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  3. What's the smallest laptop that runs Linux and is actually usable?

What's the smallest laptop that runs Linux and is actually usable?

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  • E [email protected]

    No experience myself, but I saw this recently on Lemmy: GPD Win Max 2

    P This user is from outside of this forum
    P This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #27

    Nice, I was going to post GPD. Also no personal experience, I've wanted one for a while now, maybe one day.

    1 Reply Last reply
    1
    • E [email protected]

      I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

      My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

      Anyone have or heard of such a device?

      S This user is from outside of this forum
      S This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #28

      A 2012 11" MacBook Air will run ZorinOS nicely and is truly tiny but very usable. Any Air made between 2012-17, really, but the 11" is SMALL.

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      • A [email protected]

        I had one of the 10" eeePC machines for years. That thing was a tank. It did everything I needed it to, especially weird networking configurations. The battery also lasted over 6 hours. I mostly ran Crunchbang #! Linux on it.

        I don't think I could live on a 10" screen anymore, but back in the day it was a dream machine.

        J This user is from outside of this forum
        J This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #29

        I don’t think I could live on a 10" screen anymore, but back in the day it was a dream machine.

        Interesting. Years ago I moved from an 18in desktop setup to something like your eeePC. Unexpectedly, I also found it fine. These days I have a 14in and it feels unnecessarily big and heavy.

        If you're happy doing things one window at a time (i.e. monocle view, or basically as on mobile OSs), turns out the floor's the limit!

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        • reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR [email protected]

          It’s clearly an objective measure. Do some research!

          ~/s~

          A This user is from outside of this forum
          A This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by
          #30

          I format all my movies to be under 9" so I can get 100% usability out of smaller laptops

          reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • A [email protected]

            I format all my movies to be under 9" so I can get 100% usability out of smaller laptops

            reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
            reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #31

            It’s 100 usables. It’s its own scale, don’t confuse people.

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            3
            • E [email protected]

              I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

              My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

              Anyone have or heard of such a device?

              K This user is from outside of this forum
              K This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #32

              ETA Prime reviews a lot of tiny laptops. They might help you find a good match.

              1 Reply Last reply
              1
              • E [email protected]

                I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

                My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

                Anyone have or heard of such a device?

                V This user is from outside of this forum
                V This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #33

                GPD laptops run Linux well. Even their smallest laptop. So it's really up to you as far how small you want to go.

                1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • E [email protected]

                  I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

                  My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

                  Anyone have or heard of such a device?

                  H This user is from outside of this forum
                  H This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by [email protected]
                  #34

                  Maybe not the smallest but I recently got a second hand Panasonic CF-RZ6 and it's incredibly useful. Surprisingly most(all?) hardware's working on Linux/FreeBSD/Win10/MacOS 10.13(OpenCore) that I tested, and the battery lasts about 4~5 hours with low clock speed on Linux. S3 sleep is also working pretty well. The japanese keyboard is hard to type on, and it's pretty hard to obtain outside japan though.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • mrsdoyle@sh.itjust.worksM [email protected]

                    I have a Toshiba Satellite T110, 11.6" screen, now running Linux Zorin. I've had it for 15 years - got a new battery at one point and added RAM, very easy to do. It's been a cracking little machine, really nice for travelling with.

                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #35

                    Looks like a great machine. May I ask how's the battery life/power usage on it?

                    mrsdoyle@sh.itjust.worksM 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • E [email protected]

                      I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

                      My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

                      Anyone have or heard of such a device?

                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #36

                      Possibly this. https://liberux.net/

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      1
                      • E [email protected]

                        I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

                        My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

                        Anyone have or heard of such a device?

                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #37

                        IBM Thinkpad 701.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        1
                        • H [email protected]

                          Looks like a great machine. May I ask how's the battery life/power usage on it?

                          mrsdoyle@sh.itjust.worksM This user is from outside of this forum
                          mrsdoyle@sh.itjust.worksM This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #38

                          These days I mostly keep it plugged in, but it had good battery life when new. I got a replacement battery when it failed to hold enough of a charge for 5 or 6 hours. I honestly can't remember how long ago that was. I still travel with it occasionally, it's useful for working with photos (Gimp).

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • T [email protected]

                            I had the original eeePC too. I found the problem with the screen to be the resolution, not the size. My Lenovo Legion Go with its 8" screen is perfect as my daily driver.

                            F This user is from outside of this forum
                            F This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #39

                            I had one too. Besides the screen resolution, the actual worst thing about them was the MMC storage. Literally slower than a 5400rpm HDD. Mine was the one with the slightly faster atom CPU, but it was bottlenecked by the crazy slow storage.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • E [email protected]

                              I'm interested in ideas for small laptop-style devices that (1) run Linux and (2) are actually usable (i.e., not so small or low quality they're basically toys).

                              My goal is for something to supplement my current, larger laptop. Something I can throw in a bag and pull out as needed during the day to take a few notes, read an eBook on, access the web, and so on.

                              Anyone have or heard of such a device?

                              A This user is from outside of this forum
                              A This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #40

                              Librem 5 on its own, and with the optional lapdock for serious outdoor work?

                              1 Reply Last reply
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