this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
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Hi everyone, I use Linux on all my machines since a decade. Unfortunately my laptops are getting older and I will probably have to change them soon. Which Laptops would you recommend me to buy in 2025 a part Librem?

I don't have a high budget but I'm still looking for something relatively recent. I looked on H-node but it seems that there are not a lot of recent things.

I use Debian as a distro.

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[–] digdilem@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago

Best is Framework in every regard. Works 100%, great Linux support, specify exactly what you want and it's fully repairable. (They're also by far the most satisfying machine to unbox, given you have to plug it all together yourself)

Lenovo and Dell are okay, in my experience. The odd thing but generally fair quality hardware and reasonably compatible. (Thinkpad quality isn't what it used to be, so don't pay a premium thinking it'll last, Lenovo are trading on its past glories)

Avoid HP - shoddy flimsy things now, and with a lot of bespoke drivers (graphics and audio, plus function buttons in particular)

There's quite a lot of random-branded Chinese laptops around now. I've no direct experience of them, but I imagine they're exactly how you'd expect them to be. Cheap, tailored for the OS they ship with, but will probably work to some degree. Linux is past its initial hardware problems (and to be fair, hardware is problematic now)

There's another thread that's a few years old, but still contains some useful info - such as "Check the Arch Wiki"

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 hours ago

Thinkpad t480 with libreboot from minifree

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Thinkpad X1 Carbon if you're swimming in money and want the lightest possible laptop, Thinkpad T14 if not.

Asus Zenbooks are kinda neat machines too, and taiwanese instead of chinese, but probably not quite as reliable.

[–] Bananable@feddit.nl 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thinkpad t480, they can be found pretty cheap second hand, then install libreboot. Can be upgraded with 64 GB of ram and a 4K screen.

[–] notthebees@reddthat.com 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

So that's why everyone recommends the T480 over the T580.

The T580 doesn't have a libreboot build.

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Up until very recently the t480 didnt either

[–] notthebees@reddthat.com 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Brb gonna go libreboot my sister's t580 when that comes out

You would probrally have to wait a very long time, keep in mind not all features (ex: Thunderbolt 3) are working on the t480. In addition I dont think the t580 is even supported by coreboot yet.

[–] the_q@lemm.ee 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're a bit expensive up front, but I'm really enjoying my Framework.

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 14 hours ago

That is very likely to be my next laptop.

[–] Arehandoro@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Do you want mainstream brands that work well with Linux? Lenovo or Dell

Do you want smaller brands that are specialised and support Linux? Tuxedo, System76, Slimbook, Purism...

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 4 points 1 day ago
[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

Tuxedo is a bit hit or miss. Used one for 2 years and wasn't happy with the case quality. The plastic basically broke at some edges and screw holes

The hardware also wasn't as Linux compatible as they claim. 5Ghz wifi just didn't work reliably. With their support page saying the fix is to disable 5Ghz

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 day ago

I want to support tuxedo, as an European brand, but the last one I bought had such a shitty screen that got worse and worse over the years. They seem to have improved the hardware somewhat but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

[–] eugenia@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago

I personally buy refurbished. Lately I got a Lenovo X280 thinkpad, for $160 with 8 GB of RAM, 1080p screen. Worked fine, Linux flies on it.

[–] padge@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm loving my Framework, have Mint on there. Thinkpads are also well regarded I believe

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[–] gbin@lemmy.ca 63 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Try Framework.

You'll get a laptop sized to your budget and you'll be able to grow with it, upgrade any part your budget will allow in the future.

Their linux support is excellent.

[–] modcolocko@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 1 day ago (8 children)

not to be a downer but you could very likely buy a higher performing laptop than even the top framework laptop for less money than even a minimal build

[–] scrooge101@lemmy.ml 2 points 14 hours ago

You can also buy it second hand or get an older version for less money and upgrade later.

The upgradability and reparability is also a cost saving factor on the longer run. I broke the screen once and instead of buying a new laptop or have a costly repair, I just got a replacement for 200 bucks and fixed it easily myself.

[–] pipe01@programming.dev 33 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Yes, but that's not the point of framework

[–] modcolocko@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

commenter was suggesting that framework allows you to “grow with your budget”

i don’t think this is exactly true in most situations

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[–] daytonah@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

I had system76 and now on tuxedo. I will buy tuxedo again...

[–] chrand@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

If you have budget, Thinkpads can't go wrong. You can also find refurbished.

Tuxedo and Framework are also excellent choices.

[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago

Go to an electronics recycling center and get a retired thinkpad (or 5). Once they’re decommissioned by corporations, they wipe the drive and send them off to be recycled.

[–] lupusblackfur@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

Used ThinkPad's are pretty common on Ebay.

They're what I use. Also with Debian.

"Recent" is a factor of how much you're willing to shell out.

$300.00USD will get you a good Debian compatible box. You may want to then replace the battery and/or add RAM. Those are both found inexpensively also.

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[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I have an all amd alienware m17 r5 I got $2000 off at around 1200$ pretty fire, 6850mxt = 3080 laptop, ive had no issues running most things, msfs needs hella tweaking on windows but past that even vr stuff mostly works fine

[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Frameworks cool if you can afford it, but if you want the best perfomance/deals, then laptops go on sale for half off or 70% off often, you just gotta check daily since they sell out within the day for those deals

Give yourself a month to look at deals, its around week 3 for me where I usually purchasep

[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 1 points 1 day ago

I recentlly swapped to cachyos, works way better than windows, had hella driver issues on windows, I forgot and reinstalled my windows os (shrunken partition, just in case I need it) had the same issues.

All I've had to download is like two extensions in the package manager for the amd gpu to work in blender, everywhere else it workd well instantly (because of cachyos and all it installs)

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (12 children)
[–] scrooge101@lemmy.ml 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

They have core boot, which is a big plus, but the hardware itself is not open source.

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[–] lambipapp@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've been eyeing the slimbook lineup as of late. I am just waiting for someone to drop a review of the slimbook creative.

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