Bare minimum for Linux OS laptop

[Beef Boss]

What would be the BARE minimum in a laptop to run Linux and a few browser tabs? I'm looking to find the cheapest laptop I can find to solely run Linux on. There is no definite Linux OS since I use various Distros for every application 64 bit architecture though

[Lord Nicoll]

1 minute ago, BadluckBrian said:

What would be the BARE minimum in a laptop to run Linux and a few browser tabs? I'm looking to find the cheapest laptop I can find to solely run Linux on. There is no definite Linux OS since I use various Distros for every application 

Anything in the last 15 years. 

[flibberdipper]

Depends what flavor of Linux, really. Something running XFCE for example would run great on an Atom, but running something like Solaris would probably need one of the fastest Atoms.

 

Cheap laptop though just get a T420 or Latitude E4300/E4310. Great laptops for the money, and they'll run whatever you throw at them.

[Beef Boss]

Just now, tmcclelland455 said:

Depends what flavor of Linux, really. Something running XFCE for example would run great on an Atom, but running something like Solaris would probably need one of the fastest Atoms.

 

Cheap laptop though just get a T420 or Latitude E4300/E4310. Great laptops for the money, and they'll run whatever you throw at them.

Tails, Fedora, Mint, and DSL

[iRileyx]

Pretty sure even Raspberry Pi's can run Linux, so any spec laptop from the past 10 or so years should be enough.

[flibberdipper]

Just now, BadluckBrian said:

Tails, Fedora, Mint, and DSL

Anything could run DSL/Tails.

 

Depending on the flavor of Mint you could scrape by with one of the midrange Atoms (at least for what I would consider usable), and I'm honestly not sure about Fedora (haven't run it that much), but I'd imagine it'd like a midrange one as well.

[Stevoisboss]

 You might wanna look into used lenovo thinkpads which have pretty good community support. 

[vanished]

for the OS itself, literally anything that can run custom code, but I assume you are going to want a graphical environment, and beyond that, perhaps to be able to do modern tasks like watch youtube, etc.  If that's the case you won't be able to go quite as old as people are suggesting, but if you only need word processing and basic stuff then sure, anything from the last 15 years should literally be alright.

[Beef Boss]

2 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

for the OS itself, literally anything that can run custom code, but I assume you are going to want a graphical environment, and beyond that, perhaps to be able to do modern tasks like watch youtube, etc.  If that's the case you won't be able to go quite as old as people are suggesting, but if you only need word processing and basic stuff then sure, anything from the last 15 years should literally be alright.

Basically all it needs is an internet connection, and a USB port. A processor and screen would spoil me oh gosh. I really don't want an old laptop or used. I'm looking at some Lenovo laptops now, around $250. Basically I just download files and watch videos on Linux, so it's not like I need some battle station. A small cheap laptop really would be ideal. I'd like to be able to take it with me in my bookbag. 

[vanished]

3 minutes ago, BadluckBrian said:

Basically all it needs is an internet connection, and a USB port. A processor and screen would spoil me oh gosh. I really don't want an old laptop or used. I'm looking at some Lenovo laptops now, around $250. Basically I just download files and watch videos on Linux, so it's not like I need some battle station. A small cheap laptop really would be ideal. I'd like to be able to take it with me in my bookbag. 

Alright, well even a raspberry pi 3 can download and play back local videos (I've tested up to 1080p 60 fps and it's effortless) so that shouldn't be an issue, your lower limit for hardware will really be set by the browsing experience actually.  Should be doable for $250 no problem.

[Guest]

Maybe a Chromebook and modifying it to use Linux? Windows one would prob be better but if you want a really small one Chromebooks are you're friend. 

[paddy-stone]

I used to run linux distros on old hardware all the time, my family had a tendency to buy cheap crap laptops and even worse have shitty windows versions on them, so used to install small footprint distros so that the OS could run fine with the amount of RAM they had available etc. I'm talking approx 2004 onwards IIRC, so dual cores maybe, possibly single core even. They ran fine for basic office stuff for sure, never had any complaints and IIRC they even used to praise how much faster they were at everything. Still the same today, except they at least ask my advice now, but I still install linux distros on them for the most part.. mostly because they don't/won't update regularly, and I got pissed at the amount of times I'd be asked to do somehting limnor for them , and while doing that noticed it had been like 9 months since any updates were done (the last time I did them for them). Not a problem nowadays with the windows updates being mandatory, but still install linux anyway as I don't get so many support questions with linux builds with what my brothers and sisters do with them anyway.

 

TL:DR - even really shoddy laptops should run at least a few distros, that are gonna be perfectly adequate for basic needs and videos.

[LAwLz]

The minimum to run GNU/Linux and a few browser tabs? Basically anything. With some work you could probably get it running on a machine 20 years old.

If you want to watch videos and carry it around then things gets a bit more complicated. Most if not all modern chips got hardware accelerated H.264 decoding so you should be fine if you are buying new. The problem comes if you are looking at second hand hardware. If you are unlucky then you might end up with hardware that will be more than fine for the OS alone, but as soon as you fire up a video it will lag like crazy.

 

Your best bet is probably to get something like this laptop and install GNU/Linux on it.

220 dollars from Amazon.

Quad core processor at 1.1GHz base clock (Goldmont cores so don't expect anything crazy, it's the same as an Atom).

4GB of RAM

Decent GPU (for the price) with good hardware acceleration support (although no HEVC nor VP9 support if I recall correctly).

32GB of eMMC storage

1920x1080 screen (14")

Thin and light

802.11ac and gigabit Ethernet.

Good amount of ports (SD card reader, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI out)

The list goes on.

[chilicheeseburger]

Any old laptop will do,  Linux is a great way to breathe new life into old laptops. Within reason, of course but as @Lord Nicoll already said - anything from the past 15 yrs. 

