Linux

Consider taking a look at this criminally underrated Linux-first vendor: NovaCustom. Prices aren't cheap, unfortunate. But it boasts hardware from about a year ago. Furthermore, NovaCustom takes Libre very seriously: from supporting coreboot to offering blob-free WiFi-cards.

You can get a used thinkpad T480 off eBay for ~$150. I've dropped it multiple times and spilled orange juice on it and it works perfectly fine. No issues running Linux mint Debian edition. Main drawback is the fan which isn't the most efficient at cooling, but it is upgradeable.

DELL Latitude laptops. They're designed for work, come with repair guides from DELL, and have upgradeability. The 5310 is one of the longest-lasting laptops for battery life you can get for $200-300 on ebay (over 8 hours battery video streaming, I've done this) that still has half decent specs (16-64GB RAM upgradeable, upgradeable m.2 wifi / bt adapter, NVMe SSD upgradeable, i5 10th gen)

Runs fine on Debian Stable

I have had a Tuxedo InfinityBook 14 Gen7, and I've been happy with it. They focus on hardware that has a good compatibility with Linux, so it works well out of the box without any tinkering. You say you don't have a high budget though, so these might be too expensive (I believe you can get similar specs at a lower price), but I've also been very satisfied with the after sales service they have provided - I've had some issues with it since I got it, but if it was Tuxedo specific (or appeared to me to be Tuxedo specific), and thus not easy to find general troubleshooting help online, I contacted them and I was helped out promptly, both via e-mail and the phone.

I'm hearing good things about Framework, provided you get the hinge upgrade.

If you need something beefier, personally I'm using a Lenovo Legion 7 (2024 version... that white one, bought it a few months ago), and I'm loving it. Linux Mint worked out of the box, but I chose to replace the stock wifi driver with a better one.

From experience, I recommend Tuxedo laptops. They're really good and come with full Linux support.

If something supports linux-libre kernel, it supports all distros. See https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/html_node/Hardware-Considerations.html

Also: https://www.h-node.org/

I would recommend a Thinkpad. I have an E14, you can get them for under 800 Bucks. The Linux support is awesome ,under Fedora everything works out of the box.

Lenovo Thinkpads are always a great choice. You can get N.O.S (new old stock) models at deep discounts directly from their website.

An almost exact question was asked here about 3 days ago, maybe begin there.

Almost any Windows machine with an Intel sticker on it will work so it really depends on your priorities:

• ethics - buy from a Linux specialist like Tuxedo to avoid paying Microsoft
• safety (no surprises) - buy whatever your big-box retailer is selling at your budget
• bang for buck - buy a Lenovo ThinkPad second-hand

Maybe not what you're looking for, but I use Asahi Linux on an old M1 MacBook Air and it's quite nice. I bought it used for $480 last year.

I have a thinkpad t470 from some years ago as my personal laptop has still works perfectly fine. I destroyed a few things in it, like usb ports and have some scratches on the screen, but linux support has always been good. Best think It has is the hardware design that if you drop liquids on top of it then it doesn't reach the motherboard. It saved it when I dropped a full latte on top and I really though it was gonna go to the trash... Fortunately I only had to buy a new keyboard that is something easy to replace.

Anyway, I will also need to buy a new computer soon fro work and am very interested in getting a framework laptop or another thinkpad if it has things like the great feature above still in place.

Also been eyeing with extreme interest some tuxedo laptops.

These are the well known to work I guess.

https://linux-hardware.org/

I would reccomend the current configuration that I am running, It is a customised lenovo laptop that I got for little less than $390 (Not us citizen, and we have mid-high taxes, but i got roughly 5% off as student discount and another 5% for credit card payment, and you also apply the CUSTOMOFF coupon for rougly 5% more) - It is lenovo v14 G4 (you can also try to get 16 inch if you prefer that, differnce is roughly $10-20) - 2 things to note - I did not select a ram or storage upgrade - it comes with 8GiB soldered, but there is one slot free, and I added 16GiB which I already had, also I had my 512 GiB SSD, which i swapped with its 256 GiB one. If you would like to, you can get both of these upgraded for about $50 USD. Also you can choose between a 3 cell battery, or a 2 cell and a harddrive (this choice is only available in 16 inch one though).

List of upgrades that I did

Processor AMD Ryzen™ 7 7730U Processor (2.00 GHz up to 4.50 GHz) selected upgrade Display 35.56cms (14) FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 45%NTSC, 300 nits, Battery 3 Cell Li-Polymer 45Wh selected upgrade

Here is a link for configurator (not affiliated or anything else)

https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=82YXCTO1WWIN1

I checked this config not available in US

You said not a high budget, and yet everyone here is saying Framework even though the they are $900 to $1,000 at the low end. To me that is not budget.

Pine64 is affordable but maybe too slow to be a daily driver, unless you feel confident finding your way through ultralightweight software and the command line and can do most of your problem solving that way.

For other pre-built options, there's Starlabs and System76 but those are similarly priced to Librem and Framework.

Beyond that I might just research Windows laptops that are agreeable to being formatted.

Whats your use case?

Was somewhat recently considering a linux laptop myself and ended up deciding the steamdeck fit my needs well.

A dock + portable keyboard & mouse for when i need to do typing or w/e, and a fun handheld console for when i want fun.

That being said, depending on what your "older" laptop is, it might not actually be much stronger, or it might be wildly overpowered for what you need.

If you're using Debian, do you really need to upgrade?

h/j

But seriously anything with an AMD CPU/GPU in it and an Intel wireless card is probably all you'll need to be mindful of, provided it fits in your budget.

Also, don't worry about touch-capable screens or HDR. The support for those is still a work in progress, and you'll likely have a bad time with them if you're using Debian.