Comment by 🚀 SavaRocks
doesn't really matter if you start with gnome, kde or xfce. There are a lot of desktop environments. you'll try a bunch and settle for the one that suits you
Jan 14 · 4 months ago
Poll Results
1. KDE
████████████▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 50%
2. Gnome (I said GNU by mistake)
███▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 11%
3. Other... bearing in mind I'm not very experienced with linux.
█████████▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 39%
28 votes were cast.
10 Later Comments ↓
👻 darkghost · Jan 14 at 13:14:
Cinnamon as a GUI has been fine for me. It's GNOME without the strange (to me) interface. Much more standard application menu behind a logo button and task manager bar. I also use MX Linux which has an XFCE environment and that has been pretty good to me as well. All the options for the laptop here are great suggestions.
Just choose anything that you can easily customize and don't get in your way.
I'm not using any DE, if I choose one, it will be XFCE or Mint, KDE Plasma and GNOME is slow on my machine.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, install and use them all until you find DE you like.
ThinkPads are robust and easily repairable -- at least the slightly older ones are and I say that only because I have no experience with the newer ones. This is being written on a TP A485 which is the AMD equivalent of the T480 and a few years old. I bought it refurbished directly from Lenovo. My choice is Debian with KDE though I've used XUbuntu and Linux Mint in the past with good results. Depending on your specific needs, your mileage may vary as the old car ads put it. Nevertheless, any mainstream Linux on a ThinkPad is a very safe choice.
🐦 wasolili [...] · Jan 14 at 16:26:
Great idea about booting from live linux USB, I hope they let me do it at the shop, I can always ask. X-D
When I was a teenager, I used to boot as many of a store's display laptops into linux as I could without drawing attention. For some reason that is completely foreign to me now, I thought it was a fun prank.
But I never got in trouble, so I'd imagine most store's wouldn't give you a hard time for trying it.
I just paid $150 for a T14 (very similar to my older T480) with a 10th-gen I7. With 20GB RAM and 512TB SSD, and a good 10-hour battery.
I really should have gotten an 11th-gen CPU which is possibly 30% faster... But I rushed it a bit. It's still amazing.
T14 was introduced in 2020, so I would not even call it 'an older machine'.
@stack where'd you get this deal?
☯️ leoperbo · Jan 15 at 09:24:
OMG! I have a refurbished T14, the 11th-gen i7 with touch screen one:
@gritty: EBay is full of them! Just do a little research about what processor you find acceptable (11th-gen i7 is very possible, and keep in mind that a newer i5 is often faster/more cache/better than an older i7). Also avoid the ...s models -- T14s has no expandable RAM, for instance. T470 and T480 are really good if you want a reasonably modern system with a lot of reparability/configurability; T14 or even T15 (bigger 15" screen) are great with newer processors -- but you may have to make a bunch of offers before getting a bargain...
@leoperbo --That is the machine I wanted! 11th-gen i7 is maybe 30% faster than 10th in some single-thread benchmarks... Congratulations.
I love lowballing ThinkPads. They are kind of indestructible, so you are likely to get a decent machine. But if you don't, chances are you can replace the broken parts -- including the screen or the keyboard very inexpensively. If the worst comes to worst you will have a parts machine. But for around $150 for a T14 or a T480 you will get a clean and perfectly usable machine. My first T470 was $75, but I had to get batteries, a charger, an M2 drive and a caddy, so by the time I was done it was probably closer to $250.
This time I am happy as a pig in excrement with my $150 T14 -- I only had to get a USB-C 65W supply for $15- so good I am getting another -- power supply that is. I have too many computers now
❤️ fairlygood · Jan 16 at 22:24:
I bought a T440p for next to nothing and it lasted me for years. Fantastic machines.
GNOME 5ever because it's what I'm personally used to and therefore objectively the right choice for everybody. obviously
Original Post
Linux question... — Please, can anyone provide me with the following information: Is there anything in existence like a list of laptops (ideally) or desktops that have perfect compatibility with linux distributions. I am considering getting a new PC without windows, such that I can install linux myself. Probably a KDE distro, or perhaps GNU. I have never done this before and have limited experience with linux - enough to know I would be fine to use it for basic purposes. The main motivation...