Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux? - b01t
======
AdmiralAsshat
Chromebook Pixel has been an awesome sometimes-Linux laptop for me. I'm still
spending most of my time in ChromeOS, but the crouton project/extension allows
me to have another linux chroot running for when I need to do work. There's a
number of supported distros, although I've stuck with Ubuntu and XFCE, mostly
because it stays out of my way.

The fact that you can have the entire chroot or an individual app run in a
window under xiwi as though it were a regular Chrome tab makes it even better.
I regularly have everything running in ChromeOS _except_ Sublime running in
its own tab while I'm coding.

Someone else can probably chime in as far as how well it works if you want to
go full-Linux on the thing.

FWIW, I believe Linus Torvalds uses a Chromebook Pixel running Fedora. [0]

[0]: [http://www.zdnet.com/article/chromebooks-biggest-fan-
linus-t...](http://www.zdnet.com/article/chromebooks-biggest-fan-linus-
torvalds/)

~~~
daveguy
Can anyone comment on how difficult it is to put Linux on a chromebook? Is it
locked down with a need to "root"/jailbreak or is it just a matter of some
startup keys? I have avoided chromebooks because ChromeOS always seemed like a
limiting factor and potential privacy issue. Can someone summarize the
ChromeOS -> Linux process and pain factor?

~~~
marcelluspye
For crouton, which is still tied to chromeos, absolutely not. All that's
required is developer mode enabled. For a full, clean linux install, it varies
device to device, but is in general a bit more of a pain. There's a full list
of compatibility on the arch wiki I believe.

------
evmar
It's a year old but I'm still really happy with the ASUS Zenbook (UX305FA) I
got:

[http://neugierig.org/software/blog/2015/07/linux-zenbook-
ux3...](http://neugierig.org/software/blog/2015/07/linux-zenbook-ux305.html)

~~~
esessoms
And updated UX305CA works great with a 4.5 kernel.

~~~
luxpir
How do you get on with the CPU - is the Core M series much different in
practice?

~~~
esessoms
Well, I wouldn't run Gentoo on it. Compiling Chromium takes about a day, and
I'm not a big multimedia user. But in day-to-day development work (both
client-side and server-side) I've never had any issues. I had actually
forgotten it's a Core M.

------
wyldfire
I can endorse the Dell XPS13 9343: small, light, great battery life, great
screen/keyboard. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. Some folks decided to
replace the Broadcom wifi with Intel, because it's not ideal for linux. I
believe that the newest XPS13 uses Intel instead.

~~~
drakenot
How is the build quality? I've had Dell laptops in the past given to me by my
employer and the screen hinge has been a source of failure on two of them.

~~~
maelito
The touchpad on the skylake 13 is bad (not sure if it is broken).

~~~
shorodei
Macbook touchpads are still a tier above the rest, but the Skylake XPS
touchpads are pretty good (and better than the previous XPS 13) based on the
reviews.

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lictorlyons
I have to agree the XPS 13 is perfect for linux. I have been using the XPS 13
9333 for about 3 years now. I run debian, 7 but now 8, and it just works for
most things. I had to install the firmware for the wireless card but that was
simple enough. I just got the new XPS 13 9350 a couple of months ago and am
using that daily running Debian 8. I had to add the firmware for the wireless,
base broadcom controller, and it works great. USB-c works well too. I also
have the Dell TB15 thunderbolt 3 dock but that does not work unfortunately.
Once the thunderbolt 3 drivers for the dock are working I will have the
prefect laptop. Right now I have to manually connect montitor/keyboard/power.
Once the dock works its one cable to plug in at the office.

There are lots of posts on the dell forums with steps to get linux installed
on the XPS. The current developer edition is not supported on the latest
hardware, 9350. Once the thunderbolt drivers are done they are supposed to
release a new developer edition with Ubuntu. The dell Sputnik team posts on
the forums regularly so you can stay up to date on the progress. They are
fostering a very good community for linux enthusiast.

~~~
talideon
The one problem I've had with the 9333 is with the fan, which has started
acting erratically lately, causing the machine to come close to overheating.
Other than that, I've had the machine for quite a while, and have been very
happy with it up till the fan issues began.

If/when the developer edition of the 9350 comes out over here in Rightpondia,
I'll certainly be getting it.

