Little laptops : recommendations?
Hi everyone,
Do you have a favourite lightweight laptop? I used to have a Asus C201 (rip) I'm looking to replace.
I want a cheap and light secondary computer to take on the bus so I can do some word processing, spreadsheets, light coding, e-mails, reading pdfs and maybe a bit in Scribus and the GIMP. I wouldn't be connecting it to the internet except with a USB Ethernet adapter at home. Obviously battery life would be the biggest thing, since I'd be using it a bit like an always-on tablet.
I was looking at a laptop with a Radeon 610M GPU, which is almost certainly not supported by libre drivers, but I don't know if you can use it at all without hardware acceleration. Can you?
I am in love with my libre x200 thinkpad. She's a an IBM style netbook and relatively small - no trackpad.
If you libreboot it, you can swap the wifi card and swap libreboot for canoeboot and run it as an RYF machine.
You can grab one for 300 to 400 dollars pre-librebooted or 200 bucks if you are brave enough to libreboot it yourself.
(US dollars).
With powertop enabled as a service, for general browsing it lasts about 2hrs per battery. The battery is external and can be easily replaced.
As mpv keeps reminding me, vulkan hardware acceleration isnt really a thing. For me thats a sacrifice I am willing to make if it means my machine is completely free software.
Hmm. I would have loved a computer with free firmware like the C201, but I think that ship has sailed. I can't get anything compatible anymore.
> With powertop enabled as a service, for general browsing it lasts about 2hrs per battery. The battery is external and can be easily replaced.
I think I need much more than that. My c201's battery lasted 8 hours when fully powered on. That's about what I need.
If you use canoeboot, you can also use X230 thinkpad which is the best small one.
That's true, but unfortunately none of those are available for me to buy at a price I can pay.
That's a shame, its miles better than the X200. Not just on a what it can handle level either.
Not for all purposes. It is more powerful and supports some level of hardware acceleration. But it ships with a chicklet keyboard and the intel management engine still exists to some extent. On the x200, the entire computer is free software except for microcode and the IME is deleted from the flash.
So from a power perspective the x230 wins, but the x200 is significantly more libre. Plus, vulnerabilities exist in the BUP bring-up module needed in the IME for the x230 to work. https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?__goaway_challenge=js-refresh&__goaway_id=c74f0db4d8301a390b7c349e433d5846&__goaway_referer=https%3A%2F%2Finv.nadeko.net%2F&v=9fhNokIgBMU
It is worth noting that libreboot can go further to disable the intel management engine, so its advisable to install libreboot first, and then internally flash canoeboot.
This is because libreboot's binary reduction policy lets it distribute proprietary parts of the IME while canoeboot has to completely sidestep it, and sets the HAP bit.
I am a member!
Are there any ARM-based laptops that run Trisquel OK? Don't need Libreboot or GNU Boot or anything fancy like that.
I am a translator!
https://support.apple.com/en-us/111986 is the lightest (0.92 kg - 2.03 pounds) and thinest laptop on which I use Trisquel. For wifi, I use a Thinkpenguin USB adaptor and USB-c to USB adaptor. Sound only works with a headset, everything else is perfectly functional.
