Hi everyone!
I need to buy a new laptop to replace my 12 years old laptop. I didn’t look after hardware for a while for some personal reasons.
I will buy something new. My needs are:
- photo editing
- video editing
- vector graphics editing/creation
- good battery life (I don’t want to worry about)
- web navigating, docs, spreadsheets
- USB-C charging would be nice
I don’t game, and Framework isn’t available where I live.
I would be happy to have some recommendation on what is a good hardware for this use and good brand.
Thanks!
Tuxedo computers could be a good fit I think? It’s like system76, but from Germany. You can pick from a few OS including an Ubuntu fork they made ( tuxedo os ). You can tweak the laptop yourself ( different you/CPUs/disk sizes/… ) to fit your use case.
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com
Personally I’ve never bought there, but a friend of mine has and he’s happy with his purchase.
Note: I do not work for them, or am affiliated with them in any way.
What da bot doin
Looks like my account was marked ( unintentionally ) as bot in my settings. That should be resolved now. I found and updated the setting
Also have some Coreboot Models!
I would favour an AMD Ryzen 7000 based laptop. Much better battery life than Intel and better graphics performance.
Lenovo ThinkPad T and P series are excellent build quality.
Asus Zenbooks or Expertbooks with OLED screens are also excellent. Displays are on par, or superior to Macbooks. Excellent colour accuracy.
Make sure you get something with at least 16GB of Ram, or 32GB if available.
While I agree with the recommendations (I have a ThinkPad P14S Gen4 now) I wouldn’t say the battery life is great - especially if OP wants to do video editing and such. Otherwise it’s an amazing laptop (now that it’s actually supported by the kernel). I still suspect the Intel variant would be better for battery life though.
With that being said for anything this intensive you’ll need a charger with any laptop because it will simply not be able to keep working for 8+ hours with this kind of software. In fact get a docking station and a second screen too unless you plan to be on the go all of the time; the productivity increase from getting a second screen is insane.
Oh and be prepared to lose a lot of the fancy stuff with Linux - sure you get an amazing screen but no HDR. You don’t get the sound improvements from the official Lenovo drivers for Windows, etc. Oh and you should keep the Windows partition (just shrink it to a minimum) - makes it much easier to keep the bios up to date.
Just get a thinkpad.
Easy choice. Takes out the guesswork.
Yeah, Thinkpad’s are at the end of the IQ curve.
Any T or P series with the minimum specs you’re lokkung for. Tons on eBay.
Which one?
I know you don’t game but a dedicated GPU will be a godsend for video editing. Depending on the budget I would get a used gaming laptop like an Omen or a legion 5
Edit: worst case wait a year for parts and laptops to be really cheap haha.
+1 for Lenovo Legion/HP Omen.
In this order, IMO.
The downside of a dedicated GPU is that your battery life is going to be bad. Intel Iris graphics have come a long way and are likely fine for this kind of thing.
A dedicated GPU will mean reduced battery life. If you are only going to edit video at your desk, I would suggest getting a laptop with a thunderbolt 3 or USB 4 port and an external GPU. Make sure the port provides 4 PCIe lanes, not all of them do.
My two cents; if you want to use Linux on it, then do yourself a favor and pick a laptop from a Linux-first vendor. So the likes of NovaCustom, Star Labs, System76, Tuxedo and others found on the link over here come to mind. Besides that, it’s important that the device in question either has a dedicated GPU (or at least supports eGPUs). Furthermore, choose a device with relatively high battery capacity; they go up to ~99 Wh, so pick something that’s at least relatively close to that number.
They said they don’t game. Why GPU? That’s horrible for battery.
They said they don’t game.
GPUs aren’t exclusive to gaming (as you should know).
Why GPU?
OP mentioned the intent to do video editing on the device. Unfortunately, the amount of good video editors on Linux is currently limited to just Davinci Resolve(; sure, the likes of Kdenlive (etc) exists, but none of them are very suitable for professional usage[1]). While I’m thankful that Davinci Resolve works on Linux, it’s -according to their own documentation- simply not possible to make use of it without a dedicated GPU (at least on Linux). Thus, warranting the need for a dedicated GPU.
That’s horrible for battery.
I’m aware that that’s a concern. Thankfully, there are workarounds. And if all else fails, there’s always the possibility to make use of eGPUs; which I’ve actually explicitly mentioned in my earlier reply for this exact reason (without mentioning explicitly for which reason it was mentioned*).
