Looking for a "couch laptop"

parallax@local106.com to Linux@lemmy.ml – 90 points –

I'm in the market for a Linux friendly ultralight laptop to check web apps and run terminal, nothing fancier then that. Do any cheap systems exits these days? I was looking at a chrome book but apparently the mediatek chip doesn't play nicely with FOSS.

Any thoughts?

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/155206247310?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=hHEhCOiITeW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=h5eIb-AvSIq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I prefer the T480 series (imo Thinkpad went downhill from there onwards). The non-s is a great off-road laptop, but for what OP is asking, the T480s seems like a more sensible choice.

I was leaning thinkpad.

What about something like the Thinkpad X201? It's not ultralight but it is quite small.

Other than that I'd probably say a Chromebook with a Linux install. Second hand they are quite cheap and can likely do what you are after. A lot of them have passive cooling which is nice for a couch device. I was able to install libreboot on my C201P quite easily and now it just runs a traditional Linux install

I'm writing this on my x201 on my couch. I love it, but it's not a great couch laptop. It's kind of heavy, runs hot, and has poor battery life vs more-recent comparables.

Yeah the heat would be what would make me hesistate to use it as a couch laptop but if OP wants something cheap I would say it's an okay option

I used to have X230 as a daily driver for laptop (I got separate desktop) and it's a really nice machine for it's size. Only the display is a bit lacking by todays standards as it's only 1368x768, but for 150€ (give or take) it's not too bad.

I have that same laptop, and it sounds perfect for what you want. Cheap, repairable, and runs linux well.