Hey everyone,

I'm looking for a 14'' laptop to run Linux Mint on. Since my budget is limited to 400€, I'm thinking about getting a refurbished ThinkPad as these have been recommended to me. I've found a few tempting models from the T430 and T440 series. Currently, my favourite is a T440. Can anyone report anything negative about them regarding the use of Linux Mint? Or would you prefer a T430 because they have proven to be more stable over the years?

I'd be happy if you could share your thoughts and experiences on this so I'll be able to get a nice system to work with.

Thanks guys!

$483.09 US
I was looking into a Thinkpad because I like the way they look. then I started looking into the hardware, it is not as advance as the HP Elitebook I have. It didn't even have 3.0 USB Ports. I forget all of the reasons why I decised to not get it other than I got this HP EliteBook 8460p because it has more bang for the buck as apposed to a thinkpad.

Ebay of course, I picked it up for $100 even had a 250GB HD w/Windows (got rid of that) and charging cable included, whereas most do not. they usually pull the HDD if you're buying the ones selling from bulk to get rid of them due to a company PC upgrade.


Keyboard was messed up so they the non techies, just sold it for 100 bucks to get rid of it. I think it is a 2nd gen Intel CPU which is fine, works like a charm, looking in to what they are doing with CPU's its not much in the department of speed. so I got another CPU cheap used i7 8 core , and a MO with build in ATI graphics, and a HD screen and cable to upgrade it, oh yeah and slapped in more RAM up to 16GB now, and an SSD 256GB. ( over the course of time, btw) I guess I just needed the case actually. that still kept me under you're cap you're allowing yourself to get one. everything off of eBay. they sell parts too.

it is what would be considered OLD Tech but it still works like new.

I have had no issues with running various Linux Distros on it.

I'd price and compare hardware to what is available to you regardless of who makes it. so you can try to get the most bang for your buck, (ero actually ).

Are there any constraints, such as needing a DVD drive or a minimum of disk space?

If not, you could look at some 14" Chromebooks for about 200 € but I'm not sure how much more you'd have to do to replace the SSD with something more reasonably sized. The new SSD would of course cost something additional.

Yeah, the following aspects are important to me:

• budget: 400€
• screen size: 14''
• resolution: 1920x1080
• OS: ideally none since that will enable me to save money; I'm going to install Linux Mint on it anyway. Therefore, it's important that Linux Mint will work fine on it.
• RAM: 4GB at least
• memory: no eMMC, no M.2, only SATA so I can put in an SSD, which I've already got
• DVD drive: none to avoid unnecessary noise
• battery life: 8 hours at least

I'm aware that the budget makes it very difficult to find anything meeting my requirements. Therefore, I'd also be happy with a second-hand system. Like I've said, the ThinkPads seem very solid to me. Can anyone report on negative experiences with ThinkPads along with Linux, ideally with Linux Mint in particular?

Thanks!

We typically buy stuff from CDW and they also have an outlet on their site. When you visit their site, you scroll to the bottom of the main page and lower right there's a listing of links to various parts of their site, one list titled Shop, contains the link for their Outlet. Click on that and then you can search in their outlet and plug in the search criteria for a laptop system, matching what specifications you like.

I only saw one that exceeded what you want.

The problem is that virtually every notebook will have n OS. I feel it is because they are specialized and selling someone an incomplete system of that type seems bad to sellers. Therefore you'll be paying for the royalties of the OS, typically Windows.

For instance we sometimes buy mini-desktops or thin clients, which are very limited desktop systems, 6-8" square boxes that are about 2" in height. Since we run Linux only on them, we search for ones that have no OS or they have a FreeDOS typically is what we find. They are cheaper than ones we could find with Windows, and even Linux. It seems that if they bother to put Linux on it, then it somehow costs more, probably because there is a small support chain included with something they sell. That is just a guess.

I don’t know about that battery life, being NOT brand new, better get use to the idea of having or needing somewhere to plug in. You might get a four hour battery if you’re lucky to. This all depends on how old the laptop is.

i'm not so sure if the new thinkpads (since IBM stopped producing them) are any better than any other laptop brand; i have a nagging feeling that they just live on a reputation of days gone by.
most laptop makers have consumer & business lines; i guess you'd want to go business, since you haven't mentioned gaming, and seem to be looking for something sturdy?
at least that would be an important aspect for me, the sturdiness.
i heard Dell's business line is very good, but again, that could be old information. a brand does not guarantee quality in this world of throw-away electronics.
if i got myself new hardware, i would do a complex selection process:

• search ebay for what is available in my price range (pay attention to shipping costs. also importing from non-EU might add significant taxes)
• search the web for how well this model supports linux

Some of the members of my LUG, whose judgment I trust, swear by Lenovo.

