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[Question] What laptop to get?
(self.linux)
So, I'm finally getting around to buying a Linux first laptop. I'm familiar with Macbooks, and so far liked them. I've also live stick used Fedora w/ KDE (though Gnome might fit too) and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and liked them.
But I do want to have more freedom and privacy. My most important considerations are:
- The laptop is European (or at least, not from the US, unlikely to go Chinese either).
- Good specs for gaming (if need be I could virtualise for playing Mac games). I don't play shooter games, but do play Paradox games which iirc are more CPU heavy. Edit: the most intense user case is probably Cyberpunk 2077. I have no idea what makes a good processor - at least with SSDs and the like it's clear that 'higher number = better'. For me, battery life is important, as well screen resolution, clock speed, and graphic card and processor.
- Looks - I like the Macbook touch and feel. I don't want a numpad.
The four main laptops I'm considering are in no particular order:
- Star Labs (Starbook Horizon or Starfighter). British. Lookswise they are a great match but the specs I'm not sure. How well would they hold up to an Intel Macbook Pro from 2017?
- Tuxedo (Infinitybook Pro 14 or 15) Bit more well-known German brand.
- Slimbook (most likely the Evo). Spanish brand. Seems more customisable but again, I do not know shit with graphic cards and processors.
- Novacustom (PrivacyGuard V54). Dutch brand. Not a fan of the tiny ass arrow keys. 7 hours for battery life is also not much, imo.
If any of you know something better, please do tell!
As someone running Debian on an old MacBook Pro from 2012, MacBooks are not Linux first. You can run it on all but the newest M-series, but be warned you're likely to encounter some broadcom driver issues with the wifi/bluetooth. They can be fixed, then they may break again with some random kernel update. It's not a fire and forget solution.
Have you looked at Framework yet? Linux friendly, designed to be upgradeable and user-repairable. Definitely plan to buy a Framework for my next laptop (ideally once ram/storage prices stabilize)
For the M* series I haven't noticed wifi/bluetooth issues but it's an entirely different platform that requires a custom kernel and it has a different set of quirks. Overall the hardware is really nice aesthetically and the processing power is good, but you have to put up with Apple's bullshit.
Yup, I noticed wifi and bluetooth issues as well when running Linux on my Intel macbook.
RE Framework: I did check it. It looks nice, but it is American and I'm a bit wary of whether they have ties to rabidly right-wing tech bros, considering the Hyprland controversy.
Framework sponsors a lot of open source projects, the Hyprland controversy is overplayed IMO and they aren't really worse than mainstream brands