Ask HN: Linux laptop for developers with a reasonable budget?

5 points by KRuchan 10 years ago | 12 comments

Looking for something similar to a Macbook in hardware, and can run Ubuntu. Thoughts on Dell XPS 13 (seems a bit pricey) or System76?

bikamonki 10 years ago |

I've put Ubuntu on many things, from beefy laptops to netbooks to part-scrapped desktops. Seldom had I needed to fix driver issues. So my advice would be to search in the opposite direction: find any laptop that fits your budget/specs and then search online if there had been any issues installing Ubuntu on it.

deangiberson 10 years ago |

I have a 1yr old System76 Galago UltraPro. I like it, works well, fairly quiet. Purchasing experience was good, even with importing to Canada. My two problems are 1) it will occasionally (once every 2 months) experience a power loss and reset the laptop. No clue as to what's happening, so infrequent that I don't care to look too deep, 2) the wrist rest finish is rubbing off in the corners, looks dirty, but it's just the black plastic showing through.

a3n 10 years ago | |

Anecdote: a colleague bought a system 76 and hated the keyboard, returned it. It wasn't an issue with where the keys were placed, he just didn't like the way the keyboard itself felt, or the way it made him feel, or something.

Try to fondle one before just buying one blindly online.

phaus 10 years ago | | |

Their keyboards are notorious for being just plain defective. The issue with the Ultrapro was that it would randomly drop keystrokes if you tried typing at a decent rate. Some people might not have had this issue, but it was nearing epidemic proportions when this laptop was released. They released an "improved" keyboard which was really just the same one with a metal strip on the back of it which made it feel like less of a piece of shit, but didn't really solve the problem.

I wanted to support system76, but their laptops are re-branded clevos, and clevos almost universally have shitty build quality.

fian 10 years ago |

I've had good service from the Dell XPS 15z I am typing this on. It is now over 3 years old.

I set it up to dual boot Win 7 and Kubuntu. I kept Win7 originally for gaming. I think I booted to Win 7 1 in the past year. There is even less need now with many Steam games working on Linux.

The Optimus(?) graphics system split between Intel and Nvidia was an issue initially. I played around with Bumblebee a bit but mainly have just used the Intel GPU as it provided better battery life and I haven't been doing anything graphically intensive.

The only unresolved issue is that the external HDMI port will only work if plugged in a boot and exclusive to the laptop screen. There may be driver fixes for this now but I haven't had the need so haven't checked.

I have also successfully run Ubuntu variants on Thinkpads (T series) and a couple of Asus Atom netbooks.

mattkrea 10 years ago |

I would strongly recommend looking for a used 2013 MacBook Air (non-Retina). I used Ubuntu on one of those for a while. You should be able to get one reasonably priced directly from Apple at this point.

smt88 10 years ago | |

Only caveat here: the keyboard is obviously a Mac keyboard, which can be very irritating to those of us who like to have dedicated Home/Backspace keys.

Edit: another caveat. I just realized I had one of these for a while and stopped using it because the resolution is just too small. There's just not enough screen real estate to be truly useful without another monitor.

mattkrea 10 years ago | | |

True, the resolution is relatively small. If you can live with that it is great hardware for the price and everything in at least 14.04 worked perfectly.

brudgers 10 years ago |

I am using a used ThinkPad. Great keyboard, great community around the ThinkWiki, Ubuntu certified hardware, much cheaper than new, solid stream of replacement parts at reasonable prices.

Good luck.

bprasanna 10 years ago | |

+1 for old ThinkPads, as my ThinkPad R60 still (~8 years old) still works perfectly with Lubuntu!

shivakaush 10 years ago |

I love my thinkpad T450s. Looks sleek, professional and handles ubuntu like a champ.