient) with two external monitors attached. Uses a tiny bit of power compared to the desktop that it replaced (when I switched the house over to solar power I did a conservation exercise first and my desktop was one of the worst offenders) and everything works as far as I can tell. This box has been up and running for two years non-stop now, the only big change I made to the original is to put a nice fat SSD in it and to remove the battery because it never gets unplugged anyway. As OS I use Ubuntu Studio which makes for a nice development platform for music related software.

runjake 3y ago
What is your general distro of choice? I saw another comment mentioning Debian. If that, which branch?
- jacquesm 3y ago
  I'm using Ubuntu Studio because it has a ton of audio and music related stuff built in.
daft_pink 3y ago
I have a recent XPS 15 with nvidia graphics, 64gb of ram and 2tb ssd. That cost me about $1,500 including upgraded drives myself. But spec out a 14" Macbook Pro this way and it's easily 3,800-4,000. I don't need something second hand cheap, but I don't want to pay $4,000 either.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  That's a nice little rig. I needed something that could drive my monitors without change from the previous setup and that wasn't something I could easily find in a new laptop so that's why I ended up with this old beast. But 64G would be nice to have. I checked the price of the only XPS that is available on Dell.nl and it goes for 4200 euros! https://www.dell.com/nl-nl/shop/dell-laptops-en-notebooks/sr/laptops/xps-laptops/64-gb?appliedRefinements=37698 https://www.dell.com/nl-nl/shop/dell-laptops-en-notebooks/sr...

WolfeReader 3y ago

You can put Linux Mint on a bootable USB and try it, to see if it works well with your hardware. Mint is a great first Linux for former Windows users, since its desktop has a similar layout and it comes with a lot of free, good software, and maybe the best GUI software package manager ever. Other distros have other advantages - I'm a happy NixOS user now - but Mint makes an excellent first Linux.

schwank 3y ago
I've been on Mint Cinnamon for probably close to 10 years now after spending the first half of my career developing applications for Windows platform with MS tooling and backend. I saw the direction they were going with Win8 and made the switch and have never looked back. My main desktop went out of support earlier this year, but it has been so stable I can't be bothered to rebuild it. I have apps for everything I need from photo and video editing and management, to gaming, to productivity and development. My newer laptops have more recent builds and likewise have worked without issue. Really the only speedbump I have are a couple of Windows only things like a Dymo label printer and some automotive tuning software, so I run a dual boot on one XPS 15. Unfortunately at work I can't run Linux so I use a MBP as it's far better than Windows, however it still infuriates me regularly and I don't use any other Apple products. I've previously contributed to Mint and was recently thinking I need to send some more money, so thanks for the reminder!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

bee_rider 3y ago

I did puppy linux on a flash drive for a while, then jumped straight to Arch. Recently I switched to Ubuntu because I’d switched to a laptop, and I thought it would handle things more nicely for me. I regret it. It does too much. I’d recommend the first two steps I took, though.