 

You can often get good deals on used laptops on ebay. 

[Drak3]

Bare minimum? Ubuntu Server + Gnome 2 + Terminal + Firefox.

 

Bare minimum that doesn't require doing the work required for above? Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux.

[InertiaSelling]

1 hour ago, BadluckBrian said:

I'm looking at some Lenovo laptops now, around $250

If you have $250 to spend, you should look at Asus' eeebooks. They're have good battery life and decent build quality. Also, they have no moving parts (fanless, flash memory instead of HDDs), so if you were to fall from a cliff with one in your bag, it would probably be in better shape than you in the end. The biggest downside is the low-res TN panel, but at this pricepoint, you can't expect full HD IPS. I'm currently using a slightly higher-end vivobook e403sa, which is essentially the same thing with a nicer screen, better CPU, and a metal lid: windows was slow, ubuntu is snappy.

[divito]

Off-lease laptops are probably your best bet for the best value, rather than simply going for the lowest specs or cheapest options. eBay should have plenty of options, but depending on your location, there will invariably be some local options in the $150-$300 range.

[Zodiark1593]

10 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

If you have $250 to spend, you should look at Asus' eeebooks. They're have good battery life and decent build quality. Also, they have no moving parts (fanless, flash memory instead of HDDs), so if you were to fall from a cliff with one in your bag, it would probably be in better shape than you in the end. The biggest downside is the low-res TN panel, but at this pricepoint, you can't expect full HD IPS. I'm currently using a slightly higher-end vivobook e403sa, which is essentially the same thing with a nicer screen, better CPU, and a metal lid: windows was slow, ubuntu is snappy.

Wasn't there a sub-$250 chinese laptop posted not too long ago that had an Intel Atom, and a very good display?

[InertiaSelling]

10 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Wasn't there a sub-$250 chinese laptop posted not too long ago that had an Intel Atom, and a very good display?

I don't remember. Atoms are usually pretty weak though, even compared to celerons and low-end pentiums (pentia ?).

 

EDIT: withdrawn. I had shitty tablets in mind, but some atoms are just as good as what I mentioned.

[Zodiark1593]

3 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

I don't remember. Atoms are usually pretty weak though, even compared to celerons and low-end pentiums (pentia ?).

To be fair, modern Atoms are a long way away from the rabbit pellet of chips they used to be.

 

 

Also, here's that laptop.

 

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/831848-anandtech-chuwi-lapbook-123-reviewed-perfect-notebook-for-web-browsing-youtube-and-netflix/

 

[RuZoG]

One of the awesome bits about Linux is that there is almost always a LIVE distro meaning that you can try it out via booting from a CD or USB flash drive. Pick a distro and depending on where you are sourcing a laptop try to get a test boot. Or find a Laptop that meets your hardware and price needs and do a simple google search about that model and LINUX and your almost surely to at least find a review or a video, DIstroWatch can give you an idea of minimum specs but really as previously stated by someone else almost every laptop in the last 15 years has fairly solid driver support, etc.

[InertiaSelling]

9 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Also, here's that laptop.

It looks like a good deal, except for the battery life, which seems rather unexceptional. Probably a bit too expensive for OP if they only want to test an OS, but dat screen tho.

[Beef Boss]

48 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

It looks like a good deal, except for the battery life, which seems rather unexceptional. Probably a bit too expensive for OP if they only want to test an OS, but dat screen tho.

I have a laptop I test OS on, but I need a cheap laptop to actually use it on. Like I said, I use Fedora, Mint, and Tails. Most of what I do is low resolution anyway, so a good screen can only go so far in my usage and I've come to like AMD CPUs over Intel CPUs. But if I am going to spend a lot on a laptop, I'll just get a really good laptop and run OS on that. But I solely will use Linux on this laptop, and I don't like my main computers doing what these laptops can do. I'm one of those people who get dedicated systems for certain things. 

Like cables, I have my anker cord to charge and my aukey cables to transfer data. 

[Normand_Nadon]

I have no experience with the distros you are using, but I am running Ubuntu as my main OS on all my computers.

Ubuntu is a heavy and bloated distro vs the ones you are using from what I have been reading lately (looking to switch distro in the near future).

 

Still, I revived super old computers with Ubuntu and they run nicely and I even use one as an HTPC
(First gen Aspire One from Acer, 32bit, AMD k7 computers, 32bit also, old laptops on 1st gen Intel dual cores and AMD64)

 

The only thing you need to look for is driver support.
Atheros wifi cards are notorious for giving headaches to Linux user.
AMD GPUs are on the complicated side of things in recent Kernels if you want to use proprietary drivers.
fglrx was replaced by AMDGPU-pro driver and trust me, it is not a fun driver to play with (I am still trying to debug my AMD7970 GPU that does not come out of low power mode!)

[Beef Boss]

5 hours ago, Normand_Nadon said:

I have no experience with the distros you are using, but I am running Ubuntu as my main OS on all my computers.

Ubuntu is a heavy and bloated distro vs the ones you are using from what I have been reading lately (looking to switch distro in the near future).

 

Still, I revived super old computers with Ubuntu and they run nicely and I even use one as an HTPC
(First gen Aspire One from Acer, 32bit, AMD k7 computers, 32bit also, old laptops on 1st gen Intel dual cores and AMD64)

 

The only thing you need to look for is driver support.
Atheros wifi cards are notorious for giving headaches to Linux user.
AMD GPUs are on the complicated side of things in recent Kernels if you want to use proprietary drivers.
fglrx was replaced by AMDGPU-pro driver and trust me, it is not a fun driver to play with (I am still trying to debug my AMD7970 GPU that does not come out of low power mode!)

I have noticed that actually with power modes on AMD chipsets, pain.