Coding laptop for Linux - light and not too expensive

mkornblum

Honorable
Nov 25, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hi all

I'm in the UK and looking for a new laptop to install Ubuntu on. I have a reasonable spec desktop for gaming and coding so I don't need a dedicated graphics card, but I'm a freelance developer and need a work machine that I can carry around every day.

I'm happy with a 13" screen, could go up to a 15" but the priority for me is weight rather than size (as long as there's a full size keyboard). I'd like a decent res as I'll be staring at it a lot, but I don't care much about colour reproduction or anything as long as I can read my code :)

I'm torn whether to spend in the £500 or the £800 range; I'd rather not spend much but don't want to feel like what I've got doesn't do the job in a few months time.

I'll need at least 8GB RAM, don't mind too much having an HDD as opposed to SSD (even a small one is fine), would like a reasonable processor, ideally quad core, and everything else is negotiable.

I've been looking at Thinkpads and am keen, but the range is baffling; I quite like the looks of the S440, the L440, the T440p, the E545 and the S540 (more or less in order of priority I think) - I've customised them on the Lenovo site and the cheapest is £365, then a couple are £650-750 and the most is £919 which is a little higher than I feel comfortable with.

I'd also consider other brands, but Thinkpads have a good reputation with Linux and I fear driver incompatibility.

Any suggestions welcome.
 

mkornblum

Honorable
Nov 25, 2013
3
0
10,510
...as long as you have driver support :)

Cheap also seems to mean bulky and fairly heavy from what I can see - I was hoping someone would have a recommendation for something lightweight that I may have missed.
 
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