Ask HN: MacBook Pro alternative for running GNU/Linux

[dbla]

Can anyone recommend a good macbook pro - like laptop for running Linux? I'm looking for something with comparable specs that won't give me too much hassle when installing Ubuntu or Mint.

I found this old post:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6714192

but I was hoping someone might have a more current recommendation (although the laptops from that post still look pretty good a year later).

[djanogo]

I am typing this on a 3 year old Dell E6520 running Arch Linux, paid $900 for i7-2720QM, 8GB RAM, and 240GB drive back in 2011, spent another $250 for two 128GB SSD's and 16GB RAM, total of $1150. It came with 3 year Dell business warranty + 1 year extra warranty for using Amex/Discover card. The battery life was about 7 hours initially with 9 cell battery, but I bet latest gen haswell can give 8 hours with much smaller battery.

I would suggest to check out E6540 in Dell outlet, they have 20% to 30% coupons frequently http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/InventorySea....

This is coming from somebody who also has a 2014 Retina Macbook Pro, absolutely don't care for it, I keep it closed in the corner of the room and do remote desktop when I need something Mac specific.

[dbla]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm curious about your choice of Arch. Why did you decide to go with it? Did it require a lot of customization to get up and running or maintenance to keep running?

[djanogo]

Initially had XUbuntu (Ubuntu with XFCE), forgot what exactly happened, but one of the major upgrades (12.10 to 13.10) broke my system, didn't trust those major upgrades anymore, since then I read more about how Arch works and got used to rolling updates. It does require more tweaking to get it running, it forces to learn the "Arch way".

If you are just getting started with Linux then I would suggest to start off with Ubuntu or read up on different distro's. (If you are coming from Windows or Mac, all linux distro's will require some level of tinkering, they just vary on degree.)

[rjbwork]

I used a Sager (rebranded Clevo) during undergrad and shortly thereafter. They're great machines, but the battery life is underwhelming. My brother still games on it and it's >4 years old at this point.

I actually plan on buying another this year for both development and gaming, but I'm rarely somewhere without a plug for more than a couple of hours at a time.

[dbla]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm taking a look at them now. What distribution of linux were you running? Did you have any problems with installing / hardware compatibility?

[rjbwork]

I was using stock Ubuntu...I think it was around V10 back then? I also ran BackTrack on it for my security class. It was dual booted to win 7. The nVidia graphics drivers were proprietary and had to be installed separately, but otherwise everything seemed to work fine.

[simlevesque]

Here are my two cents : I have a Sager that runs Linux Mint XFCE and there were absolutely no problem. I have also installed Gentoo with no issue. It's my favorite laptop that I've owned.

[hugogee]

I was in similar shoes a couple weeks ago. After a few T??? lenovos crapping out (It was always the dang video cards) I just could not buy another. My first replacement was a behemoth of a dell xps 15. Unfortunately the quad core could not make up for the size and poor build quality. The 2gb nvidia optimus video incompatability with linux sealed the deal. It had to go! DO NOT buy a laptop with optimus if you are planning on using linux. To make a long story short i am running an elitebook 840 i7 which came with a 256gb samsung 840 pro. Archlinux installed without too much fuss. I could not be happier! Its fantastic-well built, small, and powerful. You will love it even more if you are acustomed to using a trackpoint. Im so glad i did not listen to those marginal reviews re: this unit.

Re: Arch maintenance, a daily 'pacman -Syu' will usually keep your system running healthy. Arch does not like to be ignored for too long. ^_^

[gprasanth]

Oh, the perks of browsing usesthis.com!

Checkout zareason and system76.

http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/

https://system76.com/laptops/

[dbla]

Wow usesthis.com is fantastic! One of the issues I have with regular review sites is that most of the time the context of the review is missing, so a three star review on a laptop is meaningless because I have no idea what the reviewers expectations are, and what the machine is being used for. usesthis seems to solve that problem pretty well. Thanks for sharing.

[ShinyCyril]

Be warned that System76 sells rebranded Clevo machines and has a reputation for poor customer service. Their flagship machine was also plagued with an awful keyboard - hopefully they've fixed this!

[srpt]

The Dell XPS 13 developer edition is an excellent little machine that ships with Ubuntu: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd

[BorisMelnik]

I run Ubuntu on the Toshiba Satelite P96X and man do I love this thing. Tore out the DVD drive and stuck another SSD inside which lightened the load and obviously added more storage. Also swapped the primary HDD with an SSD.

The rig is now 4-5 years old has 12GB RAM and a 2nd gen i5 in it and this thing FLIES. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Skype, and tons of browser tabs it does not miss a beat. You can prob pick this version up for $3-400 or a new one for $7-800 I beleive they all come installed with Windows but this model very *nix friendly.

[zengr]

This is the best laptop I have used for Linux (ubuntu) - Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14 : http://ebay.com/itm/361120686241

Has a good deal on eBay right now for $799

[chris_j]

I run Fedora 20 on a Thinkpad W530 at work and have few complaints. It's a high speed machine, is well built and, aside from a few hassles running the proprietary driver for the nvidia graphics card, it just worked from day 1.

[jlgaddis]

I'm running Arch Linux on the same machine (quad-core, 32 GB RAM, 480 GB SSD + 500 GB SATA) and it flies. It does have the Optimus graphics stuff but I haven't bothered with it.

(I'd been using MBPs exclusively for several years when I bought the W530 (in May 2013), hadn't touched my MBP in over a year and finally got rid of it a few months ago.)

[netllama]

Care to define "too much hassle"? I'm running Fedora on 5 different Macbooks (ranging from 2010 through 2013 models) without any serious issues.