Hey guys, I started a work study at school and my advisor wants me to start learning Linux, she gave me a school laptop and I have Ubuntu Gnome (I think thats how you'd word it) on it. Im really enjoying learning, so I want to invest in a laptop for Kali Linux im taking a cyber security class next semester and I want to learn and have fun before the class.. so my question is. What would be a good laptop to get to start learning and playing with Kali Linux.. I have heard the Lenovo Thinkpad t420 is good. also are there any other accessories you'd recommend getting along with the laptop

thanks for the help guys!

I'd also look at Dell latitude line. IMO, the T420 is a bit too old for my tastes, so I'd be looking at a Latitude E5450 (same size as the T420, but several generations newer cpu & wireless (wireless-AC instead of only N) which is important to me...obviously YMMV). Both Thinkpad lines and Latitude lines are very good for linux as they're very intel-centric, using intel chipsets, intel cpu's, usually having just an intel gpu, and intel wireless. With linux, this is almost a guarantee that things will go without a hitch (unless you get something too new and unsupported).

My wife has a Thinkpad E450, and that's a great machine IMO too. Same generation as the E5450, and while I prefer the look of the E5450, the performance is pretty much identical, they're both all intel hardware, they both have the Intel Wireless-AC, they both have 1080P 14" LCD's, they both have really nice keyboards (for a laptop), although I got a MUCH better deal on her Thinkpad than I did my E5450.

I HAVE A HP elietbook 8460P that works Super Great with every sticking distro of Linux I've ever tired on it. ...

Thanks fir all the help guys. im going to look over all the options and check out the finances

ebay, pawn shops are a good source for a used good laptop to play with and use. I picked mine up on ebay for 100$

I tend to buy new with warranty even if it is slightly less than I wanted.

Pretty nice of the school to give you one to use. I'd use it till it broke.

I would suggest not installing Kali on it.
Install something like Ubuntu or Linux Mint, so that you can browse the web and the like, then pick up a Kali live image and boot from that for learning.
Just trying to cut things off before the "I installed Kali on my new laptop but I need to watch these videos..." type posts.

If you are going to test some of the Kali tools in a virtual machine, such as the brute force tools--give the VM a very large virtual HDD. Once Kali starts to create passwords for a brute force attack, it eats up space like gangbusters.

Linux Voice had a good Kali tutorial a while ago. It tells you how to set up Kali and Metasploitable in VMs using "host only" networking (so they cannot see the Big Wide World): https://www.linuxvoice.com/hacking-a-beginners-guide/

I will add my voice to those who say Kali is not suitable for day-to-day desktop use. It should be used only for what it was designed for. Trying to use it for day-to-day computing is like trying to drive to the 7-11 on a bulldozer. It's annoying, difficult, and dangerous to others, and you probably will never make it to the 7-11.