So I’m looking for a laptop, but before you downvote and move on, I’ve got a twist: I’m looking for a laptop with Linux support that’s going to intentionally be console-only and rely on TUIs to make a lower-distraction device.
I was looking at older Thinkpads with 4:3 screens and the good keyboard before Lenovo went all chicklet with them, but I’m kinda concluding they’re both way too expensive AND way too old to be a reasonable choice at this point.
A X220 or T40-whatever would be great and be the perfect aesthetic, but they’re expensive, hard to find parts for, and using enough crusty old shit that this becomes yet another delve into retro computing and not one into practical, useful computing which is the goal here.
So, anyone have any recommendations of any devices in the last decade that have a reasonable keyboard, screen, use modern enough components that you can source new drives and RAM and batteries and such, and preferably aren’t coated in a coating that’s going to turn to sticky goo?
Thin(ner) and light(er) would be nice, but probably not a dealbreaker if the rest of the pieces align. This will be almost entirely used at a table for writing and such.
Literally any laptop will be able to run just Linux with TUI my dude.
How about MNT Reform or it’s Pocket little brother?
They get you
- Full mechanical keyboards, ortholinear if you’re into that
- Modern components
- HIGHLY modular and repairable - their main thrust is making messing with your internals accessible
- No sticky goo coating
- Cyberdeck aesthetics (esp the Pocket reform)
They do NOT get you
- Low price - you didn’t mention a budget constraint
- Thin. They are chunky kids, though certainly the Pocket reform has a reasonably portable profile
Was about to say the same, definitely a good choice!
Those are cool, and they’ve definitely nailed the aesthetic. Also looks like they’re working on a new revision which looks like a reasonable upgrade.
Not sure it’s the right choice for what I’m after (it’s kinda expensive and very performance limited for the cost), but uh, I’m going to keep an eye out because that’s a cool piece of kit.
framework may be worth considering, but definitely expensive considering what you need from it.
I’m quite happy with my Framework 13 Intel 12th Gen, but yeah probably overkill for TUI only.
I would say a used Dell or HP business laptop would be a safe bet. Most business laptops have decent keyboards, replacement batteries will be relatively easy to find, and user-serviceable RAM is the norm. Given the not especially high processing power needs, probably the middle-specced ones with a few gens-old i5 will be dirt cheap and work fine for your needs.
Plus 1 for a refurb or gently used Dell Latitude series. My daily beater for the last 5 or 6 years has been a pre-2020 Dell Latitude 7390 13". Works really well with the *bian distros I’ve run on it, decent battery life, OK mic and speakers.
I’ve had to replace the battery once, and the keyboard once (which I damaged myself by applying a small amount of Coca Cola).
Refurb ThinkPads are also great, but they have a high resale value.
My Dell XPS is my most hated computer. 90% stable with Ubuntu but that 10% really stings.
My Dell XPS-15 9560 is my most loved laptop ever. Great Linux support, although not the fingerprint reader which does sting a bit. I’ve only needed to replace the battery after 5 or so years, it’s currently about 7 years old and running as new.
Wow. I might have the same model. What distro are you running?
I’m running Ubuntu Budgie Jellyfish. My biggest gripes are battery life and notifications (only low battery warning I get is the screen flickering 1 min before it dies at around 5% power), video (maybe once a month the screen will go black and I can’t do anything but hard reset), and Wi-Fi (5G connection is much more likely to drop than 2.4G if I’m between APs). Might be a bit of a lemon since I had to get the mobo replaced in like the first 2 weeks.
I’m running (Ubuntu based) Mint Cinnamon. My laptop came with Ubuntu pre-installed and thus the BIOS pre-configured.
If I put the laptop to sleep and wake it from sleep again, it messed up the fonts but only VEEERY occasionally.
The fingerprint scanner doesn’t work with any of the drivers/software I’ve tried, which is a huge bummer.
When I dual-booted Windows on it for software for school, I noticed it worked splendidly on Windows without any installation.The battery life went from 11h to 40m during my normal usage, this happened in a span of 4 years.
I’ve replaced the battery with an aftermarket one, which also went from 9h to 2h battery life in about 2.5y.
I’ve rarely had the battery drained below 5%, but it did run until the last percentage the few times it happend (on the original battery)I’ve never had black screens or screen flickering like you described on this laptop, but putting my desktop PC to sleep on Linux Mint does cause it to wake up to an unrecoverable black screen.
My laptop’s also never had the connectivity issues.
