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Shibblet
July 3rd, 2019, 09:55 PM
I know there is a laptop compatibility list, but I would like to hear some ideas from the Ubuntu community directly.

I am looking for a Laptop in the $500 rage. Doesn't have to be new. It will be running Ubuntu (or a flavor of) exclusively, so compatibility is a must.

What I really would like to know, is what kind of laptops you have, and what you like and dislike about them. Something more than an Amazon 5-1 Star Review which mostly consists of people complaining about service and such. Personal likes, dislikes, and such.

Thanks!

wildmanne39
July 4th, 2019, 12:43 AM
Thread moved to The Cafe a more appropriate sub-forum.

cruzer001
July 4th, 2019, 01:43 AM
$500 will buy a lot of computer used/refurbish.

For that kind of money I would expect 17 inch screen; i7 4core processor; dual SSDs (or ssd+hdd); DVD; 16 gig of RAM; lighted keyboard; bluetooth; high end video card. Thats how my last Dell came equipped from eBay purchase of $450.

Currently on a HP. i7 4core; 8G ram; SSD; DVD; bluetooth, 14 inch screen and crappy keyboard light. eBay $125 (I removed dvd, installed 2nd ssd)

Also have ran Lenovo. Again eBay last one i5 4core;8G;SSD; bla,bla. eBay $200

Got a $20 laptop in the closet for backup. A Sony running Budgie.

I find used/refurbish laptops an excellent way to go. On eBay only buy from top rated sellers and product is either like new or grade A condition. Don't know if you can swing free returns being in Alaska.

mastablasta
July 4th, 2019, 03:08 PM
if refurbished/used get the so called business models. they usually support linux out of the box, sometimes they are even preinstalled with linux by manufacturers.

cruzer001
July 4th, 2019, 03:50 PM
if refurbished/used get the so called business models.
Excellent point
Business models get top quality parts, economy (home) models get whats left over.

kurt18947
July 5th, 2019, 01:16 AM
Excellent point
Business models get top quality parts, economy (home) models get whats left over.
What's left over or what's cheapest, no matter how non-standard. Hardware that's common makes for trouble free Linux installs, oddball hardware makes for lots of posts on 'help me' forums. I'm a proponent of corporate trade-ins. Large companies do hardware refreshes every few years even though existing hardware might be working great. Many or most ex-corporate machnes on Ebay are sold without hard drives because the previous owners don't want to risk data loss. Replacement hard drives/better yet SSDs are pretty inexpensive. I've bought a few Thinkpads and had to return one due to faulty keyboard. It was a free return no hassles. My travel machine is a Thinkpad X201 that's probably 7 years old or so. It does everything I need it to do and I think I paid about $120 for it.

One of the useful things about Ubuntu is that if one does not install proprietary drivers (nVidia etc.) you can take a hard driving containing an Ubuntu install, install it in another machine and it will work as expected. If one machine's hardware becomes unreliable, remove the drive and mount it in a different machine. That's one reason I have more than one similar Thinkpad. If one becomes unreliable I use another machine. I could (and did) buy several refurbs for the price of one new machine.

Shibblet
July 8th, 2019, 11:53 PM
$500 will buy a lot of computer used/refurbish.

For that kind of money I would expect 17 inch screen; i7 4core processor; dual SSDs (or ssd+hdd); DVD; 16 gig of RAM; lighted keyboard; bluetooth; high end video card. Thats how my last Dell came equipped from eBay purchase of $450.

Currently on a HP. i7 4core; 8G ram; SSD; DVD; bluetooth, 14 inch screen and crappy keyboard light. eBay $125 (I removed dvd, installed 2nd ssd)

Also have ran Lenovo. Again eBay last one i5 4core;8G;SSD; bla,bla. eBay $200

Got a $20 laptop in the closet for backup. A Sony running Budgie.

I find used/refurbish laptops an excellent way to go. On eBay only buy from top rated sellers and product is either like new or grade A condition. Don't know if you can swing free returns being in Alaska.

Great deal you got there... Now I am starting to rethink the $500 price range. However, I could always use a high-end video card...

I am concerned a bit with purchases on eBay. What happens if you get something you didn't agree on? I'm not much of an eBay'er my self. I have had friends tell me that Pay-Pal backs up any of your purchases, so you can return them if they are broken, or do not work. I'm a bit more concerned with someone saying "Great Condition" but the cover looks like Wolverine just finished chopping vegetables on it.

cruzer001
July 9th, 2019, 07:26 AM
What happens if you get something you didn't agree on?
That's why I buy from top rated sellers. I have not had a problem with top sellers and I been a eBay customer for 10+ years. Usually its no questions asked on a return. And I do look for free returns (that includes shipping).

I'm not much of an eBay'er my self.
The people I sell my eBay bought products to are usually anti-ebay :) That's why I go through so many computers, buy and sell. When I sell my HP it will be in the $450 range and then back to eBay for the next one or two.

