I'm looking to buy one of these two Lenovo laptops from Costco:

1. https://www.costco.com/lenovo-ideapa...100767763.html

2. https://www.costco.com/lenovo-ideapa...p-tab-header-4

From the research I've done online I haven't found and reason why they would not be compatible with Debian 11 but I also can't find any model-specific assertions that they ARE compatible. I run Debian 11 on my Desktop with the same Ryzen 5 CPU and it runs great no problems.

My question is: Am I correct in assuming that I will be able to boot from USB and install debian 11 if I'm to buy one of these?

Keep in mind I have no intention of booting the software cancer known as micro$oft and so this will not be a dual-booting system.


Thanks in advance for the advice,


Arct1c_f0x

Have you tried asking Lenovo?

Yes. I believe that this is the page of the model on their support site but I can't find any info on it relating to any OS other than Windows.

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/is/en/p...s/driver-list/

They should be able to boot and run Debian.

That said, there might be some driver issues with new hardware chipsets in the laptop and without specific details of the chipset used it will be difficult to state 100% that everything will work OOB.

If the store happens to have a display model that you are looking at you might be able to boot a live image from usb and verify everything works before you buy. If not then it might have one or 2 devices that have driver issues but mostly it should work.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you. I suspected as much but I wanted to reach out for some expertise before confirming. I'll take a Live USB Debian 11 image with me when I visit the store.


Thanks,

I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 15-IKB that I bought new a couple years ago. It works great for Linux. I run Mint 20.2, which is a derivative of Ubuntu, which is a derivative of Debian.

Also, I think Lenovo prides itself on compatibility with Linux.

Many of the members of my LUG prefer Lenovos.

Hey guys just an update to explain how it all turned out!


I bought that Lenovo ideapad 3 with the LCD touchscreen and the Ryzen 7. Cortana disgusted me when I turned it on so immediately booted to a debian 11 image and installed debian 11. The laptop had no ethernet port and I couldn't get the drivers to load from a portable USB so I had to install from a DVD image and then install the drivers later.

A few setup scripts later and some personal tweaking and everything works now except the fingerprint sensor (and I HATE biometrics so I don't want it to work). Everything's running great, and I'm very happy with my new linux laptop!



Thanks for all the advice and help. I'm glad that this community exists.


arct1c_f0x

They probably prefer ThinkPads.
Even the quality of ThinkPads has been going down, but they're still miles better than IdeaPads.
IdeaPads are just cheap consumer ... erm, devices.

Yes, yes, and maybe?

But at a fraction of the cost. And face it, some of us can't afford $1000 laptops. I paid $400 for my Ideapad 2 years ago. I don't play big games, and it runs all my VMs and development software fine. Upgraded the RAM from 8G to 20G, and will soon be swapping the HDD with an SSD (not because I have to, but because I want to). My laptop looks new because I take care of it physically, and it runs like a top. A few years from now I'll swap it out with another new laptop, with up-to-date hardware, and life will continue.

Not wanting to step on anyone's toes or get into some kind of "Ford vs. Chevy" discussion.
There's nothing wrong with IdeaPads, there's just no reason to "prefer" them over any other big brand consumer device.

I paid $200 for my ThinkPad a year ago, and ditto, ditto, and ditto.