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I was considering getting a Lenovo X1 Carbon to run linux on. I'd be installing a clean image, so no Superfish, but I still don't want to give money to Lenovo r

by pkinsky 12y ago

I was considering getting a Lenovo X1 Carbon to run linux on. I'd be installing a clean image, so no Superfish, but I still don't want to give money to Lenovo right now. What alternative linux laptops are there? (aside from macs)

jkot 12y ago
Dell sells laptops with Ubuntu, its $100 cheaper. Most awesome is probably XPS 13" 2015, but it does not have official support yet.
- puredemo 12y ago
  Is there a version that's not touchscreen?
de_dave 12y ago
The Dell XPS 13 is superb, been running Linux on it since day one. Fantastic, solid little machine.
admax88q 12y ago
The Dell XPS is actually not bad if you're looking for an ultrabook type machine, also the HP EliteBook.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
Coding_Cat 12y ago
There's System76, which are basically pre-loaded Clevo laptops (which are sold under many different names). I have the Galago Ultrapro and am quite happy with it. Good battery life, fast, user-serviceable and a calibrated IPS screen. On release the keyboard was a little off, but the new one is pretty good.
- meritt 12y ago
  How's battery life? That was always my concern, it seemed to be quite pathetic in comparison to modern 6-12hr competitors.
  - Coding_Cat 12y ago
    It depends on what you're doing of course. Normal usage (playing music/Youtube, browsing firefox, coding, opening up some PDFs) gives me about 6-8 hours I'd say, I get about 3 hours of (modded) minecraft, which is quite the battery drain. this is on Gentoo (Awesome as WM) so the background drain is pretty low. It's good enough that I never really pay attention to it. upower says the battery is designed to store up to 48Wh, with a maximum design capacity of 53Wh.
    - geoka9 12y ago
      Is the battery controller programmable from Linux? E.g. can you set charging thresholds? Is there any hardware in it that doesn't work in Linux?
      - Coding_Cat 12y ago
        I don't know about the battery controller, all of it works with Linux (System76 is a Linux retailer after all).
- geoka9 12y ago
  Wow, a very impressive lineup. Their performance laptop even has the optional second GPU - never seen that in a laptop before. If only they had a trackpoint style pointing device, that would be my perfect next laptop!
geoka9 12y ago
Why does lenovo thinkpad have to be the only line of laptops that has a trackpoint by default? How hard can it be to include it for other brands? This is a very important feature for some people and it limits their choice to thinkpads and (AFAIK) some HP laptops.
- rockdoe 12y ago
  At a guess, it's patented?
  - xienze 12y ago
    The patent is way expired. I think it has more to do with the fact that a lot of people just don't like the Trackpoint or (more likely) won't give it a shot, so manufacturers aren't going to invest the time and money to put it on their laptops. Personally I think the Trackpoint is the greatest thing ever, but I worked at IBM for a long time. Pretty much anyone who has had to use Thinkpads for an extended period of time ends up loving the Trackpoint. But regular people just don't want to give it a shot.
- teddyuk 12y ago
  I've had track points on hp and dell laptops (I always disable them)
  - scholia 12y ago
    Also some Toshiba laptops....
thomasmeeks 12y ago
I am running the dell xps 15, works beautifully. Though the refreshed xps 13 is likely worth a look as well.
teddyuk 12y ago
I have an hp elitebook, works great with ubuntu
- tenfingers 12y ago
  We're using almost exclusively HP here: the EliteBooks always had/have crappy trackpad buttons (to the point of being bothersome). I noticed this in their EliteBook line since 10 years, so they just don't care about it. The keyboard is so-so but acceptable, and the screen of the Folio/G1 ultrabook series is downright bad (strong blue color cast with large sample variability). You can get a matte filter and a replaceable battery in an ultrabook line, which is very good to have, but that stops here. Dell and Lenovo ship way better screens and keyboards for the same specs, which I would definitely recommend for a serious programmer. The 840 G1 I'm trying now has some ACPI and ATA issues currently on any stock kernel (google for more details). HP is definitely not even trying to test his high-end laptop line on Linux. I was quite ok with the Thinkpad line, but this move from Lenovo would now tend me to Dell.
scrollaway 12y ago
I recommend the Asus UX line. Don't get the super-high-end ones if you're going to put Linux on it, but you'll get excellent value for your money with $600.
daurnimator 12y ago
The Librem should be shipping in April if you can wait: https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop
jgrowl 12y ago
The Dell Precision M3800 can come with ubuntu preloaded (which actually subtracts ~$100) It's more comparable to a macbook pro than the air though. Also this 20% off coupon works: MXPX2T1N9HGH12
- daurnimator 12y ago
  Thankyou for the coupon code. I just bought one :)

by pkinsky 12y ago

jkot 12y ago

Dell sells laptops with Ubuntu, its $100 cheaper. Most awesome is probably XPS 13" 2015, but it does not have official support yet.

