
Ask HN: Best current Linux-compatible laptop? - sz0ka
Aloha HN!<p>I&#x27;m looking for the &quot;best&quot; linux compatible laptop you know about (business). Here are some specs:
- min. 8GB RAM
- SSD
- VGA (for beamer support)
- HDMI &#x2F; DVI
- MUST work with Ubuntu Linux 14.04 without poking around for weeks just to get the damn W-LAN running or jokes like that
- Shouldn&#x27;t cost more than 1.3k €urons<p>I came up with a custom configured Schenker, but maybe you know something better :D!<p>It&#x27;d be awesome to get some recommendations! Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!<p>.&#x2F;sz0ka
======
danford
[http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/](http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/)

[http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/](http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/)

In my experience Dells usually work well and if you're willing to spend the
money they have some pretty decent end developer laptops that come with ubuntu
(xps I think).

Edit: seeing as Ubuntu 14.04 has only been out for a couple weeks the links
provided may not be _as_ relevant because they're so far only certified to run
on 12.04, but it still gives you some inference as to what manufactures have
the best support.

~~~
BugBrother
That worked well for me.

I bought a laptop a couple of years ago off that list. Dell Latitude E5520. It
is like a cheaper Thinkpad.

~~~
autotravis
I have the E6400 and it works like a dream once you install the broadcom
driver (which is easily done with "Install Additional Drivers in Ubuntu).

------
hpaavola
I have Asus Zennbook UX31A (I got only 4 GB of ram, newer version have 8GB)
and it works almost perfectly with Ubuntu 14.04 (and older, only thing that
does not work is ambient light detector).

At least here in Finland they cost about 1100 euros
([http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/36916/dnqkg/Asus-
Zenb...](http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/36916/dnqkg/Asus-Zenbook-
UX31A-13-3-FHD-i7-3537U-8-GB-128-GB-SSD-Windows)). While it does not have VGA
output, it comes with HDMI->VGA adapter.

See
[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AsusZenbookPrime](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AsusZenbookPrime)

~~~
natdempk
+1 for Zenbooks. I have a UX32VD, with 12 GB RAM and an i7 and it runs all of
the distros I've tried with minimal problems and setup. I've run different
versions of Ubuntu and Arch on it with no real issues, and the battery life is
decent for its weight and thickness as well. The 1080p screen in the small
form factor is also really nice.

~~~
nemasu
Hmm, I've got a UX32VD, makes me want to try it out, usually I don't bother
with laptops.

------
sergiosgc
I'm definitely skewed towards Thinkpads, having carried one with me since '03
when I bought the first. My current laptop is an X1 carbon, and I can only say
nice things about it. The only nitpick is that they messed the
home/insert/end/Del key island.

No problems whatsoever running Linux on it.

~~~
pcx
I've heard very good reviews for the X1 Carbon. The only cons are: 1)weird
keyboard layout 2)low-quality mousepad. Except for that the X1 Carbon seems to
be a perfect Linux laptop. My friend's running Arch and it's working like a
breeze.

~~~
sergiosgc
It has a chicklet type keyboard, not the ones you find on previous thinkpads.
I like it better than the old ones. Layout-wise, it has the weird layout of
the home/insert island, and a stupid positioning of the print screen key.
Other than that it's standard qwerty.

