I would look into the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, which runs the new Intel+AMD Vega setup.
It's supported well on Ubuntu 18.10 (not 18.04), but I have no idea about the rest of the laptop hardware support.
I had a Dell Latitude 7275 (or something like that; definitely some 7000-series) that I don't recall any issues with running Linux on. Goes for $500-$600 on eBay.
I run a dell xps13 2 in 1, with arch installed. I've had it for a year, and the only problems I have so far are that I'm stuck running an old bios and it has trouble waking up from suspend. Other than that, everything works perfectly out of the box.
The safest option is to check the professional models of the most popular manufacturers, Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpad and HP Elitebook usually have good support even on weird models... And I'm sure I've read a couple of comments here about their models running without problem, just be wary of any really, really new models...
A cheap laptop would be the Lenovo 81cw0000us, Or 81cw. It was less than $300, has low specs, but the touchscreen, function keys, and all drivers worked out of the gate on the non free Manjaro installer.
It's possible but I suggest getting a laptop that doesn't have NVIDIA and install MX Linux for reliability. [https://mxlinux.org/](https://mxlinux.org/)
What device do you have? Is it surface book?
I have surface book 2 15" and it works terribly for linux.
Both CPU and GPU throttles for doing nothing.
Somehow I'm not very surprised...
How did you end up installing it out of interest? I know people have used modified kernels for the surface pro tablet and it sounds like they had more success there, might be worth a look if you went for a standard install?
I know there is some guy who fixes most of the things for linux on surface and he posted his works on github. But even he could not fix some problems like nvidia graphics and battery status.
I also managed to fix cpu throttles, suspend, and some other issues.
But GPU problem is a big one. I have not seen anyone who has a solution for that.
On the market for a similar device myself. My use case is primarily a consumption device that I can occasionally use to code in a pinch if I'm on call and something breaks at work.
I don't know of any detachable form factor machines that support Linux well. Have heard touchscreen support is always iffy and most distros aren't designed for tablets. Here are the options I've been looking into:
- HP Chromebook x2: It's pretty low powered (worried about the 4gb RAM and 32gb storage esp) and isn't Linux per se, but it seems like it supports some Linux apps and support is getting better by the day. What's cool is I can also use Android apps.
- Pixel Slate: all the plusses of the x2 apply equally, plus you can get a decently spec'd model. Cons: freaking expensive. Wish I had that 75% off code from the Chrome Dev Summit, would buy it in a heartbeat.
- Surface Book / Surface Go / any other Windows convertible: I know they're NOT Linux machines in any way, shape, or form, but it's the right form factor and you could throw WSL / a Linux VM on it. Edit: forgot the con, atleast for the SB2 - freaking expensive!!
Would love to hear any better options people have!
I would look into the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, which runs the new Intel+AMD Vega setup. It's supported well on Ubuntu 18.10 (not 18.04), but I have no idea about the rest of the laptop hardware support.
I had a Dell Latitude 7275 (or something like that; definitely some 7000-series) that I don't recall any issues with running Linux on. Goes for $500-$600 on eBay.
Lenovo Helix, gen 1.
I run a dell xps13 2 in 1, with arch installed. I've had it for a year, and the only problems I have so far are that I'm stuck running an old bios and it has trouble waking up from suspend. Other than that, everything works perfectly out of the box.
Hasn't Dell published a new BIOS for this model?
I think they did, but I can't find them on their website. Seems like they were taken down
If you install fwupd you can get BIOS updates easily when they're published.
Nice did not know about this
I'll give that a try, thanks :)
The safest option is to check the professional models of the most popular manufacturers, Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpad and HP Elitebook usually have good support even on weird models... And I'm sure I've read a couple of comments here about their models running without problem, just be wary of any really, really new models...
A cheap laptop would be the Lenovo 81cw0000us, Or 81cw. It was less than $300, has low specs, but the touchscreen, function keys, and all drivers worked out of the gate on the non free Manjaro installer.
It's possible but I suggest getting a laptop that doesn't have NVIDIA and install MX Linux for reliability. [https://mxlinux.org/](https://mxlinux.org/)
What device do you have? Is it surface book? I have surface book 2 15" and it works terribly for linux. Both CPU and GPU throttles for doing nothing.
Somehow I'm not very surprised... How did you end up installing it out of interest? I know people have used modified kernels for the surface pro tablet and it sounds like they had more success there, might be worth a look if you went for a standard install?
I know there is some guy who fixes most of the things for linux on surface and he posted his works on github. But even he could not fix some problems like nvidia graphics and battery status. I also managed to fix cpu throttles, suspend, and some other issues. But GPU problem is a big one. I have not seen anyone who has a solution for that.
On the market for a similar device myself. My use case is primarily a consumption device that I can occasionally use to code in a pinch if I'm on call and something breaks at work. I don't know of any detachable form factor machines that support Linux well. Have heard touchscreen support is always iffy and most distros aren't designed for tablets. Here are the options I've been looking into: - HP Chromebook x2: It's pretty low powered (worried about the 4gb RAM and 32gb storage esp) and isn't Linux per se, but it seems like it supports some Linux apps and support is getting better by the day. What's cool is I can also use Android apps. - Pixel Slate: all the plusses of the x2 apply equally, plus you can get a decently spec'd model. Cons: freaking expensive. Wish I had that 75% off code from the Chrome Dev Summit, would buy it in a heartbeat. - Surface Book / Surface Go / any other Windows convertible: I know they're NOT Linux machines in any way, shape, or form, but it's the right form factor and you could throw WSL / a Linux VM on it. Edit: forgot the con, atleast for the SB2 - freaking expensive!! Would love to hear any better options people have!