New laptop recommendations for zorin

Hardware Support
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I may need to replace my laptop in the near to medium future and I'm doing a bit of research as to what my options are for replacing it.

My current laptop is 4 year old Dell 15" XPS15 i7 32GB, I'd be looking for something that's of similar compact size and usually buy top-spec or near processor to increase longevity. It's been great other than a few niggles and the WiFi chip being absolute garbage. Been running it full time with Zorin for a year now.

Am I best getting something like another Dell XPS and then just flatten and stick Zorin on right away, or are there any decent suppliers of 'Linux' laptops? I've seen there are a few listed on the Zorin site, but I've never heard of any of those suppliers so not sure what the quality would be like.

I'm a self-employed web developer and my whole business relies on having a good reliable laptop. Definitely need something robust and super-reliable.

Not looking for specific machine recommendations, just manufacturers I should consider, or Linux-specific factors that I need to take into account when choosing a machine.

TIA for any advice offered :slightly_smiling_face:

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I'd love to buy a Linux laptop, and that is what I would do. I listed various suppliers of Linux computers in the manual. If I were making a choice it would be this one:

But I would customize for maximum RAM, maximum number of CPU heat dissipators, and a Blu-Ray DVD-RW and custom engraved lid. But there are smaller notebooks available if portability is of greater need. John Southern, an Editor from Linux Magazine told me a few years back that Clevo uses MSI boards, but with a Linux laptop you will not have the issue of faffing around with Fast and Secure Boot or TPM 2.0!

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I'm currently running a laptop from Tuxedo Computers, which focuses on laptops pre-installed with Linux. They even have their own dedicated Ubuntu-based distribution, aptly called Tuxedo OS. I have it since 2021, and is still running fine so they definitely have my +1 on that.

The only downside is the battery life, which doesn't last as much while using other distributions — as little as 2~3 hours depending on how many programs are running — which has its own set of tools for managing things like CPU speed, etc. With Tuxedo OS installed, well I haven't tested in a long while and I don't remember exactly but it was easily at least double that time.
Battery life in Linux in general is quite poor in general compared to Windows.

However, my next purchase will most likely be from Framework. They specialize on modular components for laptops so that you can replace whatever is broken or needs updating. Most notably are the extension ports that you can mix and match as you like, and they are working (not sure if they have it already) on an external GPU which is quite nice.
You can have it pre-installed with Linux (Windows, too) as they have a dedicated team working to bring support for at least the most popular distributions. They also have nice community forums to ask for assistance, which is really nice to have.

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Another one is Slimbook. Chris Titus tweaked his to get 12 hours of life out the battery if I remembered correctly.

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I can recommend business notebooks from the Dell Latitude 7000 series or Lenovo Thinkpad T series.

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Like @zenzen already named there would be Tuxedo Computers and Framework. And there would be System76, too. They sell PC's and Laptop's, too.

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Framework laptops, even if they don't have the best build quality, are well-known for Linux compatibility and future upgradeability. If you're looking for a more traditional brand that's available in your local market, I've had great experiences with Linux on Asus laptops. The only thing that sometimes causes issues is the WiFi chip.

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I want to like Tuxedo, but it's really hard to understand which of their models work with an unmodified kernel and which ones require their own special packages. You can't just put any distro (like Zorin) on their laptops and expect everything to work. I've preordered two Framework computers instead.

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I have only tested the one laptop that I have but I didn't have any problems with any distribution that I've thrown at it.

Apparently they don't make this model anymore, but here's the one that I have (without the Nvidia graphics card):

TUXEDO Book XP14 - Gen12

But I think Framework is a great choice. We need to support more manufacturers that care to support Linux, but even more importantly (in my view) is the modularity aspect.

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You can use other Distro's for it. Yes, Tuxedo OS offers some own Tools what You don't have on other Distros but for the Hardware this doesn't matter. And You shouldn't need a modified Kernel to run it. Depending on the Hardware, You could need an up-to-date Kernel and Firmware, yes.

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I agree because I bought one just under 3 yrs ago.

Build quality is good, access to inside is easy and it has coped with any Linux distro I've tried on it without probs. All in all it has been a good workhorse so far for my needs.

The choice of what they sell is limited but each can be tailored to suit.
I chose to buy with no RAM or drives (which are very easy to install) because they were cheaper to buy elsewhere at the time and doesn't lose the machine warranty by doing so.

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Thanks everyone, that's really helpful - plenty of food for thought there.

I'll have a good chew over it all and come up with something of a shortlist. Going to keep the current one going for as long as I can anyway.

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I'm a huge believer in Star Labs machines, & Framework are also pretty awesome too, because of their belief in right to repair, and their modularity.

You said you are like me, as in, you believe in buying top tier, not just for the performance you need, but to secure relevance longevity.

Choose that system, choose ULTRA options, choose your storage requirents, and choose Zorin OS ion it. Thats an easy 10 year life PC!

Withe Framework you have even more options!

You can choose to go DIY for your own build, to your specifications. Or you could choose Pre-Built, they install your modules for you, including installing Windows as the only OS option, but you could format and install Zorin OS yourself.

As to which one you should pick? If you need extreme modularity of components, choose Framework. If you don't need that, just a computer to have high performance as well as longevity, choose Star Labs, cause you will have less setting up work to do, cause you can have them install Zorin OS straight out of the box!

PS: When I chose my new PC in 2021, I also chose a top spec MSI gaming machine, for performance & longevity. I'm on my 4th year now, and computer is remaining relevant for me still. :slightly_smiling_face:

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That Starfighter looks amazing! Absolute beast of a laptop. Definitely under consideration.

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Thanks! Looks like an amazing company (by coincidence around the corner too)
The DIY options are great. Also the general configuration for personal needs (like amount and type of ports) In addition, all could be repaired and ordered separately. NICE!

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I'm sure all common distros will boot to some extent on Tuxedo hardware, but there is a bunch of stuff that has not been upstreamed yet:

I personally only know the InfinityBook Pro series, where some of its USB-C charging issues can only be mitigated using Tuxedo Control Center, so you are out of luck if you cannot simply build and install it.

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Does that laptop model actually exist? I remember subscribing to updates on it a couple of years ago, and I know one year ago there was a short YouTube teaser about it. But I could never find anyone who actually owns it. Although that could just be because it is such a niche device; it's hard to find reviews for some Tuxedo models too.

It's a pity because the FW16 has gotten worse reviews than the FW13, but I find it hard to work with such a small screen. I don't really like any of the 15"+ options for Linux.

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Star Labs is niche yes, like Falcon pre-built desktop computers with top tier price tags. The brands you hear about all the time, are Asus, MSI, Dell, Alienware, etc. Its important to note however, all those name brands, are completely dedicated to Windows. (Already Installed) If you want Linux, you'll have to install it yourself, just as I had to with my MSI machine.

Star Labs provides you the choice of Linux, especially the best Linux IMO, Zorin OS. IMO Framework should also be providing Linux options, unfortunately they are only supporting Windows options for preload.

IMO, if somebody is a newbie to computers, or a newbie to Linux, Star Labs will probably be the best option, because they do it all for you, removes the high learning curve.

As far as computer models goes, what was available then vs now discussion. Several years ago, we were deep in the pandemic, everything was in scarce or no supply back then.

And while more product is available since the pandemic, the tarriff trade war our nation started, has caused supply to go down. Our ports once had thousands of cargo containers, now reduced to 6, as seen from a recent helicopter photography picture.

If one really needs a new computer, best to buy sooner then later, as supply begins to dry up again.

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