Advice for a Linux Laptop in 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.
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.
If you want to spend money on brand new hardware, I'd probably get an Thinkpad X1 Carbon. I've purchased several of those in the past and have had good experiences with the hardware and Linux software support.
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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I'm hearing good things about Framework, provided you get the hinge upgrade.
If you need something beefier, personally I'm using a Lenovo Legion 7 (2024 version... that white one, bought it a few months ago), and I'm loving it. Linux Mint worked out of the box, but I chose to replace the stock wifi driver with a better one.
What's the deal with the hinge upgrade?
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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.
minisforum v3
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If you're using Debian, do you really need to upgrade?
h/j
But seriously anything with an AMD CPU/GPU in it and an Intel wireless card is probably all you'll need to be mindful of, provided it fits in your budget.
Also, don't worry about touch-capable screens or HDR. The support for those is still a work in progress, and you'll likely have a bad time with them if you're using Debian.
The touch screen in my 2013 laptop has been working fine since... 2013, running only Debian and Debian-derivatives.
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What's the deal with the hinge upgrade?
I have no first hand experience, but I read about it here recently:
https://www.projectgus.com/2024/09/18-months-with-framework-laptop/He has another post named "20 months...etc", where he has done something tweaks and upgrades, and it's all good.
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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.
DELL Latitude laptops. They're designed for work, come with repair guides from DELL, and have upgradeability. The 5310 is one of the longest-lasting laptops for battery life you can get for $200-300 on ebay (over 8 hours battery video streaming, I've done this)
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https://kfocus.org/spec/spec-ir16.html this is an absolute gem. Framework is way overhyped and its "upgradeability" is totally unrealistic at best, scam at worst.
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.
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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.
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.
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I second used or new Thinkpads. They have good linux support. I use a p14s with arch (btw).
New thinkpads are trash unfortunately. Lenovo really cheaper out on their build quality. I've had to fix multiple lenovo laptops and one of their all-in-ones and the corners they cut made the repairs either impossible or extremely difficult.
One new ideapad had to go back to them twice with motherboard issues.
Replacing the keyboard is impossible, you need to replace the whole front panel of the case becuase the keyboard is plastic rivited in place.
The all-in-one started as a simple ram and storage upgrade, but in order to do that the whole back panel needs to come off. Its snapped on but the LCD panel itself doesn't have any subframe around it, so when opening the back panel theres a very high chance of you cracking the display.
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Yes, but that's not the point of framework
Framework is a great concept, a great idea for places technology could go, but even its newest offerings are janky. I’ve seen the reviews from people who want to love them. I too want to love them. The modular tech they’re build around is cool as hell but in terms of daily use laptop that moves with, it just ain’t it, imho. I’ve run
Linux on multiple think pads, a razer laptop, and an asus gaming laptop, and they all work fine. Buy the hardware that works for you, and put Linux on it. It’s that simple.
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Lenovo Thinkpads are always a great choice. You can get N.O.S (new old stock) models at deep discounts directly from their website.
New thinkpads are trash unfortunately. Lenovo really cheaped out on their build quality. I've had to fix multiple lenovo laptops and one of their all-in-ones and the corners they cut made the repairs either impossible or extremely difficult.
One new ideapad had to go back to them twice with motherboard issues.
Replacing the keyboard is impossible, you need to replace the whole front panel of the case becuase the keyboard is plastic rivited in place.
The all-in-one started as a simple ram and storage upgrade, but in order to do that the whole back panel needs to come off. Its snapped on but the LCD panel itself doesn't have any subframe around it, so when opening the back panel theres a very high chance of you cracking the display.
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New thinkpads are trash unfortunately. Lenovo really cheaped out on their build quality. I've had to fix multiple lenovo laptops and one of their all-in-ones and the corners they cut made the repairs either impossible or extremely difficult.
One new ideapad had to go back to them twice with motherboard issues.
Replacing the keyboard is impossible, you need to replace the whole front panel of the case becuase the keyboard is plastic rivited in place.
The all-in-one started as a simple ram and storage upgrade, but in order to do that the whole back panel needs to come off. Its snapped on but the LCD panel itself doesn't have any subframe around it, so when opening the back panel theres a very high chance of you cracking the display.
Ideapads are trash. I only recommend Thinkpads because they are their business line. I especially like their X1 series. I also recommend buying their new old stock because you get a good deal and you can buy their excellent extended warranty service. Two years in my screen went dark. First they replaced the MB and when that didn't work, I got a brand new screen. No charge and I basically have a brand new system.
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Framework is a great concept, a great idea for places technology could go, but even its newest offerings are janky. I’ve seen the reviews from people who want to love them. I too want to love them. The modular tech they’re build around is cool as hell but in terms of daily use laptop that moves with, it just ain’t it, imho. I’ve run
Linux on multiple think pads, a razer laptop, and an asus gaming laptop, and they all work fine. Buy the hardware that works for you, and put Linux on it. It’s that simple.
I daily drive my framework 13 since the first batch, upgraded twice the mobo.
I run it on arch Linux, 0 issue whatsoever even after a year bringing it on site like the Texan boonies or on boats in the middle of the golf of Mexico ..
Compatibility wise with linux, 100% of the peripherals work, even the finger reader thing. -
Framework is a great concept, a great idea for places technology could go, but even its newest offerings are janky. I’ve seen the reviews from people who want to love them. I too want to love them. The modular tech they’re build around is cool as hell but in terms of daily use laptop that moves with, it just ain’t it, imho. I’ve run
Linux on multiple think pads, a razer laptop, and an asus gaming laptop, and they all work fine. Buy the hardware that works for you, and put Linux on it. It’s that simple.
It's definitely not jank. Huge fan of mine as well as some other folks here. Fw13 with AMD.
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The touch screen in my 2013 laptop has been working fine since... 2013, running only Debian and Debian-derivatives.
It depends what it is you expect out of it, from what I've understood from others. If you want touch to just be a replacement for a mouse, it will be fine. If you expect multitouch to work like most tablets or phones, you'll be disappointed.
Feel free to refute that with your own experiences. I'm only speaking from second hand.
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Framework is a great concept, a great idea for places technology could go, but even its newest offerings are janky. I’ve seen the reviews from people who want to love them. I too want to love them. The modular tech they’re build around is cool as hell but in terms of daily use laptop that moves with, it just ain’t it, imho. I’ve run
Linux on multiple think pads, a razer laptop, and an asus gaming laptop, and they all work fine. Buy the hardware that works for you, and put Linux on it. It’s that simple.
Love mine and daily drive it. Not janky, zero issues. Everything works on Linux. Not sure what you’re referring to.
Can you get more bang for your buck? Yes, to start. But let’s compare after a couple of upgrades on mine vs whole laptop replacements with other brands.
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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
Yes but in the future when you need or want to upgrade again, it's a fairly trivial cost because you're reusing 90% of the parts. It's an investment.
Not to mention if there's any kind of mechanical issue in the future.
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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?
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
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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 bought a Framework laptop then threw Pop OS on it. I have no issues. They sell refurbished devices and they are modular so you can swap out whatever is giving you issues.
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What's the deal with the hinge upgrade?
I had one of the initial batches and the hinge was too weak. They came out with stronger ones that are much better which I now have. It was cheap and easy to replace
