Buying a new laptop for Zorin

Chat about Zorin
1

So, I am still using my 2007 Portege laptop but I fear that its days are coming to a close. It still works but is showing various issues.

So I am looking for an (allegedly) very well built and very solid 13 inch for travelling which has great reviews and so I came to the X13 gen IV by Lenovo and am thinking the AMD Ryzen 5 version.

1.) Do you feel this is worth it at 900 usd ? is it overpriced in your opinion ? Why or why not ?

2.) Should I instead try to find an older generation III model ?
(Nobody seems to have them and when I do find one it is always way OVER priced in my opinion)

3.) Obviously I'd like to get a System 76 or support Linux by buying a Linux laptop but they are all over 1k usd.

any thoughts, advice, recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Processor：AMD Ryzen™ 5 PRO 7540U Processor (3.20 GHz up to 4.90 GHz)
Operating System：Windows 11 Home 64
Microsoft Productivity Software ：None
16 GB LPDDR5X-6400MHz (Soldered)
Solid State Drive：256 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal
13.3" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB, 300 nits, 60Hz
Graphic Card：Integrated Graphics
Camera：720P HD RGB with Dual Microphone
Color：Black
Wireless：Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6E NFA725A 2x2 AX & Bluetooth® 5.1 (Windows 10) or Bluetooth® 5.3 (Windows 11)
Integrated Mobile Broadband：No Wireless WAN
Selectable SIM：No WWAN SIM Card
Fingerprint Reader：No Fingerprint Reader
Keyboard：Magnesium, Black - English
System Expansion Slots：No Smart Card Reader
TPM Setting：Enabled Discrete TPM2.0
Absolute BIOS Selection：BIOS Absolute Enabled
Custom Asset Tag：None
Battery：3 Cell Li-Polymer 41Wh
Power Cord：65W USB-C Low Cost 90% PCC 2pin AC Adapter - US
Electronic Privacy Filter：No ePrivacy Filter
Language Pack：Publication - Polish/Portuguese/English
Adobe Acrobat：None
Adobe Creative Cloud：None
Security Software：None
Dash Manageability：No Dash Manageability
Warranty：1 Year Courier or Carry-in

2

I think there are 2 Questions:

  1. What do You need?
  2. What do You want?

That what You need don't have to be that what You want. So, it is difficult to say what could fit to Your Needs. The Specs doesn't read bad. The Storage with 256GB sounds for me a little bit low. And there would be the Question if the Case is Plastic or Aluminium.

To offer you a Possibility for a Linux Laptop I could call You Tuxedo Computers. But there sitting in Germany. Depending where You are the Shipping Costs are ... not less. If You want to take a Look at it:

3

Thanks for the link.Unfortunately they don't have a 13" screen which is what I want for a carry on and also they are pretty pricey.

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4

Not 13 inch but under $1,000:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-t4-gnulinux-laptop

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5

Okay, I could name You the Lenovo Yoga Slim 6 with Ryzen 7540U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14'' OLED Screen. On Amazon Germany is it available for 699€. For Your Country You must look.

Or a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 with Ryzen 5500U, 16GB RAM, 512GB, 14'' Screen for 579€ (Amazon Germany).

I hope the 1'' more for the Screen isn't too bad for You.

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6

Taken another look and found a 14" at €469 ships worldwide:

A member of Manchester Linux User Group, an Editor with Linux Magazine told me that Clevo uses MSI mainboards and I know they are (MSI notebooks) fully capable of working with GNU/Linux.

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7

Thanks everybody for your assistance.I ended up getting yesterday a new [gen III] ThinkPad X13 G3 13.3" Touchscreen AMD R7 Pro 6850U 16GB RAM 512GB SSD for much less than a brand new generation IV.
After comparing the specs and the weight and reading that they are basically the same in multiple computer websites I went ahead and got it at an extremely good sale price.

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