My current laptop, the Lenovo ideapad S540 which I bought around 2019, is about five years old. It is broken - and I figured out that repairing is just not worth it:

  • The two speakers are blown up, thanks to the shoddy repair done two years ago, when I sent them to repair the melted BIOS/UEFI ROM
  • About two month ago, I had to replace the DC jack four times in a span of few weeks (the new one works fine, however, but I don’t trust it)
  • The battery is dead, I’ve tried searching for the same on the entire internet but to no success, and I’m at the mercy of a continuous power-supply, which is not a thing in my country
  • The top panel (which houses the keyboard) was swapped recently, and was also an expensive replacement, but the new one is of an inferior quality, so one of my keys has a key-cap with a permanent damage

I am looking for a new laptop now, but since I can’t afford to buy a good one, I am considering to buy something cheaper with a loan of some sort. Here’s a few constraints I had in my mind - they’re not hard constraints:

  • Linux-compatible
  • 16GB of RAM - no more, no less
  • 512GB or 1TB of SSD - no more, no less
  • No CPU + dGPU - I’m looking for a CPU+iGPU/APU combo (I’d rather have a good iGPU than a bad iGPU + dGPU combo)
  • AMD Ryzen processors preferably (I’m sick of Intel, and my experience with AMD Athlon, despite being a weaker CPU, was pretty good)
  • Specifically the Phoenix (7040 series) lineup, but also open to HawkPoint (8000), Barcelo-R (7030 series) and Rembrandt-R (7035)
  • Don’t want the half-soldered + half-socketed “RAM Flex mode” config seen in most Intel-based laptops - it should be either completely soldered, or completely socketed - I would appreciate the latter, however
  • Don’t care about the thickness
  • Also, don’t care about the weight as long as it’s not heavy like some of those laptops that come with a metal panel (like my present laptop)
  • USB-C based charger would be preferred
  • RJ-45 port not a must, but would love to have one for convenience
  • Will prefer a almost-no-bezel design
  • WiFi driver should come with 5GHz support
  • No fingerprint drivers (I have one, has no driver on Linux, so I’d rather avoid it)
  • Comes with a web-cam shutter (physical or hardware-based, does not matter)

For now, I think that the target laptop should come with either the 7440U or the 7540U. 8440U and 8540U would be nice too, but they’re probably going to be expensive, and won’t be available, since they were launched about a month ago. But since Phoenix-based laptops are still not available even in 2024, I am open to looking for a 7330U (so far, haven’t seen any 16GB config with this APU) and 7530U-based laptop. I am still skeptical of Intel-based laptops, but I am open to recommendations.

  • CaptainPedantic@lemmy.world
    8·
    7 months ago

    I can’t offer a specific recommendation, other than to get a used laptop instead of new. Since price is an issue for you, buying used will help a lot.

    Late last year, I bought a low spec Dell XPS 13 from 2019 for $300 USD from a local used electronics shop. New, this laptop would have been about $1,000. The battery isn’t great, but I can get a replacement from iFixit for $100 if I feel like it. The screen is excellent. The CPU is… fine for my use case. RAM is subpar (8 gigs) and soldered (gross), but on Linux it hasn’t a problem. I upgraded the NVMe SSD from 256 gig to 1 Tb for $60.

    eBay likely has a lot of decent options for used laptops. You can look for enterprise grade hardware too. Enterprise grade stuff tends to have replacement part support more than consumer grade stuff.

    Good luck!

    Edit: You can also look at factory refurbished stuff too! Just check frequently since availability changes rapidly.

    • velox_vulnus@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      3·
      7 months ago

      I did, actually. They’re pretty expensive, and cost more than the present device I am using. I got my Lenovo ideapad S540 for around ₹65k. StarBook Mk VI sells their cheapest Intel config at ₹1,01,716 - after the discount, it goes down to ₹88,972 plus shipping. I was looking for something as low as ₹30-40k. The MSI Modern 14 C7M-062IN seems to be around the price I was looking for, albeit a little on the expensive end - it cost about ₹64,990, but after a discount, it goes down to ₹44,990. The 15-inch variant - the MSI Modern 15 B7M-071IN - costs about ₹65,990, and goes down to ₹45,990 on discount. Although I like 15-inch, on second thought, I like the keyboard configuration for the 14-inch MSI Modern. But yes, MSI’s after-sale service sucks here - it’s horrible, perhaps, even worse than Lenovo or HP.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
    94·
    7 months ago

    You probably can’t wait til June, but your options will get better in June when windows 10 reaches end of life.

