13" or smaller Linux laptop - best replacement for aging chromebook?

Linux@lemmy.ml – 39 points – 12 months ago

I want to get my partner a replacement for an aging chromebook. I was thinking it would be easiest to just grab another super budget chromebook and call it a day. But the more I read about google and chrome, the less I want to do with them.

So my goal is to snag a cheap ($300ish?) laptop that I can slap Linux on (probably mint, but I’m open to suggestions).

The main caveat is the size- needs to be small. Current chromebook is 11.5” I think. I’d like to keep it under 13”. The main use (95% will be web browsing/streaming/email/bullshit) but I’d like it to have enough juice to play Minecraft on my local server.

I’ve looked around a bit, but my god there is a lot of options. I’d love it if there was just a recommendation that was proven to work. I’m busy enough tinkering with all the other tech, and I’d like to just set this one up and forget it.

You are viewing a single comment

View all comments Show the parent comment

Thanks for the resources. I think this could be the way forward. I’ll do some research first, as I need something super stable, since I won’t be the final user. So if it breaks, I’m on the hook.

Do you have any suggestions on possible candidate Chromebooks?

I just did some digging on Best Buy and Amazon for sales, but mostly came across larger models or models that were MediaTek/Snapdragon (the chrultrabook team almost exclusively works on intel devices).

I'd say your best bet is to go to the supported devices list, and Ctrl + F for '13' or '11' to highlight the smaller-sized chromebooks and then check to see what's available, or to jump in the Discord and pose the question to those in the linux channel

Nice. That’s the move. I am finding it more and more difficult to find smaller laptops/chromebooks these days. If I want a big screen, I’ll sit down at my desktop!

Thanks again for the resources