I think I’ve read in Lemmy somewhere that the T14 notebooks should be avoided is they come with letters after the T14. I’m thinking of buying a T14s G5. It has to be new as we get tax deduction (will be at the reception of small local museum). What do people this of this notebook. I’ll end up installing Linux on it. I was thinking of going DELL as I’ve been running various latitudes over the years without major problems but looks like people are not fond of DELL + Linux. Any thoughts?
Unfortunately, I can’t really comment about that specific device. Regardless, I’d reckon the following is worth noting:
- ThinkPads (and to a lesser extent the Dell’s Precision/Latitude line of devices) are (generally-speaking) the best supported laptops on Linux. We can e.g. see this when software like TLP has exclusive features to ThinkPads-only.
- Linux-specific vendors like NovaCustom, Star Labs, System76 and TUXEDO are cool. But, they have to do a lot to catch-up. Some of them don’t even have an entry within ArchWiki’s entry on laptops.
- While not a Linux-first vendor (at least initially), Framework has been picking up a lot of steam. Definitely deserving a mention alongside the others.
Anecdotally, I’ve moved from HP to ThinkPad and there’s a very clear difference. To name one of my many frustrations with HP, my battery died every year or so on Linux. That’s just ridiculous. By contrast, the experience on ThinkPad has been absolutely glorious. It’s clearly meant to offer a first-class Linux experience.
I have been using T14s Gen 6 (AMD) for over a year now and it works perfectly
The “s” suffix is for Slim, which you don’t really need if it’s used at a desk in a fixed position. S series generally are lighter, slimmer (eh) and harder to repair / more fragile. That said, when careful, these are slim, elegant professional machines with excellent Linux support.
I think the thinkpad T14 series is pretty mainstream for linux - except for the Gen6 snapdragon one. Arch wiki thinks the gen5 will work
I had a top of the line Dell (precision 5520) that I bought with Ubuntu on it, so it ran linux very well. But there were quality issues, mainly the battery swelling up and making the keyboard stop working. Then the screws for the case fell out and the hinge kind of broke, and the power connector stopped working, as did its replacement. I think you aren’t really supposed to work on the dells yourself as it had special screws, not plain philips heads.
Maintainability on thinkpads is better, in general. And I like the way the computer feels more - just better design.