- OP might not even need it for professional use, but I assumed they did*.
I highly recommend avoiding this rhetoric because you will end up paying more for inferior hardware.
You are not actually “doing yourself a favor.”
Ultimately, any discussion on this would boil down to cost vs convenience. As OP hasn’t explicitly stated anything on this regard, it seems unproductive to delve into this further. However, strictly speaking, I have to agree with you that the Linux-first vendors are (in almost all cases) more expensive. Thank you for pointing that out for OP.
In case you're as bored as I am 😅.
Let’s start with stating some facts from OP:
- OP takes the effort to state six wishes/requirements without mentioning price.
- OP implies to at least have considered the Framework laptop, for which the 16 inch variant -the one actually capable of video editing etc- is not a cheap device either.
- OP states: “I don’t want to worry about” when talking about battery life. If anything, that sounds like one that would prefer convenience over cost.
Therefore, I assumed that OP wasn’t cost-limited by any means (they didn’t state it anyways).
Anyhow, allow me to illustrate how much OP might have to “pay more” for “inferior hardware”:
- Found this one on https://old.reddit.com/r/LaptopDeals, a site which you mentioned elsewhere under OP. Seems like a cool laptop, not gonna lie. It’s just a random one I picked. Let’s see what we can find on the other side:
- Well look at that? Better CPU and better battery, just all around a great package (it even has a mechanical keyboard?!). Furthermore. better warranty terms and possible to extend to 5 years (compared to a measly 1 year for the other laptop). Yes, it’s a significantly more expensive laptop. But, (for me) it’s clearly the superior deal especially when the Linux support is considered. You’re absolutely free to disagree though 😉.
Just my two cents… But my x1 carbon, running tumbleweed has been my single greatest Linux on laptop experience, ever… And I’ve used many different laptops over the years. System76, framework, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, hp, apple… My x1 has been absolutely amazing!
That’s very valuable! Thank you for mentioning that! To make it even more relevant to OP, I would like to pose the following questions:
- Which CPU?
- Which GPU?
- How has the battery life been? Consider both light and heavy use*
Thank you in advance!
Cpu is an i5, and I forget what specific model but I can check. My carbon is an older Gen 5. It also just uses the Cpu for graphics… No dedicated graphics card. Battery life is good concidering the age (the battery is still original, and I get probably 3 hrs with moderate use. My carbon also is the 8gb (ram) model. On this particular model the ram is soldered on, so upgrading isn’t an option (without replacing the board, obviously).
Now, for me… I use the machine for work. I’m a systems administrator and spend most of my time remotong into servers and end user machines… So the work load on the laptop is on the lighter side. I do have various vm’s that I spin up form time to time, but never more than one at a time.
Anyway, as I said before, it has been the single greatest Linux experience on a laptop I’ve ever had. Everything just works, and it’s been rock solid. I’ve been running this machine as a daily driver for work now for about three years.
Edit: Love the down vote, also. Makes me feel like this is reddit all over again. Lmao. Down vote for sharing an opinion of what’s been the best Linux on laptop experience I’ve ever had. Whoever down voted me… Can you correct me and tell me the correct answer for what has been the best Linux experience on a laptop? I’m obviously mistaken.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! I’m afraid it might not be very relevant as it’s a device that’s at least 6 years old by now 😅 (at least according to this source. Regardless, user experiences are valuable. And I’m glad to hear that the device has been working flawlessly for you so far 😊.
Love the down vote, also. Makes me feel like this is reddit all over again. Lmao. Down vote for sharing an opinion of what’s been the best Linux on laptop experience I’ve ever had.
Haters gonna hate, I guess. Don’t worry too much about it. The thread you’re in (so the one starting with my first reply under this post) also is the most controversial under this post. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some folks just down voted indiscriminately for… some reason…
As someone who frequents the laptop market, I’ll throw in my two-cents.
If you’re looking for value, don’t compromise on performance, buy refurbished.
While I’m certain it is definitely different from country to country, a refurbished laptop typically has more life to give in them.
I’d recommend business laptops, such as the Dell Latitudes or the Lenovo Thinkpads, but an M1 MacBook Air provides an absolutely shocking amount of performance for the price.
Checking sites like eBay or the pages of hardware resellers rather than big box stores is definitely where I’d go.
