Hi all,
I am looking for suggestions for a new laptop to run KDE on, but I want it to be amazing out of the box.
I have run kubuntu and neon on HP and dell laptops previously, and they are fairly good, but things like the GPU not being auto set up, or hibernate type features not working have made it a bit of a pain.
I think my main bugbear is the power management. My wife’s macbook air can have the lid closed and it will wake up again a week later just fine. My laptop barely makes it overnight and get hot in the bag.
What are some good laptops to run KDE, where they have been fully integrated and have great power management?
The main ones I know of are slimbook and framework, but would love to hear some experiences if you have them.
Thanks!
Framework laptops are often mentioned since they chose components that should work well with upstream kernels. So no funny wifi chips or something. Also, as a bonus, easy to take apart and replace parts that you can order separately. https://frame.work/
Tuxedo Computers for sure. KDE also wants to partner with Framework, and Slimbook already makes KDE laptops.
Lenovo, Dell and HP are terrible IMO. Not only are the not Linux focused but also terrible companies. The Linux laptops they make are just to target developers meaning: fix your own software issues 😒 Dell for example has had webcam issues on Linux for ages with their MIPS or whatever cameras and simply don’t give two shits.
Support a real Linux laptop vendor like the one mentioned above. Not only do they contribute to Linux and open source in general, but I find they are more accessible in terms of support, and they do pretty well in terms of making Linux work on their hardware.
The latest Slimbook is pretty cool. Plus it has the KDE symbol emblazoned on the lid.
ThinkPad or framework
I cannot recommend Framework laptops enough. I recently got my hands on one and it’s the best laptop I’ve ever owned. It of course runs Linux like a dream. Everything works out of the box. No proprietary blobs needed for any of its hardware drivers, of course, plus the firmware for the embedded controller as well as the keyboard are open source and can be reflashed from the device (the keyboard firmware is even a fork of QMK). Its 165Hz 1440p 16:10 monitor being driven by a Radeon 7700S makes it one of the best laptop gaming experiences I’ve had, which is especially impressive considering it’s not marketed as a gaming laptop. Three hours battery life with the dGPU installed is the best I’ve seen out of a gaming laptop ever, and if you pull out the GPU and run off integrated graphics, the battery life doubles to a very respectable six hours for web browsing.
There’s also of course the obvious customization aspect. Don’t like which I/O ports are on the side? Swap in a different module! You don’t even have to reboot your computer. Want your trackpad to be centered or off to the side to make room for a numpad? Move it around! You don’t even have to reboot your computer. Who needs Nvidia Optimus when you can physically remove the GPU from the laptop, reducing power savings even more and making the laptop several pounds lighter to boot? (You do have to shut down to do that, and swapping it out takes around five minutes, but still.)
I know this post sounds like it was sponsored but it wasn’t. I just really love this thing ^-^
System76 is also a good option especially if you’re american. They have a broader option set too
On power management though I’m umsure if you’ll get the results you want. It’s hell on windows, hell on Linux, and only within the past few years improved on Mac.
You may find better suspend on a laptop made for Linux though but I don’t want to get your hopes up too greatly.
Other options for good laptops though are starlabs and tuxedo computers. On tuxedo make sure you get the right language and layout for your country
On framework I can personally vouch for them. I have had great experiences with the 13 and there’s a dedicated community happy to help on their forum. Friendly people.
As for slimbook friends of mine who have them have had good experiances too
yeah thanks, i haven’t seen starlabs, and i am in Australia.
thats sad news about power management. I dont mind that it sucks power when in use, but when the lid closes, it should be in something equivalent to hibernate.
Was going to recommend this. I have an Ir16 Gen2, it is great. My only complaint is the comically ginormous massive excessive touchpad and lack of physical touchpad buttons. KFocus is good to go, the way you’d expect, with all wifi/bluetooth/sleep/power settings
US only and OP seems to be presumably from Australia.
One channel I follow on YouTube for Linux news “The Linux Experiment” has Tuxedo Computers as a sponsor. They build PCs and Laptops that are optimized for Linux.
Otherwise I’d recommend a Lenovo. I think they’re pretty good with Linux if I’m not mistaken.
Sorry but I have a yoga running Kubuntu. I can’t make hibernate work and “sleep” will kill my battery in less than 24 hours.
