Cheap Laptop to Play around with Linux

punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 17:01
Last edited 08/09/2024 - 21:25 by 1 other user

With a whole lot of refurbished laptops up for sale recently, I thought I'd seek some advice about a super cheap ($200-300 max) laptop that I could use to get up to speed with Linux?

I've dual booted Zorin OS on my home PC, but I think it'll be easier to have a entirely separate device that I can play around with on the couch while my wife watches TV. It won't be used for gaming or anything heavy, mainly web browsing and perhaps to teach myself a bit of coding on top of familiarising myself with the Linux ecosystem.

Computing Computer Laptop Linux Operating System

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 08/09/2024 - 17:13
    +4

    Ex Corp Thinkpad T or X series? Just look for one that's not too beat up and has a decent screen resolution to match. Most of them have plenty of spare parts available for self repair if needed and they usually have great support (driver wise) with Linux.

  • lachhelix on 08/09/2024 - 17:20
    +1

    Just grab something cheap off marketplace if it's just something to play with imo

    • GnarlyKnuckles on 08/09/2024 - 18:01

      Yes this, or from Gumtree. Or, if you want a warranty (usually 1 month), you could buy one from one of the many laptop/computer repair joints around that sell second hand laptops. You should be able to get something well up to the task for $200.

      • punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 18:08

        I guess I've found it difficult to figure out which sub-$300 laptops are the better options - I haven't followed laptop specs for years so have no idea what's a decent processor, RAM, etc.

        • GnarlyKnuckles on 08/09/2024 - 18:20

          Another advantage of getting a second hand one from a computer repair shop is that the guy/gal there would be happy to chat to you about that. If you were in Melbourne I could recommend a few places to you, but I note that you are in Sydney. No doubt there are plenty of places there that sell second hand laptops too … perhaps someone else here can recommend one in Sydney.

          Personally I have bought some pretty amazing laptops extremely cheaply on Gumtree over the years; but always with a dead battery/no battery. The last one I bought was $80, and it had surprisingly good 'specs' and a 256 GB SSD drive. It seems that some (rich?) peeps upgrade to a whole new laptop every time the battery starts to fail (usually after a year or two of battery use), and they like to just 'get rid' of the old one quickly/with no hassle, so they just sell it for a really low price on Gumtree—with no battery/an almost useless battery.

          • punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 18:47

            @GnarlyKnuckles: I'm actually in Melbourne these days, out Essendon way if there's anything around the inner west!

            • GnarlyKnuckles on 08/09/2024 - 18:56
              +1

              @punkindrublic: Essendon is not my region, but if you're ever over 'depreston' (Preston) way, you should call in to 'IT & CCTV', at 384 High Street, Preston (VIC 3072; phone 03-9478 8680). The guy there, Jimmy, is really good/friendly, and he will happily chat to you all day about what you need. He always has many second hand laptops for sale at good prices, with a 1 month warranty.

          • RockyRaccoon on 08/09/2024 - 22:02
            +1

            @GnarlyKnuckles: Would "rich?" peeps even bother selling it on Gumtree. They wouldnt waste the time for the few bucks you mention

            • GnarlyKnuckles on 08/09/2024 - 22:16

              @RockyRaccoon: Yeah, they do. I guess they can't quite bring themselves to piff it into the wheely bin, and maybe it gives them a sense of 'giving back' (or some such sh#t), or maybe they just enjoy engaging with Gumtree/the public but can't be bothered with 'hagglers' or whatever … so they just list a good laptop really cheap.

              Have a look right now, and see what is on offer. If nothing good is don't be surprised, because the really good offers get snapped up in a day or less. Check at about this time of night (or a bit earlier; just after dinner time) every night for a week, and you may be surprised what laptops are sold cheap on GumTree.

  • clippers on 08/09/2024 - 17:30
    +1

    I would just WSL from within Windows.. don't even need to dual-boot

    • punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 17:32
      +1

      I'd like to transition over to Linux full time in the long run, but want to ease into it rather than switching over completely and deciding I'd rather stick with Windows after all

      • AndyC1 on 08/09/2024 - 23:02
        +1

        I suggest reading up on what WSL2 is before spending any money as it may save you from spending the money until you get familiar with Linux.|
        If you cannot run WSL2 then have a look at VirtualBox and then you can run allot more Linux distro's.

      • Mechz on 08/09/2024 - 23:04

        Dual boot is honestly the way to go then. You can have it all, just not concurrently.

  • lachhelix on 08/09/2024 - 17:47

    Something like this could be nice to have a play around with (albeit with 8GB):
    https://reboot-it.com.au/products/dell-latitude-3410-i5-1021…

    Or this:
    https://reboot-it.com.au/products/dell-latitude-5300-2-in-1-…

    • punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 17:57

      Would the Dell Latitude 5300 be better than the ThinkPad T460 that @scrimshaw suggested earlier? It looks pretty good from the reviews I skimmed

      • moar bargains on 09/09/2024 - 13:52
        +1

        The Dell 5300 linked above has twice the RAM and twice the SSD space of the T460, and it's a 2-in-1 i.e. it has a touch screen, and you can fold it over and use it like a tablet instead of a laptop. It has a newer processor (and integrated graphics) which is capable of running Windows 11 (preinstalled), and some difference in the ports (e.g. Dell has 1xUSB-C + 2x USB-A and Micro SD card reader, Lenovo has 3x USB-A and Ethernet).
        The Dell is also ~35% more expensive, but honestly that Dell looks like a pretty good buy for what you get.

