"Best" Linux Laptop

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h0wzitcal

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Hey All :D,

I've been working as a software dev for a while now and unfortunately I've been cursed with the horrible Nvidia Optimus technology in my laptop, leaving me with a really bugged out installation of Ubuntu.

I want to buy the "ultimate" Linux laptop that will give me no hassles.

Something that I have learnt in my time with Linux and hardware is:
1. The more standard the PC the better the chances are that everything will work without conflict.
2. Never ever use a hybrid graphics card.
3. Always make sure to put a key to the pod bay doors under the pod bay "door mat" (This one may be subjective to your situation):wtf:

I think I've found a fairly decent laptop for Linux check it out:
https://www.takealot.com/dell-5570-i5-8250u-15-6-notebook/PLID48393538

I'm considering this because:
  1. It has no hybrid graphics, straight intel ig
  2. Its an 8th gen with the new intel UHD gpu
  3. It has a 1080p display
  4. There is space for a nvme

let me know what you think as well as what you would choose as a great Linux laptop.

Thanks in advance for the awesome reply's!
 
h0wzitcal said:
3. Always make sure to put a key to the pod bay doors under the pod bay "door mat" (This one may be subjective to your situation):wtf:
Click to expand...

Could you explain this? I'm can't figure out what you're talking about :confused:

EDIT: forgot the laptops. I haven't used Linux on a laptop in about a decade, and I don't intend to anytime soon. But I work for a large tech firm with lots of sysadmins and developers who use Linux on their company issued Dell Latitude laptops (E6xxx or E7xxx I think). They work fully under various Linux distros, and have done for the last decade at least.

The same can't be said for the XPS series - every colleague/friend who have bought one for personal use have had a rough time reaching a stable environment, and/or had to replace the wifi card with something linux-friendly. They all go there in the end though, and they're nice laptops, so do your homework.

All of that said, I should add that Dell's QC is utter garbage. In my office we need to RMA about 20% of them. Several colleagues have gone through 3 or 4 laptops before they got one that ran stably (regardless of OS). So make sure you get the support plan because there's a pretty decent chance you'll need it.
 
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Hey koffiejunkie, I was spoofing HAL9000

Thank you for you input, can I follow up with a question... I know Dell and Lenovo are the biggest corporate laptop providers, which one is better in you experience?

Again thank you for your input!
 
Hey ginggs,

Thanks for the reply!

When you say no problems with the nvidia graphics does that mean:
* You installed the nvidia Drivers or nouveau
* did you use more than one screen on the system to see if there was screen tearing on either screen
* does the machine power on and off properly without haling on a shutdown

These are some of the issues I have had in the past with Nvidia laptops
 
static_sa said:
Are you running any VMs?
Click to expand...

Hey static_sa

I'm using the Linux Subsystem in Windows right now, however there are performance issues with it. I have tried a couple of VM's however none of the play nice with my SCM set up :(. This is why I want a dedicated linux box :)
 
h0wzitcal said:
Hey koffiejunkie, I was spoofing HAL9000

Thank you for you input, can I follow up with a question... I know Dell and Lenovo are the biggest corporate laptop providers, which one is better in you experience?

Again thank you for your input!
Click to expand...

Just to add to this, within South Africa Lenovo's warranty goes through PartServe, they are atrocious. It's why the newer laptops in my house are Dell despite the slightly higher costs. Got burnt on my Y5070.
 
h0wzitcal said:
When you say no problems with the nvidia graphics does that mean:
* You installed the nvidia Drivers or nouveau
Click to expand...
nvidia drivers from the Ubuntu repository
h0wzitcal said:
* did you use more than one screen on the system to see if there was screen tearing on either screen
Click to expand...
I did not attach a screen to the laptop, I only used the laptop's display
h0wzitcal said:
* does the machine power on and off properly without haling on a shutdown
Click to expand...
Yes

Edit: I've had difficulty with some recent Lenovo laptops and UEFI getting a Windows / Ubuntu dual boot working smoothly. The Dell just worked.
 
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h0wzitcal said:
I know Dell and Lenovo are the biggest corporate laptop providers, which one is better in you experience?
Click to expand...

Dell from a service and warranty perspective. You can buy dell products with 3yr next day onsite warranty support.
 
Kubuntu 18.04 worked out the box on my dell precision 5510. WiFi, Bluetooth, touch pad and screen. 1.5 scaling and it looks and performs beautifully
 
h0wzitcal said:
Hey All :D,

I've been working as a software dev for a while now and unfortunately I've been cursed with the horrible Nvidia Optimus technology in my laptop, leaving me with a really bugged out installation of Ubuntu.