Personally, I'm lucky enough to be able to buy native Linux computers--I have two Zareasons.

I do have a 23" Lenovo graphics tablet that someone gave me some years ago as a token of gratitude. It runs Linux like a champ. I've run Mint and Mageia on it and it's currently running Debian Sid.

Thanks for your replies, guys!

The business line is certainly what I'm looking for. I've got a separate gaming PC, so no gaming on that laptop.

As for the battery life, I'm aware that in most cases the battery won't be as durable as that of a new laptop. However, I've read that you can buy new batteries for ThinkPads at an acceptable price, and the idea of getting a docking station on the cheap is tempting, too.

I can see from your posts that I'm not the only one who's lost faith a little in manufacturers who have been around for a long time. I got a new HP laptop for 500 quid the other day with an i3, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Windows 10, and I returned it. It was really slow despite its decent hardware specs, the touchpad responded with a delay and the HDD and DVD drive made a lot of noise. I was thinking HP have been around for such a long time, they must have quality stuff, but that model wasn't exactly satisfying.

@ondoho: Yeah, that's about my approach, too. However, after looking for reports on Linux compatibility, I was none the wiser every time because some said everything worked alright, some reported on problems. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to open a thread on a forum and ask people to help me with this. This way, I can talk to people about their experiences with a certain model along with Linux, too.

The dilemma I'm in is that I find seemingly decent laptops in online shops, but when googling for Linux compatibility I've been unable to find a model so far which everyone reports full Linux compatibility on. That's why I'm happy if people tell me that their model runs Linux without any problems.

I'll keep searching in the meantime. If you'd like to add anything to this thread, feel free to do so. I'll greatly appreciate any help!

Thanks!

After ivybridge everything was soldered on the mainboard. which is bad in terms of repair costs

some lenovo have libreboot support which is an advantage.

8 hours battery life is nonsense. when you need such battery life you better get a tablet, e.g. sm-t580 (although stock android is a bad os i regards of space usuage and other things)

from the lenovo quality, i am not very impressed. I'm only talking about these business notebooks which i have seen in my life. whatever model these were.

--

both need further inspection.
usually i can tell pretty soon if they're either lying fanbois or notorious complainers.
a decent installation report is easily recognized, and i suspect those won't differ so extremely.
for most laptops i guess comaptibility is a given, and not much discussed.
otoh, ubuntu have a hardware list, and debian too (might be a bit outdated though), and archlinux etc. etc.

The only computer I get about 9,5 hours of battery life out of is my little 11,6 inch Intel Atom powered hybrid laptop. It was cheap at 299 Euro, but it's performance is lackluster at best. Definately not something I would recommend to you.

On the other hand my 7 year old laptop blasts through everything I throw at it like a boss. It runs on an Intel i7-1630QM 2 GHz, 8 gb RAM and originally a 750 gb hard disk. And it was slow as hell.... After discovering that the laptop has a 2nd bay for an additional hard disk I've added an SSD to it. And now the laptop has become very speedy. I'm running dual boot Windows 10 Pro & Ubuntu 18.04 Budgie on it. Downside about this though, when the battery was shiny new I could get about 2,5 hours out of it.

You definately want a laptop with an SSD for sure. When it comes to battery life. In my experience you can get good battery life, but at the expense of performance.

Edit:
Doh.. Just noticed you already have an SSD

Yeah, I'll get one with an HDD because these are cheaper and replace it with my SSD. I've also read that you can remove the DVD drive from ThinkPads and replace it with a cover, leaving the bay empty. That would be very handy since it would save power and reduce weight, for I don't need a DVD drive anyway.

I think I'm going to get the ThinkPad T430. It seems solid, powerful and perfectly compatible with Linux Mint from what I've read. I also like how you can replace most of the components.

I'll keep you posted once I've got one so you and others will know whether it was the right choice.

Thanks guys!

My Eleietebook I did the same took out my dvd and slapped a 2tb in it for storage and w/256 ssd for my OS'es. /home

business laptops as roman stated. EBay or a pawnshop. used is not always a bad thing, if you know what you're looking for. as stated also, research it , every little detail, before you buy it. comparative shopping.

There are so many laptops that fits your specs. I wouldn't get married to any particular model just yet. Ebay is by far the largest selection, with ~120,000 laptops currently for sale, 7,000 without an operating system.