Looking for a good laptop to install Linux onto

hakaffe23 · January 22

My budget is $1100 but a bit flexible, I'm looking for a laptop with the following

Size: less than 16 inches

CPU:6-8 cores, at least 12 threads

GPU: any, won't use it for gaming

RAM:16-32, if 16 Id like for it to be upgradeable

Storage: size doesn't matter, just need an SSD

I'll be using it in a classroom and library so I'd like quiet acoustics for cooling, I'll also be typing a lot so a nice keyboeard would be good

reliability/sustainability is also very important so that I won't have to replace it for a good while

right now I'm looking at the Zenbook 14x and Framework 13 with AMD Ryzen™ 5 7640U, though the Zenbook doesnt have upgradeable ram and I've heard very mixed things about the noise of the Framework's fans, but for sustainability the framework definitely seems really nice, even with the worse price/performance

avgvstvs · January 22

Can't recommend you a model because i'm not really in touch with recent trends, but i can definitely assure you that as long as you choose the right distribution with a lightweight Desktop Environment, Linux can run on anything, so no worries with hardware specs. I mean, your specs even look overkill to me, if you're only going to use it to study...

Just for context i have 32gigs of RAM and a 12 core 24 thread CPU, undervolted and underclocked to 4.4GHz, running Debian 12 + KDE Plasma. I'm running a virtual machine with 2gigs RAM assigned to it, and a lot of tabs open with Firefox. I'm barely using 8 gigs total.

LloydLynx · January 23

Or you could buy a laptop that comes with Linux OOTB.

https://system76.com/laptops

hakaffe23 · January 23

I think I'll go with the Framework, the specs definitely aren't the best for the price but the long-term repairability/upgradeability should hopefully make up for that, especially compared to other companies that are completely hit-or-miss when it comes to support for anything regarding replacements