Hey everyone, I’m looking for a cheap, old laptop to put Linux on and mess around with. I mainly want to see if I can find replacement software for some of the stuff I do on my Windows desktop, but maybe also some light gaming with Steam and Heroic launcher. I’d like to get some opinions on what brands/models I should be looking for on Craiglist/Ebay/etc.? Thanks!
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Basically anything with AMD GPU or Intel GPU. You should avoid dual GPU systems as they’re known to have issues with Linux.
tell you want you DON’T want : two graphics processors/cards. Especially not nvidia/intel.
Ha and I’m looking at an AMD Radeon R5 M330 and Intel® HD Graphics 620 combo Lenovo right now I found on Craigslist. Why do you say to avoid it?
because it’s a pain to set up offloading “muxing”
https://lemmy.world/post/43248486/22192675
https://lemmy.world/post/43208560/22173597
Do some research into how well they play together with muxing. It’s AMD, but I’m not sure if it’s more on the motherboard or what.
Certain games offload better than others for me, so it’s not *exactly* the nvidia graphics card that’s to blame for me, but whatever.
I personally love old commercial laptops like Dell Latitudes and Lenovo ThinkPads. I’ve damn near decade old laptops still chugging away with nothing more than a fresh battery and an SSD upgrade
lenovo thinkpad T-series, hp elitebook, dell latitude. those are business laptops, premium build, durable, easily serviceable, upgradeable, cross-generation/model parts compatible and widely available because their owners (business entities) swap out their entire fleet every 3-5 years and flood the 2nd hand market.
If you’re just looking to experiment to see what software’s out there, if you can live without 3D acceleration, I’d probably recommend just setting up a VM on the desktop and running Linux in that.
If you’re wanting to use it on a semi-serious basis, kind of depends on what price range you’re wanting.
In the past, I’ve tended to use ThinkPads, which are not the cheapest brand out there, and are generally business-oriented rather than gaming -oriented. However, I prefer physical buttons, and they do have a built-in Synaptics trackpad with three physical buttons; Linux makes more use of the third button than does Windows, so this is convenient. They also had a long-running reputation for solid build quality (i.e. not having problems with hinges breaking or similar issues).
In general, I’ve been less-happy with newer ThinkPads, and last I looked, many no longer have physical buttons.
That may not matter to you if you don’t care about physical buttons or use a mouse/external trackpad/trackball or similar all the time with laptops.
ThinkPads also don’t typically have terribly bright screens, which again, may or may not matter to you.
and last I looked, many no longer have physical buttons.
Physical TrackPoint buttons have been back for over a decade at this point. The *40 series dropped them, but the *50/*41 brought them back. The latest two P1s got rid of them, but those sure aint what OP is goin for.
The what? goes to DuckDuckGo
Ohhhh. You mean the clit.
Trackpoint, nipple or clit. Depending on the company you keep.
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You can always set up dual boot on the windows desktop. Be warned though it is a slippery slope… I did that to test it out and then just didn’t log back in to windows.
yep, this is how I made my transition into linux
Set up dualbooting windows 7 and Linux.
I think I only booted into 7 once in the following year, to recover some stuff off the drive before nuking it.
You’ll probably want a second boot drive too. Windows updates like to eat GRUB sometimes.
Not booting up Windows means no updates. 🤷🏻♂️
Someday… someday.
I’ve got a beaut for you in my closet. A whole gigabyte of RAM and a whole gigahertz. $2, no low balling, I know what I have.
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