I currently have a low end Windows gaming laptop that I was planning to upgrade to Linux before Win10 goes end of life, but my HDMI port stopped working, so now I’m debating buying a new Linux laptop instead. Can anyone provide any recommendations?
I would prefer to have something preloaded with linux. On my current laptop I don’t play anything too demanding because it can’t handle it, instead I either stream more demanding games from my desktop or Xbox. I would likely run a VM with Windows because I need to use MS Office for school and I assume I could use that for streaming Xbox games as well.
I would prefer something that can handle a moderate game load without going nuts on fan noise. I would like to have a decent amount of storage (at least 1-2 TB), so either preloaded with that or easily upgradeable would be important.
I’m still figuring out my budget, it depends on what happens with work this summer. I will either be looking for something below $1k or possibly up to $2k if it seems worthwhile. I haven’t really used Linux very much before and not at all in the last 10 years. Any ideas?
Maybe the Framework 13. I’d suggest an AMD APU. Something with the 7840U/HS or the 8840U/HS. It’s iGPU is very potent. Use the Bazzite OS and OnlyOffice with Microsoft fonts installed is a fantastic MS Office alternative.
How’s the battery life?
I’m planning on getting one but I’ve heard the battery life is only decent if you use windows and abysmal if you use Linux.
I don’t know personally either. I’ve been doing some research to get a FW13 to put Linux on it, and from what I can see the biggest battery life issues are due to standby power management in Linux not being great. It looks like “fixing” that requires jumping through a lot of not-so-well documented hoops. I’m still not sure about battery life differences under load.
If it’s just hibernate/suspend not working well, I got used to that with a work thinkpad I had with Ubuntu. For my use, it was a little annoying but I was happy to deal with it because I could daily drive Linux
I don’t know personally as I don’t have a FW13. I would like one. I just have experience with the other stuff. Look on the FW forums, it’s quite active.