As for the trackpad, I'm not a good reviewer. I use the red trackpoint
exclusively. My previous laptop (X61t) didn't even have a trackpad. Between
the trackpoint and the touch screen, I don't ever use the trackpad.

~~~
eldelshell
My wife has a new Lenovo and I despise the stupid annoying keyboard layout
because of all you mentioned AND the freaking position of the FN key and that
function keys are not anymore function keys.

Want to close a window? Press Fn + Alt + Mute Microphone... WTF?!?!!

At least their ESC key is one of the biggest I've seen, so a big win for
viers.

------
mekoka
I've used 2 System76 laptops in 5 years. I would buy again and would recommend
them. They're not as fancy looking as the more mainstream brands, but they do
the job quite well for their price tag (approx 700-800$ for a Gazelle). They
come in various size and weight.

The first one I bought was a Pangolin that I used everyday for work and play,
in an average of 12hrs/day, and lasted 4 years, before the display started to
have problems, at which point I bought another one.

Most things work as expected on delivery, usb ports, camera, mic, audio jacks,
hdmi, etc. The laptop itself feels pretty solid.

The low points: speakers are crap (I use headphones), touchpad is crap (I use
a mouse), not the most innovative design (I once had someone commenting to me
that my laptop must be pretty old, it was only 2 years old).

~~~
japhyr
What was your experience with battery life? I had a Pangolin around 2010 that
I loved, but the battery would only last 1.5-2 hours.

I have a Thinkpad 430s with a bay battery now, which gets 4-6 hours of battery
life. I would have a hard time going back to a machine with a battery life
much shorter than that.

------
TobbenTM
Most lenovo ThinkPads are certified to work with Ubuntu.

And (for me at least) there are no better laptops out there. They should have
all of your needs covered. I would suggest going for the T540. It's awesome.

~~~
davb
T430s here. Was running XUbuntu 13.10, now running stock Debian 7.4 (I don't
like XUbuntu 14 one bit).

Really happy with it. I bought a T440 for someone recently, which is also
really nice however it seems the RAM is limited to 12GB max (too little for my
use).

~~~
dagw
I just went to Lenovo's website and spec'd out a T440. They seem to have two
versions of the T440, the 'normal' T440 for and the higher end T440p. The T440
is very slightly lighter and thinner but has a 1600x900 screen, Intel graphics
and is limited to 12 GB of RAM. The higher end T440p is 0.1 lbs heavier and
0.3 inches thicker, but comes with a 1920 x 1080 IPS screen, Geforce graphics
and up to 16GB of RAM.

~~~
davb
Ah, I did see the T440P but there was something that put me off. Maybe I got
the weight wrong (thinking it was much heavier than the T440). Or perhaps
there was something in the service manual (which is fantastic, by the way) -
awkward HDD upgrade or similar.

As an aside, the dual-batteries on the T440 are fantastic. Though you do need
to remember to disconnect the internal one when doing any work inside the
unit.

------
janvidar
I've used several ThinkPad x-series laptops in the past.

My current machine is a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, which ships with Ubuntu
pre-installed.

Good battery life, excellent performance and nice size/weight - comparable to
a 13" Macbook Air.

You'll ned a mini-DP to HDMI/DVI converter cable though.

~~~
davb
I'm using a Dell XPS 13 too and really like it. My biggest gripe is how hot it
gets. So much so that it's uncomfortable to use on your lap (with the air
vents all along the bottom). I've cleaned the inside, verified the fan
operation and speed. It's just a machine that tends to run quite hot.

~~~
sandGorgon
have you re-applied the thermal compound or a copper shim ? XPS are famous for
needing a better thermal compound ( I recommend Arctic MX-4) between the
processor/heatsink or video-card/heatsink.

FYI - all of this will cost you less than 10 bucks.

~~~
davb
I actually think I've got some spare MX-4 from my recent PC build. I think
I'll take your advice over the weekend. Thanks for your help!

------
hadoukenio
Ctrl+F ThinkPad.

I guess the search count should show you something.

I'm on a W530. It's a beast and everything works. And I'm talking Debian!

~~~
Galanwe
ThinkPads USED to be good products. Lenovo killed it. the W530 is still good,
but the W540 is a joke. The "Lenovo recommends Windows." at the top of
Lenovo's website finished to convince me not to buy any TP anymore.

