this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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I think the XPS 13 is a nice device.
For reference: I think your mistake was buying a Lenovo laptop without the word "ThinkPad" in the name. There are Lenovo Thinkpad something devices. They are (usually) more likely to support Linux. And there are Lenovo comsumer devices and they're a mixed bag.
This is what I came here to say. Specifically the T, P, & W series ThinkPads. I’ve never had issues with Ubuntu or Fedora on any of those. Unfortunately, Lenovo’s been “diluting” the brand with things like the ThinkPad Yoga line.
Agree to disagree. My laptop is in fact a ThinkPad Yoga 460. And I'm quite happy with it! What's the issue with that line? I mean there are also Yogas without the ThinkPad, which makes it confusing. But I just skip past the showcased laptops that don't have the nipple mouse. And I've talked to my dealer a few years after I bought that device and he told me lots of other customers had hardware issues. So I think there are some quality issues, but that is a known problem also for other ThinkPads since after the IBM times.
Not saying there’s a problem with them, just like you said: it’s confusing the product lines. ThinkPad is/was a business laptop that’s expected to be durable and pretty widely compatible. Hence its long history of Linux compatibility. I haven’t messed with any of the Yogas, ThinkPad or otherwise, but I’ve played with quite a few of the series I mentioned. I was just qualifying my statement that I’ve not seen Linux compatibility issues with T, P, & W series.
Ok, I get it. That is my opinion, too. I have some friends who use Linux and in the good old times we had lots of Thinkpad T, L and X2x0 on the desk. I think this is only my second one. I usually use them until they completely break down. Currently I'm waiting for the Yoga to die. The Battery is long gone, the display started to flicker for like 2 months and then it resumed working correctly, I can't upgrade that damn 8GB of DDR3L RAM without spending $200 and it's comparatively slow. But it still runs after 7 years. I think I'm getting the a Framework laptop next, the one with the Ryzen processor seems quite nice. Or a refurbished newer Thinkpad or Dell.
I used to love Thinkpad laptops up until Lenovo bought the line - build quality dropped off a cliff after that. I've avoided them since then so I can't comment on their current build qualities except to say they used to be built stronger than those toughbooks with handles.
I’ve had good ones and meh ones. In terms of build quality, the X1 Carbon gen3 I got ages ago was outstanding in most respects (including how easy it is to get the back off), but the memory is unfortunately soldered and the CPU is decidedly mid-field, and it was a refurb so I couldn’t really up-spec it. The T14 gen2 (AMD) I got a couple years ago and use as a personal dev machine these days has WAY better hardware (Ryzen7 5850U; 16g soldered + 16g SODIMM), but the build quality is not as nice and the back is WAY more of a pain to get off (fucking plastic clip sections).
I’ve had no real issues with either in terms of Linux compatibility; I’ve installed various distros on both of them, but generally have settled on to Ubuntu or Fedora for long periods. The old X1 is back to windows now though, simply because I am repairing and modifying a car with an OBD-II port, and it’s way simpler to use pretty much any automotive diagnostic software from a windows platform, and I wasn’t using it for anything else.
Edit: also my old IBM T60p from college - iirc one of the last ones they made before Lenovo bought them. Bloody thing just refuses to die lol
I had a X61, I think that was shortly after Lenovo started building them and still very much like the models before. But that was a long long time ago.