Nor anything else.My experience has been really good, and I plan to continue using this until even a new battery won’t do good.
That might be due to Mint’s pre-installed software, I don’t know.
Are retro thinkpads that expensive in your region? Where I live you can get a functional one for ~$80 if you look on the used market enough
So there are some linux laptop companies that make dedicated linux laptops. See Purism and Tuxedo. They are very compatible and customizable, but I would recommend taking a look at Tuxedo because they have a much wider range of devices. Purism is like if Apple was a pro-consumer company. Their devices are all 100% libre, but are quite expensive.
What are your thoughts on NovaCustom?
I hadn’t heard of it before, but it seems like a solid company.
T4xx thinkpads or the 12” MacBook Pro 2012.
They’re both very well supported by Linux and have oodles of parts hanging around.
And don’t get any Macbook past 2014. 2015 and later kinda ditched normal connectivity and MagSafe. I have 2016 with only 2 C ports and a jack and it is not the nicest experience out there.
Btw, on recent machines the ports are back. I wonder why, …
Careful with think pads from the last 6ish years. Their build quality is absolute garbage, even the T series
past like 8 years they’ve turned shit imo. I got a used t460s and it feels so cheap compared to the t530 I had before. Like I know it’s the s version and it’s slimmer but it feels so fragile and I can not for the life of me figure out why it keeps freezing when I pick it up by the bottom left corner or if it bangs around too much in my bag. just overall shit. still better then most other laptops tho
my T570 crashed when pickup it up on the bottom right corner.
And after 2 years an 1 month (1 month after warranty), it broke completely. Likely a mainboard defect.
That’s when I said “oh hey, frameworks are exactly as expensive as thinkpads, but way better to repair”
Wack.
Guess I’m going to just keep using this one til that happens and I’ll start saving for a framework
Where I am currently working they have a tech space with tons of old Thinkpads. Really crazy, these are simply not used.
Dang, you weren’t kidding with the price of a used x220 (I have an x230 that I got for less than I’m currently seeing on ebay a while back, and the only thing that really made me switch to something newer was the screen). Maybe a newer thinkpad or an hp elitebook? I think as long as you have something newer than a 2nd Gen I series chip, there really shouldn’t be an issue if you’re basically just using it for text processing. If you start with models with ddr3 and sata drives you should be able to get very cheap replacement parts for a while yet.
If you’re not going to use graphical browsers, like ff or chrome, then get a DELL 3190 (4 gb ram, 64 gb ssd, 1366x768 res). It cost me just $150 as a refurb. I mean, if you don’t want to use it as a modern computer (e.g. aaa gaming, video editing, browser with many tabs etc), then it’s the perfect device. Image of it: https://mastodon.social/@eugenialoli/112253289106616207
Buy a refurb, they’re cheap and you’ll be able to find something you like. My current laptop is around 10 years old with 4G RAM and a friggin’ modem port and VGA!
I have an old T400 which I use as a TTY cient, that I can SSH into if I need to. It has 8g ddr3 ram and I popped in an SSD, it can even take a second harddrive if you take out the CD tray!! It only cost me €20 second hand.
But really, if you’re using the laptop as a console client, just look for a laptop with an internal SSD and that has a minimum of 8 gigs of RAM. Make sure the parts are easily interchangable as well, older thinkpads are perfect for that imo.
If thinner, lighter and modern-ness are of interest, I’d say a chrultrabook, but they are more finicky re: swapping out parts. If you are looking for TUI-only, then it can be a sufficient option for a fraction of the price of the competition.
Hadn’t seen that project but that kind of feels like the way to go. I don’t care about having parts to keep something working when the laptop was $50 in the first place. If it breaks, into the trash it goes, and I’ll just buy another one.
Veronica Explains has a good intro video on it if you’re looking for an intro btw.
Lenovo X1 Carbon for mainstream. NovaCustom for small business.
I’ve got a Clevo laptop that covers most of your list. Mine’s a bit older, a 7th gen i5, but was very cheap, and easy to upgrade. If the newer models are built the same way, it’s what I’m going to go for when I eventually upgrade 👍
Aren’t System76 essentially rebranded Clevo laptops? Where do you find Clevo machines at an actually good price?
they are. props, however, for system76 branching out into their in-house hardware.
Mine is a Stone branded Clevo, a Stonebook Pro p11b, but as you say, there are others out there. I bought mine refurbished for about £150 and upgraded the SSD and RAM.