~~~
ansible
I got to try out a W520 recently. It seemed quite nice, and I like machines
with a bigger screen but without the numeric keypad (which I generally have no
use for). From my point of view, it is a shame the W540 now crams in the
numeric keypad. I'd rather have a keyboard with full-sized keys (including
shift, control, arrows, etc.) than have the more common cramped style seen
with most 15.6" screen laptops.

~~~
Pyrodogg
For all the configurable internal guts and how much people have issues with
keyboard layout i wish manufacturers had options for the keyboard on their
mid-high tier laptops.

------
zokier
> I'm looking for the "best" linux compatible laptop you know about (business)
> [...] Shouldn't cost more than 1.3k €urons

Pick one. Personally I find HPs ZBook15 interesting, but Linux models begin
from $2500.

> VGA (for beamer support)

get an external dongle, otherwise you are limiting your options needlessly.

------
sandeepshetty
Have been using the 2nd gen Dell XPS 13 developer edition that comes pre-
installed with Ubuntu and I'm loving it. Wasn't all smooth sailing though:
[http://www.sandeep.io/157](http://www.sandeep.io/157)

The latest edition is even better.

At the time I also looked at the ultrabook from System 76 but decided to skip
it because of keyboard issue reports and lack of support in my country.

Edit 1: The keyboard on the Dell XPS is nowhere as good as a Thinkpad, but it
beats them on form factor, price and support (at least in my country).

Edit 2: The X1 carbon has a slightly flexible carbon-fiber chassis which I
didn't like but it's a great option if you want a bigger display than the XPS
13 and don't mind the price.

------
klrr
[http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/product/ibm-lenovo-
thinkpad-x60-c...](http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/product/ibm-lenovo-
thinkpad-x60-coreboot/)

Doesn't require any binary blobs and comes with Trisquil GNU/Linux pre-
installed.

~~~
teh_klev
Nice old machine but doesn't meet OP's desired spec, i.e. 8GB RAM and
HDMI/DVI.

~~~
makomk
Also, I don't think binary-blob-free versions of Coreboot on the X60 like that
one can run recent versions of Linux as-is; there's some issue with the
graphics drivers according to the Coreboot wiki[1]

[1]
[http://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x60#Problems_in_native_...](http://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x60#Problems_in_native_graphics_code_exposed_by_recent_kernels)

------
perlgeek
I'm very happy with the Asus UX31A (from the Zenbook series).

It works fine on Ubuntu 14.04 here, including wlan, suspend-to-RAM (I haven't
tried suspend-to-disc, since I have no swap partition), function keys
(backlight, keyboard backlist, switch off trackpad etc.).

Battery lifetime is -- in typical office workload, including wlan -- between
3.5 and 5H, mostly depending on backlight setting.

And I guess that's common to most SSD-equipped notebooks, but bootup is really
fast (haven't measured it, but probably ~8s).

(Just a small note: to install linux, you first must remove all "secure boot"
keys in the bios, then disable secure boot; windows 8 still worked fine
afterwards).

~~~
computer
Only issue I have with mine is that they have non-expandable 4 GB memory,
since it's soldered onto the motherboard. I think some of the later models can
be manually expanded up to 10 GB.

------
glitch273
Take a look at System 76:
[https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1](https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1)

The specs are very well chosen for most developer users at a very reasonable
price. From your requirements, I believe the only thing missing is native VGA
support, which I'm sure you can easily fix with a simple adapter.

~~~
pan69
I'm really interested in these but I've heard reports on flaky casings made of
cheap and thin plastic. Do you have experience with these yourself and if so
can you share your findings?

~~~
dsr_
We've bought several over the last five years or so. The cases have always
been perfectly adequate -- not single-billet aluminum, but you're not paying
MacBook prices, either.

They ship with Ubuntu and are generally comfortable with Debian.