I will not compromise on the performance. I will definitively look to the refurbished units. The biggest issue we have here, it’s we are a small country and our own keyboard layout (the keyboard isn’t a real issue).
Thanks for the help.
True, M1 and even M2 macs have superb battery life. Fedora Asahi remix will still be pretty hacky though and have more problems. But a lot works now, it has opengl support, a FOSS rust driver for the GPU and more.
it’s easy to recommend a ThinkPad for Linux, and something in the T or P series laptops might suit you. video editing is a potential difficulty though, as that feels a little more workstation-grade than the rest, and you’ll probably want to go big on RAM (32GB would be best) and be sure to get at least an intel i7. I’ve not had great luck with battery life on AMD (shame because everything else is great) but perhaps others have tips for doing better.
you could also go for the ThinkPad yoga models (make sure they’re still ThinkPad though! they also sell a different model line just called “yoga”) if you wanted a tablet/convertible for graphics work.
anyway look at the T14, P14s, or P16 if you want something bigger. whatever the latest generation of those models is.
Lenovo build quality has been shit lately. My IT dept is constantly returning Thinkpads for various issues.
The state agency bureau I provide IT support for has had 10% (8 out of 80) of their new ThinkPads returned for warranty work, with several more showing signs of developing the same problem. The USB-C charging/data port broke on all of them.
I work in a computer repair shop and we rarely see any Thinkpads of any age.
Far from shit. And they have among the best warranty options in the biz
I constantly check out dell refurbished for deals on workstations. Pretty good Linux compatibility in my experience, workstation hardware, and they have 50% deals all the dang time. The precision line of workstations looks like it would meet your needs.
I’m still convinced the Dell Refurbished website isn’t real. Like why do they even bother selling crappy Celeron and Pentium systems when this website exists?
good battery life (I don’t want to worry about)
Define good battery life.
I’m fine with several hours of use. 6 hours would be great. The second point is to no worry about having no battery when I take out of my backpack. The second point is also depending on the OS. With all I read and people, I would look for 94Wh at least.
Dell XPS or Latitude or Precision, ThinkPad P or X, Framework, LG Gram, System76 and other linux-focused manufacturers, Asus Vivobook
My actual laptop is a Librem 14 by Purism and it is amazing!! I would recomend also checking https://system76.com/laptops , https://es.starlabs.systems/ and https://minifree.org/ These all come with linux, are made with coreboot or libreboot installed and are privacy and security oriented.
Too many choices to help narrow it down for you. But you need to keep your own workflow in mind when picking out your CPU and GPU, for the software compatibility.
I use Davinci Resolve for my video editing, one of the few Professional NLE officially supported on Linux. Intel’s iGPU is incompatible with the software at this time. There are hacks and unofficial patches which are pointed out on the arch wiki, but the work required isn’t easy.
If you are using Adobe software you might need more power so you can run Windows in a VM, or has up-gradable storage so you can comfortably dual boot.
Good Battery is an cross x86 issue. While Intel and AMD are now trying to compete with Apple Silicon in terms of power and battery life. Stand by battery drain is still an issue. Google “Windows Modern Standby” if you want to get informed. If I remember correctly the laptop needs to have S3 Sleep enabled on it, and it’s usually not specified on a spec sheet.
Another battery saving tool is a CPU limiter like Slimbook Battery. My Laptop has a terrible fan curve and I need to throttle the CPU back, else the machine overheats. But it’s also good for the battery life too.
Software support is down to the Package Manager. Flatpak is your friend for most of this, but if you wanna dive into the deep end, so is the AUR if you installed Arch.
USB-C Charging is down to the laptop manufacturer. Here is a good infographic on the ones you need to look for. Intel Laptops are a safe bet.
Do you know if the intel Xeon GPUs are also not working with Resolve?
Do you know if the intel Xeon GPUs are also not working with Resolve?
No clue. According to the arch wiki you need a nodded Intel computer runtime
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/DaVinci_Resolve#Installation
Do you know if the intel Xeon GPUs are also not working with Resolve?
if you want really really good battery life, a good laptop for that seems to be the T480 (8th gen intel).
It’s relatively cheap used and if you get the 24wh internal and 72wh external batteries you can get 96wh in total
Where do you live and what’s your budget?
Budget isn’t a real issue with 2.5k. I can go a little higher.
starlabs maybe?
