Laptop for my son

[u/Abject_Chard5633]

I am looking for a second hand, very affordable laptop where I can install Mint Cinammon for my son. I am utterly clueless about models, brands, specifications. Any tips on which models I could look for, or on what are the specs I should look for? Any feedback is welcome.

[u/Blue-Jay27]

What do you want him to be able to use the laptop for? How long do you expect it to last him?

[u/Abject_Chard5633 → u/Blue-Jay27]

Not gaming. Just a tool to write essays, surf the Internet, things like that. And at least 3 years.

[u/Sufficient_Ad7816]

Stay away from celerons. They are way notoriouly underpowered

[u/tovento]

Lenovo tends to be very compatible with Linux, but generally their T series is a better option. If you are looking at this for school, it might be best to double check what programs are needed. Some classes require specific software which cannot be run on Linux. Also some schools have weird wifi/network security which for some reason does not play well with Linux. Just saying to double check if this is the planned use.

[u/pr104da → u/tovento]

Very good tip -- funny to me that Chromebooks are pretty much universal in middle and high school yet many colleges require use of software that only plays well with Windows!

[u/tovento → u/pr104da]

Not sure how things are where you are from, but where I am, everything in elementary and high school are based on Google. These are publicly funded.
University/colleges and privately funded and I’m sure that players like Microsoft provide funding to the university to help make sure that MS is the office program of choice.
But to your point, education should be based on cross platform software so that anyone can use it. Mac went through this headache years ago. When I was last in school (16 years ago), students brought Mac laptops to class but a bunch of software wasn’t compatible. Had to use boot camp to boot into a windows session. Mac now largely supported. With Linux slowly gaining in popularity, maybe compatibility will improve over time.

[u/pr104da → u/tovento]

Yes, totally agree -- should be cross platform. If I remember correctly, these companies moved quickly early on to get their equipment in schools. Gotta get young people on the right path to ensure they use the equipment they want to sell! I'm in Georgia -- I think Chromebooks are used statewide.

[u/JackStrawWitchita]

The real bargains are the used laptops currently running Windows 10 but can't be upgraded to windows 11 due to their lower specs. Try to find one of these as windows people don't want them.

But basically anything currently running windows, with at least 4GB ram and preferably 8gb of ram, will boot up cinnamon very well.

For super inexpensive, look for 4gb ram laptops and install xcfe instead of cinnamon as it runs great on lower spec hardware.

[u/Tinqe]

Thinkpads usually have good compatibility with Linux.

My kid have used Probook with i5 8250u and 8GB memory running Mint with cinnamon and main usage being playing Minecraft. Haven’t heard complaining about performance. Used to have Elitebook 840 G1 with i5 4200u, but it wasn’t enough for Minecraft.

[u/Gunzhard22]

EBay refurb all day

[u/dlfrutos]

depends on what you will do with. I think minimum specs are 8 gb ram, 240 gb ssd, 8k cpu points (cpubenchmark.net/). Dedicated graphics are situational.

I'm a big fan of amd cpus like 5000u or similar.

[u/Prestigious-Annual-5]

Find an AMD 5000 series laptop. AMD has traditionally had the least headaches when it comes to Linux. Somewhat still relative, but not enough to break the bank, and typically you can find with 8-16gb of ram at a reasonable price. If you're from the states find a refurbished brand name laptop with an AMD in it on eBay. Anytime I ever had the need for a cheap laptop, I've typically started there.

[u/vectron5]

go to any pawn shop and find a clean looking laptop in your price range. I wouldnt bother with anything with 4gb of RAM.

8 GB of RAM is good, 16 will be better. If you want to be sure, Google the model you're looking at and double check if it's compatible.

[u/teknosophy_com → u/vectron5]

Yeah there are zillions of laptops out there at pawn shops or FB that people think are broken, but they're actually just roasted by Norton/Webroot/etc.

If you're anywhere near western NY I have some for ya

[u/e_hatt_swank]

I’ve got a refurbished ThinkPad T490, 8gb ram + 256gb ssd, which I got online for about $180. Had it for 4 years & it runs beautifully with Mint. Couldn’t be more pleased for the price.

[u/Kafatat]

RAM:  Don't buy 4GB.  8GB is OK.  16GB is of course better but not essential for a starter.  

If you plan to have the laptop last 10 years,  8GB will be like the current 4GB, which will still work while giving you much hard time.  In this case, look for laptops that have RAM slots, that you can change (upgrade) RAM.  Some laptops have soldered RAM instead, and you can do nothing about it.

CPU:  for Intel, look for number 8000 up,  eg 8250U.  AMD seems cheaper for the same generation, but I don't know much.

Storage/hard disk:  Don't buy HDD.  Buy SSD.  256GB is standard.  You can get by with 128GB if you know your way, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

If you really want it inexpensive, all rules above can be broken.  4GB RAM, Intel 3000, 64GB HDD!  But that isn't worth paying for.

[u/stufforstuff → u/Kafatat]

And why is the CPU gen important to Linux?

[u/Abject_Chard5633]

Thanks so much for sharing all this! Feel blessed for all the common knowledge. Thanks again!!

[u/enlightenedwind]

Go for a used thinkpad