------
secure
The ThinkPad X240 will work. Alternatively, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (perhaps in
its 2014 edition) with an adapter for VGA.

~~~
einrealist
I have one with all configurable components. The clickpad is not working
properly out-of-box and needs to be configured in the xorg.conf. The Ericsson
WWAN also has issues, requires a line in udev rules. I did not try fingerprint
reader, NFC and the card reader, yet. There are also issues with the Ultra
Dock. After a firmware update VGA/DVI is working, but no HDMI/DisplayPort. The
sound jack of the dock is not working either.

But so far I'm satisfied. The x240 is a decent laptop. It was a good choice to
wait for the FHD model and not to fall for a MacBook Pro.

~~~
adfadf
I got my x240 a couple of days ago and am trying to get the wwan card to work.
What rule is needed for udev? And did you get the gps function to work as
well?

~~~
einrealist
I had to add the following line to /lib/udev/rules.d/77-mm-ericsson-mbm.rules
for the Ericsson N5321 WWAN adapter:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bdb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="193e", ENV{ID_MM_ERICSSON_MBM}="1"

To be sure what vendor and product ID to use, you should check that first via
'lsusb|grep Ericsson'.

I did not care about GPS yet.

------
marcocampos
I currently use a Thinkpad T530 with Ubuntu 14.04 and TLP power management and
it works great. I modded mine by replacing the 900P screen with a 1080P IPS
screen and putting a bigger SSD (128GB vs 500GB). Highly recomended.

Specs:

Intel Core i5-3320M 2.6Ghz (Dual-Core) Intel HD4000 Integrated Graphics 8GB
DDR3 RAM 500GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD 15.6" 1080p IPS Screen Blacklit keyboard

Price: About 1200€ after replacing the screen and SSD.

Forgot to tell that with TLP and a 9-cell battery I get about 7.5 hours of
battery life using the ondemand profile.

~~~
kclay
Have a similar configuration on my T530 as well, wonderful laptop.But I do
need to tweak my TLP setting I get around 4-5 but think I have a 6cell

------
tbmatuka
Until recently I was using a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530 for sysadmin work. It
was ridiculously cheap for a ThinkPad, everything worked under Arch Linux and
best of all it had a numpad, which I needed. It was mostly sitting on a desk
and not moving around much, so the weight and size weren't a big deal.

I just took a look and the newer model E540 can be ordered with a full HD
screen (15") which weren't available on the older ones.

------
LocalMan
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that's about 1.5 years old. It runs 14.04 LTS
just fine. With one exception: The external USB CD/DVD drive is not supported.
The built-in CD/DVD drive works like a champ, so it's okay.

Sometimes I boot the Windows-7 partition.

My spinning rust is a 500 GB drive.

How you should buy your machine also depends on what country you are in. Local
suppliers often give much better support than mail-order.

------
rainmaking
The Lenovo Ideapad series has (almost) always worked out of the box for me.
You can even buy them without Windows.

Tested and true:

* Ideapad G780 (17 inch) * Ideapad Y560 * Ideapad G560

The casing quality isn't that great so if you're always on the go you might
want to get a ThinkPad instead, but they're really great for something you
occasionaly take with you and mostly just move around the home/office.

------
BruceIV
This might not be what you're actually looking for, but I just set up a new
laptop, and after a week of trying to get it to dual boot (UEFI, eh?) decided
to run Linux in VMWare under Windows instead. I've got to say, Windows+VMWare
makes a darn good hardware abstraction layer, which means I don't need to
worry nearly so much about crappy driver stuff.

~~~
lion0
I agree. I've used both vmware and virtualbox, and they both provide good
options to running linux under windows. Since most of my linux work is server
type work, it works out pretty well.

------
jamesjguthrie
I really love my HP Chromebook 14. It comes with 4GB of RAM and the RAM is
upgradeable. I've installed an Ubuntu chroot which had no issues with
wifi/trackpad/etc. I'm on 13.10 but the new version is supported too.
Everybody comments on its looks - I got the white one - and it was only ~£280.

------
danoprey
ASUS N56 for me. Everything except the sub-woofer worked immediately and that
was an easy fix. Awesome sound, great keyboard, pretty good to look at, good
screen and touchpad. Downside is that it's a little heavier but that doesn't
bother me at all. Had the N72 17" version too and it was also great.

------
fgd
I'm currently very happy with ThinkPad T440s. It covers all your requirements,
comes with a FullHD panel (optional touchscreen) and double batteries. The
only downside is the new Lenovo touch/clickpad. I got used to it, but it took
me a while to figure out the settings which worked for me.

