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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Which new laptop under $300 with upgradeable parts should I be looking at? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Hi,

A problem I have been coming up against is that a lot of the newer, budget Windows laptop (which I will immediately replace with my distribution of choice upon receipt) have memory soldered on the motherboard. This is a decision which brings the utmost distate to my mouth; I'm looking for budget laptops around the $300 mark (new) that let me upgrade their parts. Which models should I be looking at?

I am aware that the used market is fairly decent right now but I'd like to take a look at what's coming up alongside looking at used gear. Thanks.

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[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago (3 children)

The last thing you should be worrying about when buying a budget laptop is the expandability of the ram. it seriously doesn't matter if you only have 4gb, Linux is so lightweight it runs completely fine.

imo you should be worrying about:

display quality (even some ips displays look horrible)
build quality (physically feel the keyboard, chassis flex, etc)
battery life (for heavily used laptops account for the price of a replacement. for old thinkpads you can extend it dramatically with bigger bstteries)
cpu speed (core count, single core performance, hyperthreading, etc. new celerons lose to i5s from 2013 lmao)
storage (MAKE SURE IT'S NOT EMMC!!)

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I would say 8GB of RAM is the absolute minimum you should consider buying for desktop Linux now. With 4GB, you need a lightweight distro if you want enough RAM left to run a web browser without swapping.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And don’t forget that someone running Linux might need to have a Windows VM for some situations. So you need to have at least 8Gb of RAM to be able to allocate 4Gb to this Virtual Machine.

Otherwise if you just use Linux 4 might be enough but really limiting.

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I agree that it's limiting, but I'd argue that the other things I mentioned are more limiting.

my point isn't that 4gb of ram is fine, it's that the other things i mentioned are worse.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah I agree that a nice SSD, a good display, etc are also really important.

For me, my Surface Go 1 with a 128Gb SSD is the minimum in 2024.

I bought it in 2019 and I can clearly see myself using it for at least 5 more years if Linux doesn’t become way more resource hungry.

[–] meekah@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Yup, KDE is out of the question with 4gb

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

i run kde6 with 4gb though

[–] meekah@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

The last time I tried kde5 it was a horrible experience. It ran but was super laggy. Maybe kde6 improved ram usage?

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

really? my kde laptop manages fine with 4gb with a few heavy ff tabs open

[–] matcha_addict@lemy.lol 6 points 7 months ago

4 GB RAM is not enough if you plan on using multiple tabs on a browser. And I don't mean a ridiculous number of tabs. You might run out from 4 tabs or so.

[–] MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Thanks for the comment, but my workflow will require some RAM. I'll look towards the older thinkpads, thanks!