~~~
luxpir
This is partly why I'm interested in fanless models now, such as the Asus
Zenbook (CA/FA line afaik). Do we need moving parts in laptops any more?

~~~
talideon
For higher performance machines where heat issues are unavoidable, we do, but
the vast majority of laptops really ought to be fanless at this point, not
least because moving parts are a recipe for failure.

------
scalesolved
The 4th Gen X1 Carbon looks pretty awesome
[http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-ca...](http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon-4/#SYSTEM)

$1857 gets you:

i7 6600U processor 16gb ram 512gb SSD 2560x1440 WQHD Screen

WiGig OneLink+ Mini DisplayPort™ HDMI™ 3 x USB 3.0 microSD™ Weight Starting at
2.6 lbs (1209 g)

Damn I think I might have just convinced myself here!

~~~
b01t
I really want to get this one but have a few concerns -

> Malware in BIOS preinstalled by Lenovo > Is dual core processor sufficient?

~~~
scalesolved
I'm running a Lenovo S540 (the line has been discontinued but it is an
ultrabook). It's processor isn't as good as the 4th gen X1 carbon you can
check the comparison here:
[https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=2608&cmp%...](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=2608&cmp%5B%5D=2248)

My S540 has an SSD,16gb ram and the slower processor and it churns through
work fine, I mainly do Java development and on top of that I use the Play
Framework which compiles to both Java and Scala so it's more CPU intensive.

I can easily run one or two IDE instances alongside 10+ chrome tabs,several
terminals and mongo/mysql db GUIs.

------
acabal
I've been using the Razer Blade 2015 and I highly recommend it. It's
expensive, but the machine itself has Macbook-level build quality and
internals. The screen is great and everything works out of the box with
Ubuntu. While I do have dual-boot set up, I run Ubuntu 95% of the time and
it's been basically flawless. (Caveat: I haven't tried the webcam or
hibernate, and I don't use the Nvidia card.)

It's by far the best 14" machine I found when I was shopping around last year.
While it's marketed as a gaming laptop it also happens to be a fantastic
general-purpose or development machine, especially since Linux runs so well on
it. IIRC they recently announced the 2016 model which is cheaper and lighter
yet.

Downsides are 1) it's expensive; 2) proprietary parts means no DIY repairs,
and Razer requires you to ship your machine in for their very expensive in-
house repairs; 3) the black/neon-green color scheme is a little silly, though
it's not nearly as bad as pretty much any other laptop marketed as a gaming
machine. I bought a round matte black sticker to cover the logo on the lid and
it fits pretty well.

~~~
ckrailo
Just in case others are looking at Blades...

My 2012 blade went in for repairs several times and has the worst keyboard
I've ever used on a laptop.

I don't know if they've improved their quality control any, but AFAIK they're
still using terrible keyboards. Be careful and try one out before you commit!

~~~
acabal
Personally I've found the keyboard on mine to be just fine, but I'm using a
2015, not a 2012. For those of you who are interested in a try-before-you-buy,
when I was shopping around they were selling them at Microsoft stores and had
a demo unit set up for people to play with.

------
rjzzleep
Here's my take on it:

\- Macbooks

overall good, decent battery(if you configure it right), but terrible wifi and
broken cam(some fiddling required, possibly unstable hibernate), no sysrq

\- Thinkpad X1

Probably the best support good battery, but no thunderbolt 3, so no external
graphics, 16gb ram

\- X260 Awesome battery, slower SSD than its competitors 16gb ram, good cpu,
mobile broadband, only HD520 graphics(if it had thunderbolt 3 you could
upgrade it with a discrete external GPU, shame really ...)

\- Dell XPS 13, overall good up to 16 gb ram, Iris graphics, thunderbolt 3, so
you could use a razer external discrete GPU(priced at 500 USD though). worse
battery than the macbooks

\- Surfacebook/Pro probably my favorite device, but linux support is flakey
see:

[https://github.com/jimdigriz/debian-
mssp4](https://github.com/jimdigriz/debian-mssp4)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/SurfaceLinux/comments/48dly5/is_the...](https://www.reddit.com/r/SurfaceLinux/comments/48dly5/is_there_a_guide_to_installing_linux_on_the_sp4/)

Personally i'm still holding off i have a macbook retina 2013 and an air mid
2013. the retina screen died and i'm aching for a replacement but i want both
graphics and battery, but that seems to be a no go. I'm leaning towards the
x260, unless surfacebook magically starts working by the time i'm getting a
new device.....

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starikovs
I use MacBook Air and Vagrant to run Linux (Ubuntu). Everything I need from
Linux is a shell :) For other things OSX is enough.