~~~
rawland
Same here! I like the T440s a lot and get 10h+ out of the double battery under
heavy usage incl. WiFi and usable brightness with tlp and roughly the same at
a low profile using the standard battery.

Clickpad fix, which feels good:

[http://rscircus.org/post/72978821261/t440s-clickpad-fix-
whic...](http://rscircus.org/post/72978821261/t440s-clickpad-fix-which-feels-
good)

Decent power management:

[http://rscircus.org/post/71103253232/linux-on-lenovos-
thinkp...](http://rscircus.org/post/71103253232/linux-on-lenovos-
thinkpad-t440s)

Disclaimer: Wrote that myself to have a manual on how to setup it again in
case my machine crashes.

------
hyp0
NOT AN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, but the chromebooks seem the best _value-for-
money_ laptops - and already have a linux distribution installed (ChromeOS).
The Acer C720 has a Haswell dual-core and 2GB RAM - lower speced than your
needs. There's the Pixel, I guess... (much higher speced).

~~~
danoprey
Yup, I believe Linus uses the Pixel.

------
theshadowmonkey
I currently use ThinkPad T520. Its a bit heavy. But works smoothly with
Fedora. I am looking to buy a T440s which looks awesome and is incredibly
light for a thinkpad. I also run dual boot macbook pro. Both suit my needs
well and have no problems getting them working.

------
sz0ka
Wow a big thanks to everyone commenting here!! Great recommendations so far
(apart from the mac :P </troll> just joking, but for our special case is apple
no option, thanks anyway!), I'll check them all! :D

PS: the link to the ubuntu page with certified hardware is great!

./sz0ka

------
tdsamardzhiev
The answer's been the same for many years - Dell Latitude E6xxx, Lenovo
Thinkpad T-series.

MacBooks are good buy if you live in the US, but here in Europe their
prices/service/support are a joke.

Fujitsu is my favourite laptop brand, but their Linux support is iffy at best.

------
pan_sapien
I'm currently using a Dell M3800 with Ubuntu 14.04. It works great for
software development and 14.04 improved support for high DPI screens.

Dell's Sputnik project seems to have worked out the kinks as I haven't had any
problems with hardware support.

~~~
kelseyfrancis
Have you been able to successfully use the proprietary NVIDIA drivers? That's
the only thing I've had any trouble with at all (on the XPS 15). Otherwise,
it's a really great machine.

~~~
pan_sapien
I used them for a while, but have switched back to the open source ones. I
don't do anything that benefits from the proprietary drivers and prefer to use
open source.

------
pessimizer
[https://zareason.com/shop/Strata-7440.html](https://zareason.com/shop/Strata-7440.html)

[https://zareason.com/shop/Verix-540.html](https://zareason.com/shop/Verix-540.html)

muy macho

------
phaemon
Hah! I was thinking of posting the exact same question. Though I don't care
about an SSD for an otherwise good machine, as I'm happy enough to put one in
myself.

Recommendations at different prices points would also be appreciated!

