from HamalaKarris@lemmy.world to linux@lemmy.ml on 02 May 20:50
https://lemmy.world/post/29030085
Hey everyone!
I just bought a Lenovo Yoga L13 Gen2 and I am greatly disappointed, after installing Arch on it it’s overheating a lot even when I only have Firefox open. During my research buying this laptop I also made the mistake of not checking if the RAM can be upgraded and now I’m stuck with 8 GB of soldered on, non-upgradable RAM.
Anyways this is why I’m turning to you, I spent hours upon hours researching trying to find the perfect laptop to buy before settling on this one, and since the result was so catastrophic I figured why not ask around in the community a bit.
I was only going to buy a used model since my budget isn’t that big. The laptop is intended for browsing and some (Java) coding, so it doesn’t need to be extremely powerful. The main use case is for a small laptop that I can use on my lap on the couch or in my recliner to browse or do some coding while using (Arch) Linux.
My MUST have requirements are:
- 13 inch screen (max 14 inch)
- Touchscreen with at least Full HD (1920x1080) resolution
- Good/ perfect (Arch) Linux support
- Good cooling/ doesn’t get super hot
Ideally the following requirements should also be met:
- Touchpad buttons with dedicated middle-mouse-button
- Backlit Keyboard
- Bright screen
- Upgradble RAM or alternatively 16 GB RAM version available
I intend to spend around 300€ max used, for reference I paid 190€ for the L13 Gen2 with 94% battery health.
I would prefer a laptop that isn’t older than 8th/9th Gen Intel and equivalent AMD. I would be open to models with Intel and AMD chips.
I am so grateful for anyone who sees this post and comes up with some suggestions, after hours upon hours of research I am a bit exhausted and desperate for some community suggestions.
Have an awesome day everybody! :-)
threaded - newest
I don’t own one but I’m looking at the framework 13 for my next machine. It has great reviews and fully support Arch. Its price is the main criticism against this machine, though there’s some arguments to justify it but no need to open a trolling post :)
The Framework 12 has a touchscreen, which the OP wants. I have the 13 and can vouch for it’s quality and upgradibility.
Though, OP also only wants to spend 300€ max used, so, both of our posts are out of the running.
If it’s worth the price I would also be down to spend a bit more than 300 - sadly though after checking there are a total of 2 used Framework laptops on sale in my country total - and both are non-touchscreen versions sadly :/
Edit: after having a look at the Framework 12 it seems basically exactly what I’m asking for - apart from the fact that it won’t be out for another half a year and the price point of 570€ with an i3 and 0 GB of storage and RAM - I’m guessing I could pick this up used in a couple of years but until then I’m still looking for recommendations ;)
The 13 has touchscreen option as well but I’ve missed the budget limit. My bad!
Did you buy the L13 on an ebay auction or how did you get it that cheap? 300€ seems pretty hard to hit with those requirements.
My countries version of craigslist basically, prices for used Thinkpads/ laptops especially seem pretty cheap here I think? I also just bought a T15 with brand new battery, 32 gigs of RAM, an i7 and a dedicated GPU for 320€.
A Thinkpad T480 would meet those requirements. Stick with the i5 version with integrated graphics to avoid overheating issues.
love mine I got on craigs for cheap. works great and upgraded to 32G with memory from my old dead laptop.
This 1000%. I picked up a t480s a number of years ago and I couldn’t be happier with it. Came with a half dead battery that was easily replaced. Lasts a good 6 hours on a charge and does everything I need a laptop to do.
I just got a Lenovo T14 Gen 1 with a Ryzen 7 4750U (I think that’s around 11th gen on Intel?), 16GB soldered RAM as well as an open slot to add more, 14" screen (on the larger side of your wishlist, I know), and it was $300US on eBay. It’s been fine with Linux Mint running Cinnamon as my daily driver right now, and also fine with other related OSs like vanilla Debian and Ubuntu. Have not tried with Arch, btw, but these T-series machines have a pretty good reputation as far as I know in terms of Linux ease-of-use.
I actually wasn’t aware until now that the T14 exists in a touchscreen version, I currently have a T15 and my girlfriend has a T14 and we are both more than satisfied with them. Will definitely look into getting a touch-enabled T14 :-)
Can confirm, mine is touch-enabled. Forgot to mention that in my post. Model 20UD-003KUS
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Just a suggestion if you haven’t already try opening up the laptop and cleaning out the dust with compressed air. I have been given laptops before because they were “old and slow” and I just needed to clean out the dust and they all of a sudden became so much faster.
Although I know this doesn’t help with the 8gb problem but maybe if you don’t need 16gb right now you could keep that laptop and upgrade to another when you need 16gb.
I’m sorry for having this posted like 50 times there was a network error and I thought it wasn’t posting.
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Before you upgrade, see how much you’re utilizing swap space.
Type
freeinto a terminal to see this.If you don’t see swap space, or if it looks under-utilized, you can increase the capacity and how much it’s used.
See how much it’s used with
cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness. 60 is the default, anything less than that means swap space isn’t being used as often, anything greater means it’s being used more often.I recommend just asking AI on how to increase swap space if what you see is not enough.
run wayland, it will most likely give you better battery life. Correct me if i’m wrong
google ‘tlp linux’