Ask HN: Cheap laptop for Linux without GUI (for writing)

5 points by locusofself 4 hours ago

Hey HN,

I'm on a quest for a distraction-free writing device and considering a super cheap laptop which I can just run vim/nano on.

I'd like: - Excellent battery life - Good keyboard - Sleep/wake capabilities (why is this so hard with Linux?)

I'm thinking some kind of chromebook? Maybe an old thinkpad?

reliefcrew 2 hours ago

Old thinkpads are usually pretty good.

If you're looking at a chromebook I suggest doing research on the specific model first. Esp. by looking here... https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/docs/supported-devices.html

Old MS Surface tablets are also decent options IMHO... https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Supporte...

I'm presently writing on a Surface 3 w/ x7-Z8700 atom that's running Ubuntu Noble and vanilla 6.8 kernel. They're about $50. Everything works rather well (including gfx/audio/sleep/hibernate), except the camera, which I haven't bothered with. I'm quite happy w/ it tbh.

One thing to note w/ this model is you'll need the OEM keyboard to install linux since there's only one usb port; which will be required by the install media. Once you've installed though you can use any bluetooth or usb keyboard you want. Another thing is any micro-usb charger should work but I wouldn't rely on just 1amp, go w/ a 3amp.

Anyway, happy hunting!

david927 4 hours ago

An older ThinkPad is a great choice. Sometimes when a company goes out of business or upgrade, they dump a bunch of laptops and you can get used ThinkPads on the cheap.

functionmouse 4 hours ago

Used n4120 hp stream 11 maybe, should be sub-$100 and more than 8 hours battery. I don't know how sleep/wake works from a text mode TTY machine if that's what you mean.

  • reliefcrew an hour ago

    > I don't know how sleep/wake works from a text mode TTY machine if that's what you mean.

    Usually, I expect, by just issuing a command... e.g. `systemctl suspend`