  • hperrin@lemmy.world
    61·
    7 months ago

    This one might be what you’re looking for. I’ve got a similar 13 inch model and I really like it.

    acer Swift Edge 16 Thin and Light Business Laptop 16" 4K OLED CineCrystal 400 nits AMD Octa-core Ryzen 7 7735U (Beats i7-1255u) 16GB RAM 1TB SSD Fingerprint Backlit FHD Camera Win11 Gray + HDMI Cable https://a.co/d/dYBuMki

    It doesn’t have all your wants, but most.

    • velox_vulnus@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      7 months ago

      It’s a Rembrandt-R based APU, but actually, it’s not that bad, and I could consider that - it is way better than a Barcelo-R, but kinda lags behind when it comes to Phoenix - perhaps, I should have included it in my post. Does the fingerprint work on Linux - I hope that it’s not a Shenzen Goodix driver? And I also like the charger. But too bad they’re not still not available in India. I’m gonna have to check for newer laptop launch dates - who knows, maybe they’ll be available around mid-Jan? Oh yes, the display is a bit too much - I am fine with 1080p. I can also live with a slightly larger SSD, so that’s not an issue.

      • hperrin@lemmy.world
        2·
        7 months ago

        The fingerprint reader on mine works, but I can’t say whether they used the same model reader.

  • LMNjuice@lemmy.world
    4·
    7 months ago

    Look for Thinkpad T480 (not the T480s, it’s the “upgrade” but they changed a lot of things like no ethernet, non-removable battery, and generally in my opinion a bunch of bad changes). It’s Intel, I don’t think there’s an AMD version, and it’s about 5 years old now so they’re all second hand, and pretty cheap. It worked well with Ubuntu when I tried that (had to change to windows for work reasons). It has a fingerprint sensor, but I found it extremely difficult to make work on Ubuntu, and so it’s good that you aren’t bothered about that.

    I genuinely think it fits all in some way all of your requirements, it’s just whether you’ve got availability where you are.

  • kurcatovium@lemm.eeEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    Check out HP ProBook 455 G10, it should check most of what you want. Not sure about price, though. My colleague has model 2 generations back and uses openSUSE on it without problems.

  • chris@l.roofo.cc
    2·
    7 months ago

    If you have budget constraints why not go for a used computer. I recently picked up a really nice used Dell XPS 15 for under 400€. Going cutting edge with budget constraints is rarely a good idea. Good hardware from a few years ago might outperform current budget hardware. What you should look into though is of it has recent bios support (I know Dell XPS are very good in that regard).

  • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 months ago

    Have you checked for “factory refurbished” of whatever laptop you want? I’ve had very good luck getting refurbished electronics, from the manufacturer. I’ve never bought 3rd party refurbished.

    A couple years ago I ended up paying $180 for a basic Acer Aspire 5, $100 for a 1TB SDD, and $75 for 32GB of RAM. I felt it was a deal at the time, as it was a 1 year old laptop.

  • themoonisacheese@sh.itjust.works
    54·
    7 months ago

    Have you taken a look at the steam deck? For its price it’s a really good deal (they expect to be selling you games, of course) hardware-wise.

    • velox_vulnus@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      Unfortunately, my use-case isn’t gaming, but more specifically, programming, compiling stuff on local machine and sometimes when I’m in the mood, then I love to play retro games made for Famicon and GameBoy Color.

        • makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml
          31·
          7 months ago

          I have an X1 carbon, for almost exact use case as OP, and I’m looking at the SD for a second dev machine. Perfect for retro gaming, and a general purpose computer at that.

        • makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml
          12·
          7 months ago

          I have an X1 carbon, for almost exact use case as OP, and I’m looking at the SD for a second dev machine. Perfect for retro gaming, and a general purpose computer at that.

      • PixelAlchemist@lemmy.world
        1·
        7 months ago

        As nitefox said already, you can start the steam deck on desktop mode and it’s already running Linux with KDE. My first thought when I read your post was also that Steam Deck could be exactly what you need. Plus they just refreshed it with better thermals, battery life, and display. A usb c dock would get you a pretty decent dev machine on a budget. Plus it’s great for retro gaming.

        • velox_vulnus@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          The base model for Steam Deck (64GB) is around ₹55,990. After discount, it goes down to ₹47,990, so it is quite expensive.

      • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
        1·
        7 months ago

        The steam deck is running arch Linux, if it matches the specs you need, and you don’t need the laptop form factor, it’s probably a very decent dev machine in docked mode.