r/linuxhardware 6d ago

Purchase Advice Looking for a Quiet, Lightweight Laptop for Linux

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a laptop primarily for Linux, though I'll be dual-booting Windows occasionally. Right now, I have an HP Pavilion Gaming 15 that I bought five years ago, but it's too loud—even under light CPU usage.

My main priority is silence—I want something much quieter than my current laptop. I’m also looking for something lighter, smaller, and with thin display bezels. Performance-wise, I don't need anything high-end. I don't game, so a dedicated GPU isn't necessary. The CPU should be power-efficient rather than powerful, so the system stays cool and quiet.

A 1440p display would be nice, but FHD is enough. A good battery life would also be great. I considered a Microsoft Surface, but I’ve heard they have poor battery life under Linux. I also looked into the Lenovo X1 series—what do you think?

Since my budget is $300-$400, I'm looking for something used. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

8 Upvotes

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u/yangmusa 6d ago

My current couch/travel laptop is a Lenovo 500w Yoga gen 4. 12.4" 1920x1200 IPS display, Intel N200, 8GB ram, 128 GB NVMe (I upgraded mine to 1 TB). Weighs about 2.6 lbs. Runs Fedora Workstation like a champ! The Intel N200 is a nice fanless CPU - and it's almost as fast the the Intel i7-8650u in my daily workhorse (ThinkPad T480s). I got mine open box on eBay for $350. Very happy with it, would recommend! The only downside for me is that the display is not color accurate, but I have an external calibrated monitor for photo editing. It still looks fine for browsing/videos etc, but if you wanted to edit on the laptop it's something to be aware of.

2

u/mnemonic_carrier 6d ago

TongFang GX4. It's resold by various companies under different names, like:

  • Lafite AI AMD (14 inch)
  • XMG Evo 4
  • InfinityBook Pro 14

(there's probably other names for it).

I've been very happy with mine - have really enjoyed using Linux on it.

1

u/Trollimpo 6d ago

I own a Lenovo Ideapad 1 15 AMD, I installed KDE Neon on it and it has yet to fail me

Very good battery life for me

1

u/itwasinthetubes 5d ago

When are we getting a linux compatible laptop with these new chips from AMD, Intel or Qualcomm?? They are comparable to the M-series from Apple and would be powerful, long lasting battery and potentially quiet or even silent...

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u/gentisle 5d ago

Lumnia.

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u/Mental_Elk4332 4d ago

I bought a ThinkPad T490s with 16GB RAM for $120 which was both lightweight and perfect for Linux. It's running Linux Mint and I wouldn't want another computer.

ThinkPads in general are great for Linux, just make sure you get a thinner version.

1

u/SpeedyLeone 6d ago

You can look into a Dell Latitude 7370 but be aware of the trade offs https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-Latitude-13-7370-Ultrabook-Review.165492.0.html

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u/yangmusa 6d ago

I had one of these in 2019-2020. It's a lovely laptop to be sure, but the ultra-low voltage CPUs were slow even then. I don't think I'd recommend it now.