Computer Update No.2

[ten0rman]

Hi folks,

A few months ago I was asking about modern computers to replace my existing aged machines. I am now in a position financially to be able to do so, and have found these as sold by Laptops Direct:

Lenovo V145 AMD A6-9225 8Gb 256Gb SSD 15.6” FHD.
Includes DVD/RW, 1 x USB2, 2 x USB3, 1 x HDMI, Ethernet Gigabit
OS = FreeDOS, ie no Windows.

I don’t want Windows, as I intend to use Linux Mint.

Usage: General home/office stuff – internet browsing with occasional upload/download, email with occasional upload/download, occasional 2D CAD, occasional usage of LibreOffice Wordpro & Calc, DOS based database (requires use of an intermediary program), occasional use of Gimp photo editing s/w, printing, scanning.

Does anyone know anything about these machines, specifically any problems with loading/running Linux?

Thanks.

ten0rman

[Urbandreamer]

I like Thinkpads and historically they have been great with Linux.

However a quick google shows that there is a bit more work involved with this model, though you could be lucky as long as you use the latest releases.
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=297105

[ten0rman]

Since posting, I've been looking myself for problems and regret to say that I have indeed found them. So much so that I'm now thinking again.

Should have searched before posting - not after!

Regards,

ten0rman

[Infrasonic]

I'd draw up a shortlist from suitable Linux compatible candidates first then whittle them down.
This site does a lot of Linux hardware reviews and gets into the detailed issues that can arise...https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=home

Many more generic hardware review sites do Linux compatibility as well as Windows these days - mostly just the obvious does the touchscreen/touchpad/mouse/ports all work as intended rather than extensive testing like Phoronix does.
It depends how much research time you want to commit to it - if you are going to be reliant on it as your sole PC then it will probably pay to be thorough.

[Infrasonic]

Another option is if you find a laptop with dual M.2 SSD slots, you could create a nice dual/multiboot machine so that in the event that you run into Linux Mint issues (after an update say) you could boot into another OS that is possibly more stable - either another similar Linux variant (Ubuntu) or even something like BSD - there are some nice options there these days like NomadBSD - quite new user friendly..https://nomadbsd.org/
Short 16m review here from Explaining Computers..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM0oou1KYY8

[servodude]

Another option is if you find a laptop with dual M.2 SSD slots, you could create a nice dual/multiboot machine

Certainly better than finding out what you thought was a simple SSD was a RAID 0 array across the two M2 sata when your motherboard dies
- the software to recover it was as much as my new SSD

Anyways
- thinkpads I've tried with linux (generally ubuntu) have been great
It's only ever the wifi or touchpad that might need a tweak
- and the last time I tried it (on a T series thing) ubuntu unlocked functionality out the box that the windows 10 drivers had been missing (multi touch! who knew!?)

If you're choosing Mint as your default OS you're probably well capable of fixing any of the low hurdles you might encounter

- sd

[TheMotorcycleBoy]

Ubuntu 20.04

Been running Linux at home and work since 2000. Started out on SuSE, Mandrake, Redhat. We started using Mint when it first appeared. However, now it seems that its relative quality has dropped. We always use Ubuntu now.

Can't recommend it enough. Have Ubuntu 20.04 on my 8 year i7 box at home, and I have recently installed it on my youngest's Lenovo Thinkpad T460 laptop. On both systems I encountered zero hardware compatibility issues. Both worked 100% out of the box. The kids one also happily runs a USB camera (the laptop one works too, but they prefer the plugin one for lessons, I think). We also found bug-free Ubuntu packages for Zoom, MS Teams, Skype etc. OOI.

Matt

[TheMotorcycleBoy]

So yeah no problems installing Ubuntu onto Thinkpads in general. And that particular combination seems to be well supported/described in forums/youtube etc.

Matt

[UncleEbenezer]

The risk of something not working with Linux is vastly reduced since the days of hibernation that turns out to be a coma, and plug-and-pray PCMCIA for your wifi.

Having said that, last laptop I bought, I reassured myself by buying one that specifically advertised itself as suitable for Linux, and was certified by one of the major commercial Linux companies (I *think* Canonical).

[TheMotorcycleBoy]

On my daughters Thinkpad T460 (purchased cheaply as a refurb from an Amazon seller), basically everything *just worked* after the Ubuntu 20.04 install. Wifi, sound, native graphics resolution, touchpad, microphone. And of course it's much faster and more stable than it would be if we'd stuck with Windows10.

The *only* thing that ppl sometimes need to do first is go into the BIOS settings and switch off the secure boot setting, in order that it will boot from the Ubuntu USB image that one uses to do the installation. But there are several youtube guides/tutorial illustrating roughly what's involved in doing that.

Matt