I have had a Tuxedo InfinityBook 14 Gen7, and I've been happy with it. They focus on hardware that has a good compatibility with Linux, so it works well out of the box without any tinkering. You say you don't have a high budget though, so these might be too expensive (I believe you can get similar specs at a lower price), but I've also been very satisfied with the after sales service they have provided - I've had some issues with it since I got it, but if it was Tuxedo specific (or appeared to me to be Tuxedo specific), and thus not easy to find general troubleshooting help online, I contacted them and I was helped out promptly, both via e-mail and the phone.
this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
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Been happy with my Purism Librem 14, and soon they'll have a 16". I think today, I'd probably buy their 11" tablet. Perfect travel size and you don't need to put it away during takeoff and landing of flights.
So, I saw that lot of you are agreeing that basically just a standard CPU is needed. The problem is that in some cases its not enough. Some years ago I bought a very small Lenovo Miix 320 (not a thinkpad) and it was not compactible with free software at all. The audio and webcam crashed all the time with any distro that I tried. For this reason I asked this question, I had the impression that in the last years it became more difficult to make a laptop work with free software but I cannot judge it just with this experience.
I have not had many issues in the past 15 or more years myself running Linux exclusively aside from a shorter Macbook period. Perhaps I have just been lucky.
We sported (in guessed cronological order of first buy): Dell, HP, Lenovo, Slimbook, Tuxedo, Starlabs, BTO all running Linux at our company. We have not had big issues with any except for keyboard on a Dell, Tuxedo, Slimbook and cooling on a Lenovo. Since I chose the Slimbook many have followed on the path of smaller suppliers and I think we rarely buy from the big makes now.
I have been very happy with slimbook. I came from a macbook (bad idea) with the bad butterfly keyboard and the slimbook was a big upgrade on that front. It's still not the greatest keyboard for some but I do like it. I have been wanting to buy a new one but whenever something broke or was insufficient I could either upgrade (2 x nvmeSSD slots and RAM can be replaced) or they still supplied spare parts when I sent them an email (keyboard replacement after 4 years). I wanted a framework but Slimbook has offered me spare parts as needed for longerbtham could buy a framework and the slimbook still works well. Plus it's less expensive. Replacement of the keyboard was not toolless requiring glue to be heated but I did manage to quickly do it with a sleepy head at night. I'd buy their new 13" if this one would be out of service. I'd buy one now but it feels such a waste.
Things I did not like 6 years ago: webcam and microphone of lesser quality, display nice and matte with good color rendition but lower resolution than I'd prefer, no USBC charging on USBC port. Display and USBC are resolved on the new models, no clue about webcam and microphone.
Currently in the process of fixing up my old Asus TUF FX505DU with Debian & KDE Plasma.
Setting up Nvidia Optimus would be a pain if it weren’t for Envy Control, run one command and boom GPU’s speak nicely to one another.
My top pick for a Linux laptop would be the Dell XPS 13 9310. It's old I guess, from 2020. But the build quality and Linux support is excellent. You could get a used one from eBay for around 400USD.
Alternatively, maybe you could look for a used Thinkpad X1 Carbon. I've purchased several of those in the past and have had really good experiences with them. The hardware is great and the software support is excellent.
I would avoid Framework. I actually just switched back to the Dell XPS 13 9310 after a year of using the Framework. Linux support on the Framework is just not as good as some other laptops. The biggest con of Framework is the HiDPI display. You will never get the display to look good. You'll have to do a ton of tweaking and debugging—and you'll still have some apps that are blurry or have weirdly sized icons or text. See: https://lemmy.today/post/22761155/13770242
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minisforum v3
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
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)
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NovaCustom: Coreboot, Linux support, customizable, spare parts.
I have no personal experience, but their products seem nice, though expensive.
Maybe not what you're looking for, but I use Asahi Linux on an old M1 MacBook Air and it's quite nice. I bought it used for $480 last year.
https://kfocus.org/spec/spec-ir16.html this is an absolute gem, built just for linux. It comes with KUbuntu preinstalled but can be wiped and replaced with any flavor of linux, and all of the hardware and laptop functionality is fully supported by linux.
Framework is way overhyped and even more overpriced. Its "upgradeability" is totally unrealistic at best, scam at worst. Sure you can pop in a new USB port or display output, but that's about it before you're replacing the entire guts to upgrade it and keeping just the worn out case and screen...? Gee sounds great... Repairability is a real point for framework though. Can you still not update the BIOS on linux? Its linux support is historically not great but may have improved
replacing the entire guts
That's not how it works at all though... What? The RAM and SSD are individually replaceable, and the screen, speaker system, and chassis all have individual upgrades that have been released with time too (for the 13, at least). The only "replacing the entire guts" you would do is if you replaced the mainboard for a CPU upgrade, and even then that's just the mainboard, not the RAM, SSD, etc., which is pretty on-par with, say, a desktop anyway as often a meaningful CPU upgrade will include switching to a newer platform and therefore a new motherboard.
Not saying the Framework has no issues at all whatsoever, but that's sure not one of them.
So... all the normal stuff that is normally upgradeable on a normal laptop is upgradeable for framework too? Good point...
