Q: Can i just grab an laptop and expect it to work with Lunux these days?
Rather off-topic, but related to me.
Say, Lenovo IdeaPad S145-15IWL?
The Lenovo web-site didn’t seems to list this particular model among “certified for Linux”.
UPDATE +15 days: Ok. Currently i’ve in process of “retriving” the machine we ordered (fun for whole family! Thanks, mum.). But yet it is “private information”.
UPDATE +21 days: Fail. To ship an computer to Russia (at least there) an shipping-provider should have an storehouse there (and “there is no there there” : /). This may be legally impossible to ship it directly to someone’s living place. For me it must be sent first to the “residental” storehouse, then picked up for transportation to the final destination.
In theory, yes, in practice not always. If you buy a system that contains extremely new hardware, it sometimes is the case that the kernel has not yet included support for it. I.e., new hardware is released, and then the manufacturer works with the kernel maintainers to support it—it is up to the manufacturer to dictate the rate at which this happens.
In general:
I avoid Nvidia since I don’t need a GPU at the moment (though RPMFusion supports it, so it is mostly OK, but one should check to see what hardware is supported by the nvidia driver on Linux).
I prefer Intel who have a good track record when it comes to drivers etc,
I tend to avoid Broadcomm also: you’ll find plenty of posts on the forum asking how their wireless modules are to be dealt with
I’ve not had much trouble with other hardware, but then I haven’t used it all.
I’m currently on a Thinkpad which works very very well with Fedora:
Many laptops will work well with Linux; others will not. Ubuntu has a compatibility program (Dell, Lenovo and HP seem to have the greatest compatibility): https://certification.ubuntu.com/desktop
I have a HP Pavilion which runs quite well (triple boot: Win10, Archlinux, Fedora)
This is just my 2-cents worth. My notebook is an HP business model (ProBook). I have had very few problems running Fedora on it, and I’m now running Fedora 31 with no problems at all. But the reason I’m mentioning it is because the hardware components seem to be of higher standards than their consumer notebooks.
Also, they can often be found at attractive prices if you’re willing to accept last year’s model. I paid less than $900 for mine, which included an i7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM. This was a couple of years ago.
One problem I did have was that I had to discard the Realtek wi-fi card that it came with and replace it with an Intel. That only cost about $40 to do.
Great advice so far. If price is a big factor I would like to suggest https://www.dellrefurbished.com/ . They tend to be a few years old so no kernel issues like with brand new hardware, and the refurbished tend to be their business line which appear more rugged than their consumer line that you see in Best Buy. Also they are constantly getting new stock and offering 40-50% off coupon codes frequently. My son got a 7250 Ultrabook and has had no issues with Linux on it.
Thanks. I'd thought about it too. Just heard that CPU themselves are almost immortal. Also, my old desktop worked from ~2009, until i used a screwdriver instead of a jumper to clear the CMOS (🛸️ sadly, not a joke).
Jan 18, 2020
The site your mentioned can serve as a primer for the Web stores in my neighborhood.
But: 1) Chooses are between Win’ or No OS. The success with Lin’ compatibility is may, but shouldn’t happen to me.
./ My laptop-2013 isn't worked well with the Nvidia p-drivers.
My desktop-2009 isn't worked well with the Nouveau and recent kernels.
2) “Can I customize / upgrade the system I am interested in?
To help keep our costs low, all products are pre-configured and can not be modified. Each system offered for sale is prepackaged and ready for shipment. We are not able to open the packaging to change systems configurations.”
– Ambiguous.
3) “All of our products include a standard 100 Day Limited Warranty…”; some RYFs:
As already mentioned, I suggest business lines of laptops as they are built to a higher standard, and I also recommend used/refurbished for a significant saving. It depends on what you need it for but for most personal use, that’s what I’d suggest.
If you need the latest models for performance or specific hardware or warranty coverage, then you probably already know your requirements.
For linux support, you should look at what others have reported for that specific model and/or hardware.
I got a refurbished Dell E7250 and I like it a lot especially since I paid only around 15% of its original value after 3 years. I’ve had no issues with linux on it.
One more thing: support. Business lines get supported much better/longer than consumer lines. The now 5 year old, out-of-warranty Dell E7250 has gotten 22 (!!) BIOS updates, most recently just months ago to address Intel speculative execution vulnerabilities, and even add some enhancements. In contrast, my previous Asus ROG laptop got nothing past 1 year, even when I and others asked Asus support to rectify some BIOS issues.
Hello,
if you want to run Fedora on your notebook, go for any ThinkPad. ThinkPads are what we mostly test with and there have not been any serious issues for some time.
Of course, the suggestion to avoid Nvidia still holds true.