just need something to do light development (docker, python, rust, with an ide). something i can upgrade (ram, ssd minimum). laptop would best, but desktop works too

any protips? thanks!

  • dark_stang@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Desktop or laptop? Do you need peripherals included? Honestly for under $500 I’d highly suggest looking at refurbished machines. You’ll be able to pick up an off-lease Dell or Lenovo or HP system for < $300.

    • director@some.institute
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      1 year ago

      Tons of good options in the used enterprise market. 3-5 years old, usually some paths for basic upgrades, as well as a flood of part availability from all the other similar systems being off boarded that were broken and not resellable. Laptops can be a bit roughed up, but full sized and sff desktops are usually in great condition.

    • owen@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      In addition to Beelink I’ve heard good things about Minisforum’s mini PCs, they might run a little more expensive overall though

      • Papamousse@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Yes, both are well known and (even if sometimes some people says they have lemons, for both bands) pretty solid, mine is 14 months old and runs 8h/day as my work PC

    • I think a lot of these must share a bunch of components. I really like my TRIGKEY, especially the Ryzen 5 ($270). Everything worked OOTB with Linux (I didn’t even boot into Windows before wiping it), the fan never ran unless under load, and it was super easy to open and upgrade. I also got the Ryzen 7; the wifi module doesn’t have a supported driver (under Linux), the hardware is harder to access, and it runs significantly hotter - so I recommend the Ryzen 5.

  • lemmyvore@feddit.nl
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    1 year ago

    You can probably pick up a decent desktop machine for $50 from your local ads and put the rest into upgrades and still have some money left over.

    • phx@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Yup, that or if buying new then check out older models that may be in clearance/sale. You don’t need something with a 4070 etc to run Linux, but you could potentially manage to find something with an older-gen video card and decent/upgradeable RAM. There should also be more easily found discussion over Linux compatibility

      With laptops, also watch out for models with soldered-on RAM or low maximums, which can limit upgrades.

  • deadcatbounce@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    If it runs Windows it’ll run Linux almost certainly. The cheaper you go, the more likely you’ll have lower priced or older components for WiFi, Bluetooth etc which may mean that you have to dig some firmware binaries out to get the whole thing running.

    If you can take a USB stick with you of a typical Rescue distribution, and can boot it up, you’ll know what will and won’t work easily. The bits that don’t work may need some minor fiddling. As I said, there are usually walkthrough blogs etc around.

    Have fun.

  • rar@discuss.online
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    1 year ago

    I assume you’re just getting into Linux? Avoid Chromebooks for this (running linux as beginner) - there are ways of running Linux, but they require some tricks dpending on the model.

  • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    You might want to mention if your budget is for the computer alone or for screen, keyboard, mouse,… too.

  • rotopenguin@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    You can get an N100 mini system for about $150. Pay a little more to get (the intel enforced maximum) 16GB mem. I have a Beelink Mini S and it’s perfectly fine.

    • TCB13@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Forget about those, for 100$ you can get a second hand HP Mini that has a full i5 8th gen CPU and 16GB of RAM. Way better in all possible ways. Those systems also run very well with Linux.

    • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Old Thinkpads are your best bet, especially for linux support. I scored a new T14s gen 3 for $300 earlier this year, and like a year earlier got a T14 gen 1 for $200.

      The Intel Thinkpads should have great support and upgradeable ram, the newer AMD ones sadly have soldered ram.

  • Peter G@discuss.online
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    1 year ago

    I got an off-lease dell latitude 7400. Tbh, got it for free, but you can snag one on eBay for under $400. i5, 16 Gb ram, got a 1TB drive for $50 on Amazon. Runs Linux very well! I’d go with a light weight is like EndeavourOS or Arch.

  • StellarTabi [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    modern chromebooks are secretly linux under the hood and can run android/linux apps. you could also try remoting into a server for development, like over ssh/vim or via code-server.

    • raven [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      And if you open it up and unplug the battery, then boot off the charger that disables the write protect and you can install actual linux, though a lot of chromebooks have unique hardware that might not be supported, particularly audio IME.

      I used to have a dell chromebook 11, and with bitmap fonts it was actually a pretty slick little computer for <$100.

      • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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        1 year ago

        HWAT??

        I’ve got an old one that I am trying that on first thing tomorrow. I assume you can plug the battery back in afterwards?

        • raven [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          Depending on how old it might be another method. Some have a switch somewhere, or a specific screw. Check out mrchromebox’s page.

          And yeah you just boot it with the battery disconnected once and it disables the write protect!

          • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, did some research and it ended up being a screw that needed removed. Regardless, I didn’t know this was possible at all so I’m quite happy