The only "replacing the entire guts" you would do is if you replaced the mainboard for a CPU upgrade
That's exactly my point, yes. Again, the "upgradeability" of a framework laptop is unrealistic at best and a scam at worst. It's exactly as upgradeable as most laptops unless you're replacing the whole mainboard which is not very realistic. By that point there is likely enough wear and tear that it makes no sense to keep the case, keyboard, and screen... and with framework premium prices you aren't saving money on the SSD or RAM (which, no, you likely can't reuse on a CPU upgrade, most likely you'll be going DDR4->DDR5). I do give them credit for repairability, which is great, but "upgradeability" specifically is basically a marketing scam and will not make any sense for 99% of users.
I expected the downvotes on my comment because my opinion goes against the framework fanboys, but I hope my suggestion of KFocus IR16 is not discounted because of my opinions on framework. It is truly a great choice for linux compatibility
so all the normal stuff that's normally upgradable
That's just the thing, though. Soldered RAM and even drives is becoming more and more common these days, especially in the Apple space. But, the main thing here is user replaceable. I don't know when you last swapped the RAM on a laptop, but on most consumer laptops these days it is a nightmare. With Framework, it's 5 screws (the driver for which is included in the box, but also just standard torx) and you're in, and they have a QR code to a guide on how to do the replacement for first timers. I know it can be hard to take if you're used to pulling apart computers for fun, I come from there too, but the easy user upgradeability is seriously, literally, actually a great selling point on the Framework.
Also, the case, screen, trackpad, etc that get all the wear and tear are just as easily replaced if that's your hang up.
especially in the Apple space
Offtopic, we are discussing linux laptops.
With Framework its 5 screws
Aw gee, then Framework wins! With Focus IR16 its nine phillips screws... 😩
OK I had a great weekend not thinking about this thread (Yes I know it's not been the weekend for a couple of days now, it was extended), so I'm going to write one more message on this and then just leave it as is. My main issue is that you straight up said the upgradeability is a scam. It's clear from this thread you've never worked in repair or had to upgrade a consumer-grade laptop from the last 10 years - which is fine but you shouldn't go throwing around such harsh phrases as "scam" for it. Framework has a legitimately good product that could feasibly be the last laptop you ever buy - for example, their most recent refresh of the Framework 13 mainboard will work in the original chassis, despite numerous design revisions over the last 5 years. Very few other devices in the space, even those designed to be upgraded, can be brought up to the newest version with just a mainboard replacement (this is one of my biggest issues with FairPhone, but that's not really related to the topic at hand). Similarly, the new 12" is more easily upgraded than ever with the swap to pogo pins on the keyboard rather than a ribbon cable for the keyboard. I truly think I could give my mother a Framework and she would be able to keep it up-to-date without any input from the members of my family who have repair experience.
On this topic:
Offtopic, we are discussing linux laptops
The Asahi Linux project is nothing to sneeze at, and some of the most competent Linux users I know are on either an Intel or M-whatever Mac. Being an Apple device does not exclude it from being a Linux laptop, though I would never personally recommend them to a user, new or old.
On this because I forgot to address it:
I hope my suggestion of KFocus IR16 is not discounted because of my opinions on framework
It does look like a good laptop, and I think you should have separated your comments out because now your actually pretty decent recommendation is going to be buried because it was paired with an unrelated and fairly ignorant take.
nine phillips screws…
Credit where credit is due, I would have like phillips, but I do also understand the use case for torx on the Framework (plus it comes with a screwdriver, which fixes the main "who has a torx driver?" issue with torx). Either way, I'm not looking to discount the potential reparability or upgradeability of the IR16, I don't have one and can't weigh in there, If your position had been "This laptop manages to actually be more upgradeable than the Framework, whilst also being built for Linux first", there would be no problem there (provided you could back that claim up), but outright calling it a scam? Come on man...
Long and short, no, I would not call the upgradeability of the Framework a "marketing scam". Thus far, a Framework laptop 13 built the day they released 5 years ago could be not only continually used and repaired for those 5 years, but also brought up-to-date with the latest hardware with relatively little user effort in comparison to similarly sized and spec'd consumer laptops, and without needing to buy a whole new device - you can just "ship of Theseus" the thing. Note that when I say "hardware", I don't just mean the fun buzzword-y hardware like CPU and RAM, but also things like keyboards, speakers, the screen, the charger/cable, and other similar components that a user is less likely to think about wanting to improve at the time of purchase, but would otherwise be hurting for newer versions of 5+ years down the line.
Can framework physically be upgraded? Yes. Is that practical, realistic, or something the makes sense for a typical user to actually do (beyond RAM and hard drives, which is common to be able to replace on most laptops already)? No. See all the reasons I've already covered. To market the product based on that like it is something great that a user will expect to do and why they should buy it, is pretty scammy behavior, especially when the laptop is priced at a premium and this is justified by these impractical features.
Ir16 is as repairable and as easy as framework to replace/upgrade typical components as one should expect for a laptop, like RAM, hard drives, and network card. You remove 9 screws, the bottom panel comes right off, and there is access to those components. I wouldn't expect to easily replace other parts of it or the entire mainboard, but again, no one is practically going to be doing that with framework either anyway.
an unrelated and fairly ignorant take
It's actually related (given all of the comments suggesting framework and parroting scam marketting points), and not ignorant, just realistic. People often want to defend their purchase after they've been duped.
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