I want to buy the "ultimate" Linux laptop that will give me no hassles.

Something that I have learnt in my time with Linux and hardware is:
1. The more standard the PC the better the chances are that everything will work without conflict.
2. Never ever use a hybrid graphics card.
3. Always make sure to put a key to the pod bay doors under the pod bay "door mat" (This one may be subjective to your situation):wtf:

I think I've found a fairly decent laptop for Linux check it out:
https://www.takealot.com/dell-5570-i5-8250u-15-6-notebook/PLID48393538

I'm considering this because:
  1. It has no hybrid graphics, straight intel ig
  2. Its an 8th gen with the new intel UHD gpu
  3. It has a 1080p display
  4. There is space for a nvme

let me know what you think as well as what you would choose as a great Linux laptop.

Thanks in advance for the awesome reply's!
Click to expand...

Dell XPS 9350
Any System76 laptop
 
h0wzitcal said:
Hey koffiejunkie, I was spoofing HAL9000
Click to expand...

I don't usually thread necro, but since you taught me something today (didn't recognise the quote, the Space Odyssey series is still on my reading list!), and your question appears to be unanswered, I'll make an exception.

h0wzitcal said:
Thank you for you input, can I follow up with a question... I know Dell and Lenovo are the biggest corporate laptop providers, which one is better in you experience?
Click to expand...

I would take a Lenovo every time. Or an Acer, for that matter. I've worked in shops that use or sell both those and Dells, and haven't seen a fraction of the problems (with or without Linux).

That said, someone else mentioned that the warranty service for Lenovo is awful. This might be something worth considering, if this is your income-earning device. It may well be worth dealing with the initial hassles, if you have any, of getting Linux happy on it. Dell's on-site warranty in ZA is absolutely worth the money.

On a similar topic, and why I would never again buy an HP laptop (in ZA) despite generally liking the hardware: I bought an HP nx series laptop - my first brand new computer of any description. Saved up for a long time for it. Three months in, the motherboard died. The warranty was handled by some company in Midrand - dropped it off there, waited six weeks before they were done with it.

When I got it back, the hard drive was spewing errors. Phoned them up, ordered the part - they would let me know when it arrives (this, again, took weeks). I had another laptop drive from my old Compaq (pre HP buyout) that would do the job, so this shouldn't be a hassle.

Guess what? It didn't work. The HP came with a Seagate drive of some description. The drive I had was an HTST - a 7200rpm too. Plugged it in, the laptop detected it, booted at a snail's pace. Turns out HP disables DMA on anything other than the drives they use (Seagate with HP firmware).

Seriously, never again.
 
Recent HP laptops are pretty good with Linux support and with using different drives and WiFi cards. My mom's HP has a Samsung SSD in it and it works as expected at full speed. I even tested it with Ubuntu 17.10 before handing it over to her, and everything worked as expected. It's running Windows 10 now, but it won't be long until she starts enquiring about running Linux instead.
 
h0wzitcal said:
Hey All :D,

I've been working as a software dev for a while now and unfortunately I've been cursed with the horrible Nvidia Optimus technology in my laptop, leaving me with a really bugged out installation of Ubuntu.

I want to buy the "ultimate" Linux laptop that will give me no hassles.

Something that I have learnt in my time with Linux and hardware is:
1. The more standard the PC the better the chances are that everything will work without conflict.
2. Never ever use a hybrid graphics card.
3. Always make sure to put a key to the pod bay doors under the pod bay "door mat" (This one may be subjective to your situation):wtf:

I think I've found a fairly decent laptop for Linux check it out:
https://www.takealot.com/dell-5570-i5-8250u-15-6-notebook/PLID48393538

I'm considering this because:
  1. It has no hybrid graphics, straight intel ig
  2. Its an 8th gen with the new intel UHD gpu
  3. It has a 1080p display
  4. There is space for a nvme

let me know what you think as well as what you would choose as a great Linux laptop.

Thanks in advance for the awesome reply's!
Click to expand...

Before you buy the new laptop - I've just got my optimus setup working (Intel 7700HQ & 1050ti) and you might want to give it a try? If you are interested, I will post the exact steps once I'm back home from the office.

I feel your pain - I've rebuilt my machine about 8+ times over the last week. This was mostly due to having debian installed on a separate USB 3 external SSD and problems with the boot partition layout. This combined with wrecking the installation trying to get dual screen working correctly.
 
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