Author Topic: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04  (Read 1067 times)

Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« on: 29 May, 2020, 06:18:44 pm »
I'm looking for a secondhand/refurbished laptop to run Ubuntu 20.04. Ideally it should run all the ancilliaries; webcam, bluetooth, etc.

It will only be used for surfing, Libre Office bashing and (very) occasional image fettling.
If it has an optical drive, that's a bonus. Portability isn't a major issue. My current machine runs a 128GB SSD, but I'd prefer larger storage. If that's non-SSD, no problem.
Any suggestions? Budget: up to £200, but nearer to £150 would be nice.
Haggerty F, Haggerty R, Tomkins, Noble, Carrick, Robson, Crapper, Dewhurst, Macintyre, Treadmore, Davitt.

Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #1 on: 30 May, 2020, 01:13:57 pm »
Second-hand Lenovo Thinkpad.

Work great with Linux and usually have upgradable RAM and easy to swap out hard drives.

I have several, an X220 an X230 a T430 and an X1 first gen. All great.
£200 will get you a T450 or similar.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #2 on: 01 June, 2020, 02:22:50 pm »
I am running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS on a Toshiba Z30

Like this

https://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/18810/Toshiba-Portege-Z30-13-3-Laptop-Intel-i5-4210U-1-70GHz-Processor-4GB-128GB-SSD-Webcam-Windows-10-Professional/

If you want a small, light laptop then this is excellent


Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #3 on: 01 June, 2020, 02:27:05 pm »
Their website looks like it was optimized for Netscape Navigator!

Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #4 on: 01 June, 2020, 03:02:45 pm »
Are Morgan Computers still existing? The shop in holborn is of course gone.
When younger I spent many hours with my nose pressed against the glass, and parted with a fair few pounds for various systems.
I bought a very early ulrtraportable system, which was to be honest dire. I think an Asus Netbook also.
And my first tower PC which was one of their builds.

Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #5 on: 01 June, 2020, 03:10:17 pm »
I think just about any laptop from the last, say, 5 years should work. The only problem is to with the function keys, eg volume and brightness controls, and with built in devices, as mentioned.

There should be a list of laptops somewhere which have been tested with  Ubuntu 20.04.

Re: Cheap laptop for Ubuntu 20.04
« Reply #6 on: 01 June, 2020, 06:12:01 pm »
Thanks for the replies.

I run 14.04LTS on an Acer, but 2 of the USB ports, bluetooth and the webcam don't work off the shelf, so I was hoping for something tried and tested.

I'd looked at a Z30, but a half decent one is a bit over my budget. The SSD storage isn't enough for my needs unfortunately. I'll check out the Lenovos.
Haggerty F, Haggerty R, Tomkins, Noble, Carrick, Robson, Crapper, Dewhurst, Macintyre, Treadmore, Davitt.