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Budget laptop

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pawRoot
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Budget laptop

#1 Post by pawRoot »

Hi

My brother wants to learn linux (Debian), he has MacBook Pro but wants another laptop to try Debian on it.

Anybody know any laptop worth recommending in the price range 300-500 euro ? would be nice if it's easy to replace HDD with SSD, also would be nice if it wouldnt require extra configuration, non-free firmware etc.

Thanks

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Hallvor
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Re: Budget laptop

#2 Post by Hallvor »

Check out second hand HP Elitebooks, or maybe Lenovo Thinkpads. Look for versions with Intel HD Graphics. These will work out of the box. You may still need to install firmware-iwlwifi, but that should be it.

You can get them well within your budget, so there should be room to add a new SSD as well.
[HowTo] Install and configure Debian bookworm
Debian 12 | KDE Plasma | ThinkPad T440s | 4 × Intel® Core™ i7-4600U CPU @ 2.10GHz | 12 GiB RAM | Mesa Intel® HD Graphics 4400 | 1 TB SSD

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Re: Budget laptop

#3 Post by pawRoot »

Unfortunately i don't like to buy second hand, but thanks.

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Re: Budget laptop

#4 Post by Hallvor »

pawRoot wrote:Unfortunately i don't like to buy second hand, but thanks.
Neither do I, but I prefer a second hand quality computer and Debian stable over poor build quality, backporting drivers, tinkering and cursing. ;)
[HowTo] Install and configure Debian bookworm
Debian 12 | KDE Plasma | ThinkPad T440s | 4 × Intel® Core™ i7-4600U CPU @ 2.10GHz | 12 GiB RAM | Mesa Intel® HD Graphics 4400 | 1 TB SSD

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4D696B65
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Re: Budget laptop

#5 Post by 4D696B65 »

I bought a factory refurbished Thinkpad T420 with intel i5 a few years ago. It looked and ran like brand new.

KBD47
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Re: Budget laptop

#6 Post by KBD47 »

4D696B65 wrote:I bought a factory refurbished Thinkpad T420 with intel i5 a few years ago. It looked and ran like brand new.
Same here, plus a X220. Can't recommend Thinkpads enough. Easy to work on/upgrade, only need iwlwifi driver and they work out of the box with Debian.

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Re: Budget laptop

#7 Post by pawRoot »

Gonna give T420 a try, thanks all.

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debiman
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Re: Budget laptop

#8 Post by debiman »

pawRoot wrote:Unfortunately i don't like to buy second hand, but thanks.
this is BS. GNU/Linux works best on matured hardware.
brand new == trouble with linux.
also, a refurbished computer also is a second hand computer.

also, how do you know your precious warranty (the nr.1 argument for buying new) isn't voided by installing linux?

imo you can go well below 300€ and get a pleasant debian experience, complete with modern www browsing with media and whatnot.

or, as a friend used to say: i'd never buy a new car. the simple act of buying it (!) reduces its value by 10, 20%. same goes for computers.

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Re: Budget laptop

#9 Post by pawRoot »

After looking at reviews on Amazon it looks like those refurbished Thinkpads are looking like brand new.
Normally i don't buy second hand i don't care if you think it's bullshit or not.
If i was to buy a car i would buy a new one aswell.

Awesomegamer656
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Re: Budget laptop

#10 Post by Awesomegamer656 »

Pi-top! its somewhere around 50$, so its cheap!
my life sucks, so does my computer :.(

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Re: Budget laptop

#11 Post by MALsPa »

debiman wrote:GNU/Linux works best on matured hardware.
brand new == trouble with linux.
That's certainly been my experience.

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Re: Budget laptop

#12 Post by debiman »

Awesomegamer656 wrote:Pi-top! its somewhere around 50$, so its cheap!
where?
looks a bit different here:
https://pi-top.com/products/pi-top/

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