~~~
JohnDoe365
Running my first SSD Laptop now and won't look back. It's definitely worth
them money. U/K/L buntu 14.04 with btrfs does also a good job by enablig ssd
specfics during boot.

~~~
phaemon
Ah, I think you misunderstood my post. I like my ssd as well, but I don't care
if the laptop _comes_ with one, as I'll just buy one separately and fit it
myself. :)

------
ushi
I am running a Lenovo T430 (Arch Linux) - Everything works out of the box.

------
w4rh4wk5
if somebody is looking for a cheap one, i can recommend lenovo e330. the
laptop costs less than 500 euro, comes with no OS installed but an HDD which
should be replaced with an SSD. linux compatibility is top, performance is
sufficient for office work, youtube, development. Battery life of about 5-6
hours when using WLAN and maximum display brightness all the time.

been using it for months now without any issues.

edit: for more power i can recommend the lenovo T440, a friend of mine bought
one and he is completely satisfied with it)

------
jaseemabid
As of now, I use a mac for the hw but the linux experience on this box is
shitty.

I installed archlinux, and still havent got the fonts right. Its so much
strain on the eyes and I had to go back to mac.

~~~
danford
Have you tried Ubuntu 14.04? My sister just installed it on her MBP and she
hasn't had any issues except with the track pad, which she was abe to fix (not
sure how). Don't install arch unless you're ready to tweak some configuration
files.

~~~
mqsiuser
I have a MBPR with the current Ubuntu. For non techies I'd say: Too hard (just
use MacOS). For techies: No {, } and no @ (need to copy it from somewhere). I
still prefer it over MacOS. Nice Hardware + dualboot with MacOS. I actually
like it: It's slim, silent and feels great. The Metalcase can be cold
sometimes. Retina-Dispay requires you to zoom in on webpages (Strg & "+"), but
that works well. Can be a good choice for HN readers. Someone wrote "it's the
best Hardware & the best Software" and I agree

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Are you sure you are using the right keyboard layout?

~~~
mqsiuser
Yeah, thanks the keyboard layout. Problems because it's a German MBPR:
"Keyboard" -> "Text Entry" -> ...

@: alt + Q

{[]}: alt + 7890

Great nice :)

------
hpeinar
Try to avoid dual GPU setup laptops like Dell Inspirion 5521 I'm using with
Linux Mint.

It's hard to get external monitors / projectors etc to work with this setup.

~~~
sz0ka
Great, this is good to know, thank you!

------
neverminder
I'm looking for the same thing, but with yet another most important
requirement - 4K screen. Doesn't have to be out now, sometime this year is
fine.

------
bdahz
ASUS B400, works like a charm, with Manjaro Linux. Up to 6 hrs. And excellent
touchpad driver functioning better than that of Windows.

------
JohnDoe365
I was also doing some research some weeks ago and ended up with a Schenker. Is
also a good deal value for money - wise!

------
rvijapurapu
I have been using HP Elitebook 8470p - everything works out of the box
(Including the HSPA modem & suspend to ram).

~~~
mello151
I use one of these for work and always wondered how it'd fair with Linux. Do
you use a docking station with it?

~~~
rvijapurapu
Yes, I do have a docking station.

------
helicon
seen this review of Dell XPS 13 on hn a while back. Not 14.04 but may be of
interest:

[http://www.jx0.org/2013/12/dell-xps-13-developer-edition-
rev...](http://www.jx0.org/2013/12/dell-xps-13-developer-edition-review.html)

------
seba_dos1
My Dell Vostro 2520 seems to match all those requirements, but I added SSD by
myself.

------
jnardiello
At work i use an HP Elitebook 850 with Ubuntu, no issues. Everything works.

~~~
guidopallemans
HP almost always get so much shit (also for linux-compatibility), but I never
understood it

~~~
SamReidHughes
Any HP laptop that isn't an Elitebook (or now, a ZBook) gets rightfully
denigrated.

------
akulbe
My absolute best experience has been with a ThinkPad W530.

------
TFlon
Macbook Air (Or any Macbook for that matter).

------
Galanwe
Got a Schenker from XMG. Works like a charm.

------
known
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook#List_of_models](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook#List_of_models)

------
claudiug
the guys from dell have a custom ubuntu for xps products :)