I have had friends tell me that Pay-Pal backs up any of your purchases
Yes, PayPal will give out full refunds. Something I never had to use. Again top rated sellers cover their own returns, so PayPal is just extra insurance. On returns, read the fine print. Look for $0 restocking feed also.

I'm a bit more concerned with someone saying "Great Condition" but the cover looks like Wolverine just finished chopping vegetables on it.
Top sellers are companies and not just a person with one laptop to sell. I recently sent one back because it had one pixel burnt out on the screen. When a seller says like new or grade "A" then thats what I expect. Also any defects will be usually stated in the fine print. If it doesn't look like it came fresh from the factory then I don't want it. That's another thing you will find on eBay, factory certified refurbished sellers that will sell product cheaper than the manufacture will.

Since your new at this don't bother bidding on products. That's where the pro's are and they know the ropes. The real bidding doesn't start till the last 60 seconds of product sale. So go for the "buy now" products and save yourself the grief, thats what I usually do. However I did bid on the HP and won the bid, thats why it was so cheap. The others were bought outright.

Another thing, warranties are usually offered by third party vendors. Read the fine print. A $20 one year contract sounds real good till you find out that its parts only. Or you get a full coverage contract only to find out that it gets shipped to Japan for repair and you don't see your computer for two months. That happen to me once :(

Also there are a variety of ways to search ebay. Not everything gets covered under one search for the same product.

Well I think that covers the basics. Good luck :)

mastablasta
July 9th, 2019, 10:17 AM
lately here the new ones they sell all have only one SSD, windows 10 home preinstalled and the disk size is 256GB. i am not sure how in the world thi sis enough. especially for the 900 EUR "gaming" PC. i mean games these days take up 50 GB or more. so you have the OS, the restore points and update stuff, 8GB or so for the pagefile, some software, you add 2 or 3 games and you are full.

arkmundi
July 12th, 2019, 05:10 PM
I have used a Dell Inspiron forever now it seems.... https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sc/laptops/inspiron-laptops ... various sizes. Great laptop, no complaints, has always loaded an Ubuntu install. Good luck.

jiminkim
July 16th, 2019, 09:31 AM
Leading the way from the front is the Dell Inspiron 3580 laptop which packs all the latest set of hardware inside. The design of the new Inspiron series of laptops has been tweaked slightly to make it look fresh, but it still looks mostly the same and reminds of older chunky looking Dell laptops. The whole laptop is finished in a black color which gives it a professional look and feel. The keyboard on this laptop is also great with ergonomic key placements, but it is not backlit enabled which might stop a few of you from buying this laptop.


Apart from that, the Dell Inspiron 3580 is a very feature-rich laptop. It provides all sorts of ports and slots that you will need to connect different peripheral devices. As far as performance of this laptop is concerned, the laptop runs Windows 10 out of the box, and it runs buttery smooth on this laptop, all thanks to newest 8th Gen Intel Core i5 Whiskey Lake processor and its 8GB of RAM. For storage, this laptop provides 1TB of HDD which provides decent amount of space to store all your data on this laptop.


Overall, this is one of the best laptop under $500 to buy right now with powerful hardware, professional looking design and up to 5 hours of battery backup.

Shibblet
July 18th, 2019, 04:56 AM
Found this at a local store this evening marked at $229.95 instead of it's standard retail price.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/windows-laptops/notebook-flash/notebook-flash-np530xbb-k05us/

How do I know if Ubuntu will run well on this?

mastablasta
July 18th, 2019, 12:51 PM
Apart from that, the Dell Inspiron 3580 is a very feature-rich laptop. It provides all sorts of ports and slots that you will need to connect different peripheral devices. As far as performance of this laptop is concerned, the laptop runs Windows 10 out of the box, and it runs buttery smooth on this laptop, all thanks to newest 8th Gen Intel Core i5 Whiskey Lake processor and its 8GB of RAM. For storage, this laptop provides 1TB of HDD which provides decent amount of space to store all your data on this laptop.
.

wow. anything with i5 is not sold below 730 EUR here (little 800 USD). maybe if there is some action they will have it for 600 or 650 EUR. R5 ones are slightly over 500 EUR

@ arkmundi

it is hard to say, unless you find someone on line that already tried it and reported about it or complained.

especially these low end laptops are often (but not always) problematic.

just saw they sell Dell G3 15–3579 gaming laptop : G3 15-3579 i5-8300H/8GB/SSD256GB/GTX1050/15,6FHD/Linux for 805 EUR
Ubuntu 16.04 is preloaded.

wish i had the money.

kannidet
July 19th, 2019, 01:00 PM
What are the minimum requirements for a gaming laptop now?

mastablasta
July 20th, 2019, 05:13 PM
i would say they usually start with Core i5 or Ryzen 5 and a good discrete GPU chip. nvidia MX150 at leats, but then GTX1050 is better. some versions of Radeon vega in Ryzen will also do. i haven't expored much but maybe Vega 8 ?

Intel GPU chips should run older games. maybe 7, 8 years old FPS.