        Realistically, you're not likely to notice much of a performance difference between either of them unless you're running something very RAM or CPU intensive. Browsing the web, coding, learning Linux, either will cope fine with that.

  • scotty on 08/09/2024 - 18:31
    +3

    Bought a refurbished Dell Latitude 7200 2-in-1 a few months ago for ~$275 off eBay (i5-8365U, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) and have installed both Debian 12 and ChromeOS Flex on it. It's a very nice machine except problematic support of suspense under Linux. It supports s2idle but battery drains overnight when the lid is closed. It also reports to support s3 "deep" but would not resume after 5 minutes. Otherwise everything works — webcam, landscape/portrait orientation change, LTE modem, etc.

    One place to look is ChromeOS Flex's certified models list — those devices are certified to run all the features of the stable ChromeOS Flex (which runs Linux kernel 5.x currently), which I assume would also include proper suspend/resume support. You might want to hit eBay looking for refurbished Dell Latitude or ThinkPad, and then check against Google's list of models.

    Edit: This Dell Latitude 5290 2-in-1 makes a good couch computer for learning Linux.

    • punkindrublic on 08/09/2024 - 18:44

      Good advice, thanks scotty!

  • virhlpool on 08/09/2024 - 21:37

    Not sure about Linux part, but I bought this laptop for around $370 a few months back. It looked as new. It's been working fine so far.

  • bazingaa on 09/09/2024 - 01:34
    +3

    can't you just use a VM ? I have multiple Linux VMs on Hyper-V running on couple of Win10/11 Pro PCs

    • Randxyz123 on 09/09/2024 - 05:39

      This is what I was thinking. Either that or a raspberrypi that can be tucked away and you can login remotely to.

  • OMGJL on 09/09/2024 - 09:28
    +1

    I have had years of experience in self hosting (debian), I have use hackintosh has daily driver for ages along windows for gaming need and etc. so I'd say I am somewhat familiar with both windows and posix systems.

    back when I was studying computer science, I had to use linux(ubuntu) as a desktop OS for a year or so as back in the days most machine learning libraries requires Ubuntu (or runs relatively well without too much tweaking) , I'd say the user experience is not that optimal.

    The whole desktop manager is more of a user-land process, that's not integrated into the kernel, you can have the whole UI crash and stuck with a shell only, on extreme scenario you can have memory leaks on desktop manager and freeze up the whole OS.

    Drivers are meh especially with network drivers where some open source driver requires you to compile yourself. Which require secure boot off, system integrity check off etc. If you want to remote access it then you'll need to configure VNC depending on which desktop manager you are using. Depending on the application, x11/wayland support is hit or miss too. High resolution scaling doesn't always work (even worse than Windows), audio is a hot mess, bluetooth is basically non-existence. A lot of the software requires manual edit of config files by hand without having a UI toggle, even though the software itself has an UI.

    On the other hand I am quite happy with using my VPS running linux, never had much trouble at all. setting up docker and ssh into it when I need it. Much more pleasant without graphical side of things.

    I wouldn't bother using any flavour of Linux as my daily driver PC. Mac with a BSD kernel could work well with most of my dev requirement, if I really need to compile say OpenWRT or something I'll just use my VPS or spin up a virtual machine for the time being..

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 09/09/2024 - 10:37

    A cheap older model raspberry pi, if you access to a monitor, usb mouse + keyboard?

  • Presence on 09/09/2024 - 13:11

    Whilst pretty much any desktop will support Linux without any effort id stick with big business brands when it comes to laptops, lest wifi, Bluetooth, sleep etc be a pain.

  • moar bargains on 09/09/2024 - 13:32

    This looks like a solid laptop buy if you're set on a laptop ($229 with free shipping and 6 months warranty): https://www.untech.com.au/products/lenovo-thinkpad-t460s-14-…

    Otherwise I'd just spin up a virtual machine in VirtualBox on the computer you already have and play in there. You won't get to enjoy experience the same hard-core hardware troubleshooting that you might on a separate machine, but to be fair, the major Linux distros are pretty solid on most consumer hardware these days.

  • sprocketoctopus on 09/09/2024 - 14:00

    Any thinkpad. I have 3, 2 of which are on Linux, which works very well with Linux

  • Noblejoker on 09/09/2024 - 14:30

    Try the Dell outlet store - Brand new units (scratch and dent or refurb) - price includes 12mth warranty and delivery
    $319 gets you an Athlon Gold CPU and 8GB ram - probably better than most $200 refurbs
    $409 gets you a Ryzen 5 5500U + 8gb which is very capable
    Ram is upgradeable too - but do your own research on Linux compatibility on these models

  • Jimbuscus on 09/09/2024 - 18:20

    Have a look at UNTech, used business laptops are generally better nic.

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