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Toot

Written by gjm on 2025-01-18 at 21:06

I need a new laptop and I'm fed up of Microsoft. I have two questions that I expect some people reading this know something about the answer to.

1. (Because I might run Linux on whatever I get.) What's the state of Linux-on-laptops these days? Can I buy a new laptop from a reputable vendor and expect that recent Linux versions will Just Work on it? Or is it still recommended to get a ThinkPad model that's at least a few years old? Are traditional problem areas (wifi? battery life? handoff between integrated and discrete GPU? suspend?) still problematic? Are there specific things I should avoid?

2. (Because I might get a Mac, and Macs can make quite a lot of memory available to the GPU.) Is it currently possible to do anything genuinely useful with LLMs small enough to run within (say) 20GB? 40GB? If so, what, and how well?

In both cases, reports from actual experience are particularly welcome, but "I know someone who did X and here's how it went" is fine too...

Many thanks in advance!

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Descendants

Written by Colin the Mathmo on 2025-01-18 at 21:35

@gjm My last three laptops have all been bought with Linux pre-installed and everything running perfectly well. They're slightly more expensive, but when I had a problem with one of them the company was very responsive.

Collect more answers, and come back to me if you'd like to know more.

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Written by Colin the Mathmo on 2025-01-18 at 21:48

@gjm For reference:

https://www.entroware.com/

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Written by gjm on 2025-01-18 at 21:54

@ColinTheMathmo Thanks! I had somehow not heard of Entroware before. Definitely worth checking out. (Initial impression: I think I would probably be dissatisfied with the displays on their laptops, but if that's the worst problem then they're still worth considering.)

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Written by Colin the Mathmo on 2025-01-18 at 22:00

@gjm I've bought 2 from them. The service has been exemplary, and the machines are as advertised.

What is it about the displays that gives you concern?

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Written by gjm on 2025-01-18 at 23:20

@ColinTheMathmo Low resolution. (Highest seems to be 1920x1200.) I suspect that since they aren't offering anything higher-resolution they are aiming for a customer base that doesn't care much about display quality so they may also be not-great in other ways, but that's only guesswork.

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Written by Colin the Mathmo on 2025-01-18 at 23:28

@gjm Gotcha ... I find 19x12 perfectly fine for my use, but I know some people prefer higher.

My experience with putting Linux on higher end machines has been spotty. I had one where I never could get the audio to work, and another where the mouse would occasionally freeze. Probably both could have been fixed with enough Linux knowledge, but I didn't have it, and didn't have the time to acquire it.

Broadly, most things "just work", but there will probably be a few niggles. People will help, but it will be a time sink.

Different flavours of Linux have different success rates, and there are more problems if you use more recent, higher-spec machines.

But I suspect you already know all this.

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Written by gjm on 2025-01-19 at 00:04

@ColinTheMathmo "Know" would be too strong; I haven't closely followed the state of Linux on laptops. But it fits pretty well with my expectations based on general vibes :-).

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