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.
You said not a high budget, and yet everyone here is saying Framework even though the they are $900 to $1,000 at the low end. To me that is not budget.
Pine64 is affordable but maybe too slow to be a daily driver.
For other pre-built options, there's Starlabs and System76 but those are similarly priced to Librem and Framework.
Beyond that I might just research Windows laptops that are agreeable to being formatted.
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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 have a thinkpad t470 from some years ago as my personal laptop has still works perfectly fine. I destroyed a few things in it, like usb ports and have some scratches on the screen, but linux support has always been good. Best think It has is the hardware design that if you drop liquids on top of it then it doesn't reach the motherboard. It saved it when I dropped a full latte on top and I really though it was gonna go to the trash... Fortunately I only had to buy a new keyboard that is easy to replace.
Anyway, I will also need to buy a new computer soon fro work and am very interested in getting a framework laptop or another thinkpad if it has things like the great feature above still in place.
Also been eyeing with extreme interest some tuxedo laptops.
These are the well known to work I guess.
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I have a dell xps from a few years around and wouldn't recommend it to my enemies. Just this week it froze and crashed 3 times. Obviously all related to the stupid nvidia and hybrid graphics it has... so maybe if you can get one without that shitty piece of hardware maybe it's fine.
Latitude is my rec, not XPS. IDK why the XPS always seems to have issues.
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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
That's cool. Performance per dollar isn't the only factor for a laptop.
Size
Weight
Durability
Battery life
I/O and other features.
A not dogshit network card
An actually usuable trackpad
I'm sure I could list more. But those are all things that are important on a laptop and you can't change after you buy it.
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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.
They're still far better than everything else on the market.
IdeaPads also aren't ThinkPads. Those are the consumer grade garbage you'd want to stay away from.
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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 would reccomend the current configuration that I am running, It is a customised lenovo laptop that I got for little less than $390 (Not us citizen, and we have mid-high taxes, but i got roughly 5% off as student discount and another 5% for credit card payment, and you also apply the CUSTOMOFF coupon for rougly 5% more) - It is lenovo v14 G4 (you can also try to get 16 inch if you prefer that, differnce is roughly $10-20) - 2 things to note - I did not select a ram or storage upgrade - it comes with 8GiB soldered, but there is one slot free, and I added 16GiB which I already had, also I had my 512 GiB SSD, which i swapped with its 256 GiB one. If you would like to, you can get both of these upgraded for about $50 USD. Also you can choose between a 3 cell battery, or a 2 cell and a harddrive (this choice is only available in 16 inch one though).
List of upgrades that I did
Processor AMD Ryzen
7 7730U Processor (2.00 GHz up to 4.50 GHz) selected upgrade
Display 35.56cms (14) FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 45%NTSC, 300 nits,
Battery 3 Cell Li-Polymer 45Wh selected upgradeHere is a link for configurator (not affiliated or anything else)
https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=82YXCTO1WWIN1
I checked this config not available in US
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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 would recommend a Thinkpad. I have an E14, you can get them for under 800 Bucks. The Linux support is awesome ,under Fedora everything works out oft the box.
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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
Do they just use the good ones in new models now?
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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.
You're worried about the screen being worn out? How does a screen wear out (excluding maybe oled burn in, but this aint oled). And a good chassis shouldn't show that much wear after a few years.
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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.
You can get a used thinkpad T480 off eBay for ~$150. I've dropped it multiple times and spilled orange juice on it and it works perfectly fine. No issues running Linux mint Debian edition. Main drawback is the fan which isn't the most efficient at cooling, but it is upgradeable.
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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.
Consider taking a look at this criminally underrated Linux-first vendor: NovaCustom. Prices aren't cheap, unfortunate. But it boasts hardware from about a year ago. Furthermore, NovaCustom takes Libre very seriously: from supporting coreboot to offering blob-free WiFi-cards.
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You're worried about the screen being worn out? How does a screen wear out (excluding maybe oled burn in, but this aint oled). And a good chassis shouldn't show that much wear after a few years.
If the laptop is old enough to merit CPU upgrade, then its likely already experienced plenty of wear and tear. Also I never said anything about the screen wearing out, I specifically said the case. I gave credit that at least the screen would carry over
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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.I don’t want to denigrate people that it works for, because I know the people that love them love them.
Has the battery life (more specifically drain while in suspend) gotten better? I’ve heard horror stories on that, port availability (pretty limited ports because each port attachment takes up so much space) and some complaints about build quality and durability.
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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.
reusing 90% of the parts
Oops you need a whole new mainboard anyway to upgrade the CPU... oops you need new DDR5 RAM for the new CPU... oops these framework parts cost a premium at about the same cost as a new laptop anyay. Congrats, you now have an upgraded laptop in an old case that's already gone through wear and tear...
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If the laptop is old enough to merit CPU upgrade, then its likely already experienced plenty of wear and tear. Also I never said anything about the screen wearing out, I specifically said the case. I gave credit that at least the screen would carry over
What "merits" needing a CPU upgrade? I upgraded from a core i9 11950h to a 13900h machine because I needed more performance. That 11th gen machine still looks pristine besides one spot where a cat bit the corner of the lid. Even my piddling around machine wasn't up to snuff and upgraded from a 10th gen i5 to a 12th gen system. That machine's keyboard was a bit worn when I first got it, but it's not (appreciably) worse now. Besides that and maybe the palm rest the chassis is in pretty good condition. Why does it matter if the keycaps are a little smooth? Or there's a small scuff on one corner. Or a cat punctured the bezel of the display and somehow didn't break anything.
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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'm loving my Framework, have Mint on there. Thinkpads are also well regarded I believe
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What "merits" needing a CPU upgrade? I upgraded from a core i9 11950h to a 13900h machine because I needed more performance. That 11th gen machine still looks pristine besides one spot where a cat bit the corner of the lid. Even my piddling around machine wasn't up to snuff and upgraded from a 10th gen i5 to a 12th gen system. That machine's keyboard was a bit worn when I first got it, but it's not (appreciably) worse now. Besides that and maybe the palm rest the chassis is in pretty good condition. Why does it matter if the keycaps are a little smooth? Or there's a small scuff on one corner. Or a cat punctured the bezel of the display and somehow didn't break anything.
Either you're holding onto the case for many many years continuously upgrading, which I question why an old case is so valuable to not just replace it too when you replace the entire mainboard, or you're not, which makes me question the entire "upgradeable" concept.
Either way it doesn't really make sense. You can already easily upgrade the parts that don't require a whole new mainboard on literally any other laptop (hard drives, RAM, network card, battery).
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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.
Depends on budget but if your budget is above $800 get a framework they are awesome and work great with Linux if your budget is below that look at an e series Thinkpad or used thinkpad on eBay that fits your budget
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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.
If something supports linux-libre kernel, it supports all distros. See https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/html_node/Hardware-Considerations.html
Also:
https://www.h-node.org/ -
reusing 90% of the parts
Oops you need a whole new mainboard anyway to upgrade the CPU... oops you need new DDR5 RAM for the new CPU... oops these framework parts cost a premium at about the same cost as a new laptop anyay. Congrats, you now have an upgraded laptop in an old case that's already gone through wear and tear...
Oops you need a whole new mainboard anyway to upgrade the CPU
Yes that would be the 10% I was referring to.
oops you need new DDR5 RAM for the new CPU
...and the other new computer you want to buy doesn't?
oops these framework parts cost a premium
You pay a little more for the 10% of new parts but it's easily accounted for in the other 90%.
Congrats, you now have...an old case that's already gone through wear and tear...
...so? You saved buckets of money in the process...
