[kwlug-disc] laptops with Linux preinstalled

Thu Jun 4 13:28:43 EDT 2020

Although I've raved about System76 and their Pop!_OS before, I'll echo
Jeff's recommendation.
Thinkpads are the best hardware on the market right now - they've always
had stellar Linux support (it's just official now), and you can't kill
them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMilj81s9SI
And they run Pop!_OS perfectly well (although I run Fedora on mine
now....I've always loved Fedora).

On Thu, Jun 4, 2020 at 1:18 PM CrankyOldBugger <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
wrote:

> While I think we have a FOSS obligation to support companies like
> System/76 and Slimbook, I can say that Lenovo has always been a solid name
> in my experience.  No one ever got fired for buying IBM, as the saying goes
> (even though Lenovo got spun off by IBM years ago..)  I have a Lenovo
> laptop that's maybe 8 years old (made for Windows 7, which I fixed right
> away), now running PopOS, and it still hums along nicely.  I've had to
> replace the cooling fan a few years ago, and I swapped out the HDD for an
> NVME drive, and I added more RAM over the years.  The new drive and extra
> RAM really made a difference.
>
> Though for the life of me, I can't get Kali to install on it.   I've been
> trying for years...  well, that's outside of this discussion..
>
> If you do go with a "made for Linux" laptop, please be sure to tell us how
> it goes for you.  I'm sure other folks here are thinking about buying soon
> too.
>
>
>
> On Thu, 4 Jun 2020 at 12:57, Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:
>
>> I'm researching a replacement laptop for my aging Macbook Air.
>>
>> We used to live in an era when Macbook Pros were very popular with the
>> open source crowd, and you'd see a lot of these laptops at conferences. I
>> think that is changing. I have personally soured on Apple. I was originally
>> planning to replace my Macbook Air with a Macbook Pro, but now I want a
>> Linux laptop.
>>
>> Nowadays, there are many options for buying laptops with Linux
>> preinstalled and officially supported by the laptop manufacturer. Linux on
>> the laptop is now serious business, it is no longer just for hobbyist and
>> homebrew types. Linux laptops can be lighter, have better specs, and at the
>> same time be more upgradeable than Macbook Pros. These are nice
>> developments. Some of these options are quite new. So I will share my
>> research.
>>
>> The options I looked at are premium, expensive laptops, generally in the
>> range of $1500-$3000. Think of these as Macbook Pro replacements.
>>
>> Lenovo has been Linux friendly for many years, but Tuesday they announced
>>  that their entire Thinkpad P series can now be purchased with Ubuntu LTS
>> or Fedora Workstation preinstalled.
>>
>> https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-brings-linux-certification-to-thinkpad-and-thinkstation-workstation-portfolio-easing-deployment-for-developers-data-scientists/
>>
>>   ThinkPad P1 gen2: 15.4" screen, 3.74lb, nvidia GPU, premium specs, lots
>> of ports, webcam shutter, opt. touch screen
>>
>> Dell has sold laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled for many years. Notable
>> ones are:
>>
>>   Dell XPS 13 model 9300: 13.4" 16:10 screen, 2.65lb, few ports, soldered
>> RAM, opt. touch screen
>>   Dell Precision 5550: 15.6" screen, 4.06lb, nvidia gpu
>>
>> System76 is an American manufacturer of Linux-only laptops. Jason has
>> previously endorsed their Pop OS distro (an Ubuntu variant), and I'm
>> planning to run Pop OS after seeing Jason's presentation. Notable features
>> are Core Boot (GPL 3 firmware that boots very quickly), and disabling Intel
>> ME in hardware, before the firmware runs. Their laptops are cheaper than
>> the Dell/Lenovo machines mentioned above, at the expense of lower spec
>> hardware in some areas (eg. poor speakers, poor colour rendition, no wifi
>> 6, no thunderbolt, no touch screen). Lots of ports, very
>> repairable/upgradeable.
>>
>>   Lemur Pro: 14.1" screen, 2.2lb
>>   Darter Pro: 15" screen, 3.6lb
>>   Gazelle: 15.6" screen, 4.85lb, nvidia GPU, numeric keypad
>>
>> Slimbook is a Spanish manufacturer of Linux-only laptops. They are openly
>> targetting the MacBook Pro. Their laptops seem better speced than
>> equivalent System76 laptops (eg, good speakers, good colour rendition). No
>> wifi 6, no thunderbolt, no touch screen option. Their most notable feature
>> is authentication using an IR webcam and face recognition, like Windows,
>> except for Linux. You can use face recognition to supply a sudo password,
>> for example.
>>
>>   Slimbook Pro X: 14" screen, 2.38lb, nvidia GPU
>>   Slimbook Pro X 15: 15.6" screen, 3.3lb, nvidia GPU
>>
>> The latest Macbook Pros are heavier than the competition, have soldered
>> in RAM, no WIFI 6, no touch screen, otherwise nice specs.
>>   Macbook Pro 13.3" screen, 3.1lb
>>   Macbook Pro 16" screen, 4.3lb, AMD gpu
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