I apologize if this has been asked a ton, still migrating to lemmy. Still stuck on crappy reddit out of habbit, but i've found the lemmy universe to be much more helpful.
Basically I've had a Dell Xps 13 9310 laptop for 4-5 years maybe? and I've put the thing through hell and back. Always (I believe) fixing it though and bringing it back to life. However, it seemed as if any linux distro i ever installed always had some sort of problems. I don't know Linux well enough yet to be able to trouble shoot because it seems there's many different routes to do it in Linux.
I've gone through so many distros and DEs and have tried everything on this thing. Well I think I finally bricked it after tinkering around with it. So I'm trying to plan a new budget setup.
I've always been a laptop guy because I love being able to lay on the couch by the TV and also have my laptop right there in front of me. I suppose im open to a small form or mini form desktop or box and just get a small display and a wireless keyboard/touchpad combo.
I just don't know how to find what's better compatible with linux. I see so much talk about "X" computers being great for Linux and to avoid "Y" computers because they dont work well with Linux (which I found out the newer Dells kinda suck. becoming more locked down and proprietary like Apple). I know there's companys like Tuxedo or Pine or Pop Os that sell their specific Linux friendly devices, but those are all too expensive for me.
I'm looking for a machine that can easily handle Linux but also handle I guess a system or network, basically something strong enough to be a stable link in my entire network; if that makes sense. Because I have many plans for things I want to learn about and add to my network or system down the road. Also something durable and fairly user friendly.
The million dollar question(s)… how am I supposed to know which machines are better or even "compatible" with Linux? like all linux distros or flavors? I ran into a firmware/driver issue with my Dell and linux… they provided only a handful of drivers/firmware for ONLY Ubuntu 20.04. super limited and meant as a windows machine. As far as ram and storage, those are probably not pertinent and more of personal preference. But I guess it boils down to things like the cpu, gpu, ram, idk, whatever is important for Linux? any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I want to finally take this serious and ensure I have the right equipment for what I want to do instead of falling for the newest, shiny things lol. Thanks
Is that a desktop or laptop? The desktops are generally better supported and they just make the case and motherboard proprietary. My dad had an XPS Gen3 desktop back in 2005. When it finally died I couldn't reuse the case since it was the BTX form factor and the front panel connector was proprietary 😑
It's a 13" laptop from late 2017, with an 8th gen Intel i7 in it. With Tumbleweed it feels faster than my other XPS 13, which has an 11th gen i7 but runs Windows. I actually thought the 2017 one was finished because under Windows the fans ran all the time and it overheated so badly it would slow to a crawl. I repasted it twice with no improvement. But once I switched it to Linux the fans hardly come on, and they're quiet when they do. Linux has been a huge improvement on that machine.
Nice! Yeah there's so much shit running in the background of Windows that it's ridiculous. Linux practically has nothing running in the background.
With Windows it always feels like I get the dregs of the CPU cycles after all the corporate interests with software on the computer have taken their share.