Decent laptops that can be Linux-ified

[Waifu Denier]

Both sellers I mentioned make use of different OEMs. System76 gets theirs mostly from Taiwan-based Clevo, while Tuxedo gets theirs from Hong Kong based Tongfang. Not aware of any of Lenovo using any of these, but wouldn't be surprised if they made little to nothing on their own.

System76 has been working hard on moving away from external white label hardware, but for now they are still stuck on Clevo. Lenovo doesn't because they are the OEM.

 

[VargReallyDidNothingWrong]

Several Linux USB live distros run fine on my Elitebook. The only thing I've noticed is that the internal Bluetooth adapter doesn't get recognized and requests a dongle be plugged in.

If you just need to do simple office/work stuff then literally any notebook will probably do you fine.

 

[Lord Xenu]

Laptop build quality went to shit in the mid "10s, especially business grade laptops.

I really like the look & feel of these 2015ish metal chassis HP business grade. I have one of the 2-in-1 tablets with wacom pen that I use for light browsing & scribbling. Ive posted about it in the linux thread before. Ive also used one of the mobile workstations (zbook, maybe?). Since it was offered new with linux pre-installed, everything worked well.

Not aware of any of Lenovo using any of these

Since the specs & shell were close enough I figured it was a safe assumption given the rampant rebranding in manufacturing. Today I looked around a bit and I think you're right, it is unlikely theyre related. Its probably just another case of homogeneity in modern design. Also, Lenovo was suing Clevo over something about the signal protocol the keyboard uses.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

If you're looking at Dells, you can fuck around on their support site and see if they have ANY Linux drivers for it. If they do, it'll almost guaranteed work more or less, if they don't it might work, but search "dell laptop name and model linux" first.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-13-9300-laptop/drivers for example

 

[Pee Cola]

If you're looking at Dells, you can fuck around on their support site and see if they have ANY Linux drivers for it.

One thing Dell does better than anyone else is their support site. They still have drivers and documents for laptops that were EOL almost 20 years ago.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

One thing Dell does better than anyone else is their support site. They still have drivers and documents for laptops that were EOL almost 20 years ago.

they're almost as autistic as IBM is, who still is running FTP servers you can dig up with windows95 patches and shit

 

[Doppelmonger]

I can speak of my HP ZBook (running windows still but I hope not for long), I send it to a shop for swaping the i5 it had for an i7 and still beats most newish mid range laptops sold these days. It is a 17inch G2 model and still works great despite it being more than 6 years old, and it is M2 enabled. I think it could be a good Linux machine in the future

Specs from the top of my head because I am lazy to go and fetch it:
i7 4th gen (I do not know nothing about models, sorry)
32gb of ram
Nvidia k5100 with 8GB of video ram
I have 2 storage drives on it, an M2 with 256GB and a platter disc with 500gb and I still can install a 3rd one but I do not see the point
It has: The Clit(TM)

Sadly is not the full hd model, but I am happy with the 900p ( I think?) screen it has. I could also recommend one of these if you find it for cheap. Mine cost me about $250, it has some scratches and dents as the body is mostly aluminum but nothing that could impede the machine from work.