~~~
drakenot
What things do you do in Vagrant that you couldn't do in your OSX shell? I'm
just curious.

~~~
alexgandy
I'm in the same boat, and I have to use Vagrant + VirtualBox for just about
anything docker related.

~~~
cweagans
Not anymore :) [https://blog.docker.com/2016/03/docker-for-mac-windows-
beta/](https://blog.docker.com/2016/03/docker-for-mac-windows-beta/)

~~~
lewisl9029
Nice! I just joined the waitlist.

Managing docker-machines manually on non-Linux platforms was really starting
to get tedious. Hoping this works as seamlessly as I imagine it would.

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grigio
Probably chromebook pixel 2,asus ux305 or xps13

~~~
neverminder
I second Chromebook Pixel 2015 - quality tops macbooks.

~~~
dajbelshaw
I think the Chromebook Pixel 2015 suffers from the same HDPI problem with
Linux distros that I've got with the 2013 version. I've got GalliumOS
([https://galliumos.org](https://galliumos.org)) working, but it's somewhat
unusable.

Linux Mint supports HDPI out-of-the-box, so that's what I'm going to try
next...

~~~
precision
I'm running Arch + Cinnamon on a Pixel 2 and HiDPI is not a problem at all.
The last problem application for me as the Arduino IDE, but that has recently
been fixed.

------
jordhy
Try a MacBook Air or a Dell XPS 13

~~~
bonesinger
XPS 13 Developer Edition has been out for a bit and it comes with Ubuntu
[http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd](http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd)

------
anc84
Not sure if it is an ultrabook but I am extremely happy with my Fujitsu
Lifebook S904. Put Archlinux on it and it works fantastically well. Great
battery life and performance. Only problem is its HiDPI screen which way too
much software cannot handle (Hi Java!).

------
drallison
I have a System 76
Gazelle([https://system76.com/laptops](https://system76.com/laptops)), which I
use as my travel machine. It runs Ubuntu 14.04. Very nice machine.

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plessthanpt05
the thinkpad t460s is amazing...and supports up to 20gb ram.

~~~
tronje
I'm surprised a lot of people are recommending the X1 Carbon, with little
mention of the T-series. The T-series is a favorite among a lot of people I
know, and the T460s is very similar to the X1 Carbon, offering a WQHD screen,
similar internals, similar battery life, at a lower price point. It's just
slightly heavier, but it also has a port for a docking station which the X1
Carbon does not have, if I recall correctly.

For a more low-budget option the Lenovo L-series thinkpads are also pretty
cool.

------
mkrajnak
I'm using a Asus UX305L with Ubuntu/Gnome and very happy with it.

I went with 2015 model because I wanted the 1920x1080 non-touch screen to save
battery.

Ubuntu on the XPS 13 was unavailable in the time period I made the purchase
and I didn't want to deal with the wifi hardware issue.

One advantage of the XPS13 is a PCIe connection for the SSD.

You didn't mention cost, but the Asus will generally be a little cheaper.

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dikaiosune
I was going to get the XPS 13, but decided to perform some upgrades on my
desktop at the same time. So to save a few bucks I got an X250 from Lenovo,
and I've been very happy with it. It's a little bulky since I also got the
large second battery, but the battery life is absolutely phenomenal, and
everything works great on Arch.

------
jpgvm
I'm running Debian Unstable on a Macbook Pro Retina 13. Easily the best Linux
box since the Thinkpad era.

~~~
great_kraken
How are your touchpad drivers doing? On every Macbook I've used with Linux,
the touchpad was terrible, because it was missing palm detection and had
awkwardness when using more than one finger.

~~~
jpgvm
Seems fine to me but I don't really use the touchpad much, just occasional web
surfing etc. I did remember it being a pain to setup customised acceleration
etc for it in X.org but apart from that not too bad.

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denniskubes
The Asus Zenbook UX501. Great screen and specs. Runs Linux out of the box.

~~~
jhebes
Have one. Support is a little flaky if you're on a distro that doesn't have
>=linux 4.4 yet. Other than that, I agree

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sandGorgon
The T460s or the Thinkpad Yoga are brilliant ultrabooks. They are not as thin
as the Carbon/Macbook Air, but they are definitely very good.

------
alvern
Chromebook Pixel 2 users, i5 or i7?

~~~
precision
i7, LS edition. And I still get >10hrs of battery life.

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r4vik
Lenovo Yoga 900

