I’m currently using an HP with Windows 11 and WSL but I’d love to switch to Linux, proper - at least just on my development machine. I’m standard LAMP, though I also would use Node and Rails, too.

I use AI and PS (though I’m familiar with Inkspot and Gimp, if WINE isn’t perfect for them), Visual Studio Code/Codium, Git, and Chrome/Firefox.

What are some of the best places to look for machines that can work for this? I’d prefer Debian, though I’m fine with Ubuntu. I’ve looked at Dell but they seem limited with what is available.

  • danielfgom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    1 year ago

    Lenovo laptops generally work well with Linux but even your HP should run it fine.

    However if you have the budget definitely get a machine from a dedicated Linux OEM like System 76, Tuxedo, Slimbook etc. That’s also one in the UK who I can’t remember. Just Google it.

  • sajran@lemmy.ml
    5·
    1 year ago

    I see that Framework and System76 were already mentioned. I would add Slimbook and Tuxedo Computers to the list.

    I was just in a market for a Linux laptop and I really wanted a Framework but it’s not available in my country so I settled on Slimbook Executive 14 instead. I have it for around a month now and I’m very satisfied.

  • thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe
    3·
    1 year ago

    I’ve not had any trouble with HPs, burn a boot USB and boot a live distro and see if it works.

    TBH I must have been lucky because the only linux hardware support grief I’ve had with laptops (a dozen all different brands) has been wifi cards/drivers. The one time I had that problem I coughed up the £20 and replaced the pcie wifi card with an Intel one.

    Then again I don’t try to make fingerprint readers work which apparently is a pain

  • Decker108@lemmy.ml
    3·
    1 year ago

    I’ve (almost) always had good experiences with Lenovo laptops, especially T-series or X1 Carbon.

  • driverdone@lemmy.ml
    2·
    1 year ago

    I wanted to try a framework laptop, but it’s not available in my market. I have had good experiences with dell and thinkpads that have official linux support.

        • WasPentalive@lemmy.one
          1·
          1 year ago

          I have a Lenovo I never use because they placed the right shift key and the up arrow key stupidly. As I am typing if I want to capitalize a letter using the right shift key my finger gets the up-arrow key most of the time, I don’t see this for several keystrokes, leading to having to correct the issue. It’s very annoying. It is a nice i7 machine otherwise.

      • d3Xt3r@lemmy.nzM
        1·
        1 year ago

        I bought a ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 last year (with 32GB RAM) and it’s been excellent for hobby dev work and light gaming. Lenovo officially list Linux as one of the supported operating systems. I run Fedora on it and everything worked out of the box. If it’s not urgent, I’d recommend waiting for the Gen 2 which should come out next month. Gen 2 features the AMD Zen 4 CPUs, which is a decent upgrade from the Zen 3+ CPU in the Gen 1.

    • erwan@lemmy.ml
      0·
      1 year ago

      There are a lot of options to get a laptop with Linux preinstalled, guarantee that drivers will work, and support.

      I don’t see the point of buying a Windows laptop when Linux laptops exist.