puredemo 12y ago
Is there a version that's not touchscreen?

de_dave 12y ago

The Dell XPS 13 is superb, been running Linux on it since day one. Fantastic, solid little machine.

admax88q 12y ago

The Dell XPS is actually not bad if you're looking for an ultrabook type machine, also the HP EliteBook.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

Coding_Cat 12y ago

There's System76, which are basically pre-loaded Clevo laptops (which are sold under many different names). I have the Galago Ultrapro and am quite happy with it. Good battery life, fast, user-serviceable and a calibrated IPS screen. On release the keyboard was a little off, but the new one is pretty good.

meritt 12y ago
How's battery life? That was always my concern, it seemed to be quite pathetic in comparison to modern 6-12hr competitors.
- Coding_Cat 12y ago
  It depends on what you're doing of course. Normal usage (playing music/Youtube, browsing firefox, coding, opening up some PDFs) gives me about 6-8 hours I'd say, I get about 3 hours of (modded) minecraft, which is quite the battery drain. this is on Gentoo (Awesome as WM) so the background drain is pretty low. It's good enough that I never really pay attention to it. upower says the battery is designed to store up to 48Wh, with a maximum design capacity of 53Wh.
  - geoka9 12y ago
    Is the battery controller programmable from Linux? E.g. can you set charging thresholds? Is there any hardware in it that doesn't work in Linux?
    - Coding_Cat 12y ago
      I don't know about the battery controller, all of it works with Linux (System76 is a Linux retailer after all).
geoka9 12y ago
Wow, a very impressive lineup. Their performance laptop even has the optional second GPU - never seen that in a laptop before. If only they had a trackpoint style pointing device, that would be my perfect next laptop!

geoka9 12y ago

Why does lenovo thinkpad have to be the only line of laptops that has a trackpoint by default? How hard can it be to include it for other brands? This is a very important feature for some people and it limits their choice to thinkpads and (AFAIK) some HP laptops.

rockdoe 12y ago
At a guess, it's patented?
- xienze 12y ago
  The patent is way expired. I think it has more to do with the fact that a lot of people just don't like the Trackpoint or (more likely) won't give it a shot, so manufacturers aren't going to invest the time and money to put it on their laptops. Personally I think the Trackpoint is the greatest thing ever, but I worked at IBM for a long time. Pretty much anyone who has had to use Thinkpads for an extended period of time ends up loving the Trackpoint. But regular people just don't want to give it a shot.
teddyuk 12y ago
I've had track points on hp and dell laptops (I always disable them)
- scholia 12y ago
  Also some Toshiba laptops....

thomasmeeks 12y ago

I am running the dell xps 15, works beautifully. Though the refreshed xps 13 is likely worth a look as well.

teddyuk 12y ago

I have an hp elitebook, works great with ubuntu

tenfingers 12y ago
We're using almost exclusively HP here: the EliteBooks always had/have crappy trackpad buttons (to the point of being bothersome). I noticed this in their EliteBook line since 10 years, so they just don't care about it. The keyboard is so-so but acceptable, and the screen of the Folio/G1 ultrabook series is downright bad (strong blue color cast with large sample variability). You can get a matte filter and a replaceable battery in an ultrabook line, which is very good to have, but that stops here. Dell and Lenovo ship way better screens and keyboards for the same specs, which I would definitely recommend for a serious programmer. The 840 G1 I'm trying now has some ACPI and ATA issues currently on any stock kernel (google for more details). HP is definitely not even trying to test his high-end laptop line on Linux. I was quite ok with the Thinkpad line, but this move from Lenovo would now tend me to Dell.

scrollaway 12y ago

I recommend the Asus UX line. Don't get the super-high-end ones if you're going to put Linux on it, but you'll get excellent value for your money with $600.

daurnimator 12y ago

The Librem should be shipping in April if you can wait: https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop

jgrowl 12y ago

The Dell Precision M3800 can come with ubuntu preloaded (which actually subtracts ~$100) It's more comparable to a macbook pro than the air though. Also this 20% off coupon works: MXPX2T1N9HGH12

daurnimator 12y ago
Thankyou for the coupon code. I just bought one :)