I'm looking at moving from a desktop to a good laptop, I just found a decent looking 17.3" HP laptop at Sams. Does anyone know how HP computers usually do with Linux?

There is no HP prohibition for Linux use. Some times, if it is brand new hardware, such as a brand new ethernet chip that has not been used before, unless the manufacture offers linux support, you may have to wait for that.

No problem with Intel or amd, nvidia, ati, realtech, broadcom, those all all covered.

Some times little usb tv tuners, or some specialized device like that, may not have support in the kernel. You'll have to figure out how to build it.

Why don't you tell what HP model it is. Or do a seach for linux and that model.

Do you know the HP model? Bear in mind that brand new laptops likely require brand new kernels to support all of the hardware. Which distro do you want to run?

I had an HP Elitebook (840?) that did great with several distros. I think I even had FreeBSD on it at one time but can't remember if wireless worked. I know Ubuntu worked out of the box with all of the hardware, suspend, resume, everything. Was an awesome machine: has an nvme slot, could hold 32gb ram, had a bunch of USB ports, an ethernet port. Was a 13" but it worked great. I gave it to one of my kids and he put windows 10 back on it.

I'd be running Linux Mint, and most of the names/numbers on it seem to be specific to Sams Club but I did mind this and I think it might be the model number. 17-by3652cl

I have three HP laptops currently in use. All three are cheaper models than the HP 17-BY3652CL. For the newest one, I'm running a newer kernel from Backports because the current one from Debian Stable wouldn't work. But I've been running Linux-only on all three.

I can't comment about wireless, because I don't use it at all. The oldest one, about ten years old now (an HP G72-227WM), the battery doesn't charge anymore but I use it plugged in anyway.

I'm currently running Debian on two of these laptops and Kubuntu on the third, but I've successfully installed many other distros on them. Installations always seem to be easiest on the oldest one.

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This is my only gripe with HP. This one (a Gen8 i7) has just had this problem - it ain't the battery, it's the poxy charger. I wrapped the leads, chucked it in a backpack, when I took it out it wouldn't charge, only power the device. They use a 1-wire system I think to ensure the charger is "capable" - i,e, one of theirs, and expensive. PITA - this might be the last time I buy HP.

Of course this is not a Linux specific problem, but a HP problem.

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This is the biggest reason why everything I've bought recently I've made sure before buying that it's USB-C charging. While not a PERFECT solution (as it's still a little too loose spec to be truly universal), it's a lot BETTER than the proprietary stuff.

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Garrett85,

HP 17-by3652cl:
https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c06655544

It uses an Intel CPU with integrated UHD graphics, so no problem there.

You will need to download and install the Realtek RTL8821CE wifi driver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ85K7VrRUo

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Thanks everyone. I'm also looking at these three Asus computers, any thoughts? Again I do a little coding and I do play Ark & Dying Light from time to time. Dual Boot but mostly Linux.

Amazon:
VivoBook 17 17.3" Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 - 12GB Memory - AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 - 512GB SSD - Transparent Silver Model:X712DA-BR7N6SKU:6403423

Amazon:
ASUS VivoBook 17 S712 Thin and Light Laptop, 17.3” FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3250U CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Home, Transparent Silver, S712DA-DB36

Walmart:
ASUS VivoBook 17.3" R3 8GB/256 GB Laptop AMD Ryzen 3, 8GB DRAM, 256 GB SSD, 17.3" Full HD

Garrett85,

Personally I would stick with the HP 17-by3652cl.

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Amazon:
VivoBook 17 17.3" Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 - 12GB Memory - AMD Radeon RX Vega 10 - 512GB SSD - Transparent Silver Model:X712DA-BR7N6SKU:6403423 by a landslide, the other 2 have dual-core processors, while not HORRIBLE, it's rather limiting nowadays now that AMD has brought octo-core processors into the 15-watt TDP mobile space (4700u/4800u/pro 4750u).

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I have a hp 15-ab269xx. I have two big issues. First is that the keyboard is susceptible to a stuck key-repeat issue. It's not physical as the key isn't physically stuck, instead it just seems that the firmware/OS misses/loses key-release events occasionally. I have to turn key-repeat off in xorg because of this when I'm not using an external keyboard.

The second issue is that on a sleep/suspend, the firmware puts the intel wifi transmitter into a rfkill hard-block state rather than a soft-block and there's no way to re-enable it on resume (there's no physical wifi switch on this model).

Other non-linux specific comments: the screen viewing angles and contrast is atrocious on this model and some of the printing on the key caps have already worn off, even with light use.

This is one of the cheap consumer models, I bought it in a hurry when my old box died unexpectedly on me, and I didn't have time look around.


Oh, and 3 years in, HP sent me an email saying "your laptop is out of support and parts may not be available any more... click here to buy a new one!"

Overall, I wouldn't recommend a consumer level HP laptop. Maybe the business oriented models are better, but I can't speak to that.

FWIW, YMMV, etc.

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Yeah, I don't think I'd want to recommend an HP laptop, especially after reading some of the comments in this thread. Well, the ones I have are certainly not high-end models. The first one, I got it for a $50 donation to a charity. But I can say that I've been running Linux-only on each of these HP laptops since I got 'em. And they're all still working. If somebody needs a laptop and can't afford anything better, HP might be a good option. Worked out for me, anyway. Looks like the OP has decided against the idea, so that's cool.

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+1



Dell (period).

Freedom of Choice is what it's all about!

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