Hey all - what’s your experience with refurb Lenovo laptops for Linux from companies/shops that specialize in this as a service? I’m looking at LinuxPusher.dk but am also curious about other EU-based shops. It seems like a good, affordable way to get a Linux machine if you’re a novice, like me (some experience with Ubuntu and Kubuntu about 10 years ago).
I bought my P14s Gen 4 refurbished on eBay and have had no trouble. The nice thing about Lenovo is that they have really good documentation and the ThinkPad series are highly serviceable.
I don’t know about Lenovo in general, but the two things I like about Thinkpads in particular and why I generally stick to them are their keyboards and the mouse nub / joystick thingy (trackpoint).
Their keyboards are still curved to give you proper tactile feedback of where your fingers are relative to the keys (unlike the abominable flat square keyboards on many/most other manufacturers), and the trackpoint is a great way to use a mouse-like pointer without moving your hands from home position on the keyboard. It looks like some current models are doing away with the trackpoint, which I think is a terrible mistake.
I’m not sure if any manufacturers still have either of these features or both on their current laptops, but they’re absolutely must have features for me.
Also, I usually buy used/refurbished Thinkpads cheap from ebay.
I would be concerned that linuxpusher.dk is advertising for a social media site called socii. The guy behind that showed up in a thread once, and was not pleasant.
Weird to have a connection between those two sites.
Lenovo has become utter crap. At work, I’m replacing our Lenovo’s with the Framework 13
I checked LinuxPusher and I wouldn’t say they’re affordable. Their laptops are 2-3x the price of the same laptop running no OS on sites like eBay.de. For example, their cheapest T470 is 3000 krone, while the equivalent laptop on ebay is like 150 euro or 1120 krone.
I looked at a Thinkpad L14 G1, an elitebook 840 G5, and the dell 3060 Micro and it’s the same. Consistently 2x and higher markup.
Is that markup worth a 2 year warranty?
You could literally buy a second device if the first one kicks the bucket and still be out ahead monetarily.
If you want to slowly start using linux and already have a pc, make a portable install on any flash drive (I like external ssds for this exact reason) you want, and boot it. (ideally set the RealTimeIsUniversal registry entry in windows so Linux and windows don’t fuck up the bios time).
That’s helpful, thanks. I’m guessing they charge a premium because they provide a service. I’m not afraid to tinker a bit, but my interest in Linux is not tinkering - it’s to switch to a freer, more sustainable OS. So I’m curious about services that offer support.
For that reason I’ve also looked at Tuxedo computers, but I’m worried that I’m locking myself into another company’s OS again (from Microsoft/Apple to Tuxedo) rather than having the freedom to choose my own distro. But I guess with support comes a price: less freedom.
Right now I’m deeply locked into the Apple ecosystem. Apple makes wonderful hardware and apps, but it’s still a straitjacket, even if it’s a designer straitjacket. 😀
Well I think Tuxedo computers would work easily with any other distribution. It’s not based on anything factual but I guess we would have heard a lot of bad things about Tuxedo if they were acting like this.
From the little I know, they have some aditional stuff with Tuxedo OS, but they are also trying to get it added to the Linux kernel.
If course I would want to be corrected if I’m wrong as my knowledge is kind of limited.
Tuxedo OS as far as i know is an optional distro they give preinstalled. You can buy them with no OS and install one yourself via usb it takes like 15 mins. This is true of any laptop with an unlocked bootloader (something like a mac can be done but its harder.)
Excellent point - guess I was just applying proprietary thinking to what Tuxedo offers, but of course it’s a different kettle of fish.
I’ve had good luck with an X201, W520, and T480 - all thinkpads. Haven’t tried any of the lower end lenovo models. I got my W520 new and my other ones off craigslist.
If you’re looking to get a preinstalled OS and from a refurb vendor, an interesting option would be buying from libreboot. Debian/KDE by default or you can choose your own distro. Libreboot is a good cause, and sales funds the project. You’ll have the most secure bios on the block.
Libreboot looks very, very interesting - thanks for the tip!
The hardest part about getting Linux installed on a Lenovo was getting rid of Windows and its death-grip on the bootloader and the TPM.
Also, a few things, like drivers for keyboard backlight and fingerprint scanner never got working. If you just want to experiment and play, could always try Linux under VMWare Workstation (free for personal use) or boot off a thumbdrive.
Interesting - and yet I read about many folks installing Linux on thinkpads, and those laptops even being recommended for Linux. Is it just cause so many have worked on making Lenovo be able to handle Linux?
Thinkpads have always had the reputation for being solid machines, even after IBM spun them out to Lenovo. But there are so many variations of components I imagine it’s hard to keep drivers uptodate for the odd peripherals, especially the entry and mid-range ones.
FWIW, Dell also sells laptops with Linux pre-installed, so likely to have working drivers for all peripherals. HP used to have a “HP DevOne” which got good reviews, but they’re discontinued. If looking for a refurb, that might not be a bad option. System76 and Framework also get decent reviews.
Lenovo brand new is bad, refurbished, well, you just want to have a bad time. This only applies to the new Chinese owned Lenovo, the IBM ones are fine in all possible states.
Well, I don’t want to have a bad time, that’s for sure…thanks for the warning. I’ll be cautious about Lenovo.
I’ve had very disappointing experiences with Lenovo laptops in general and they’re not cheap, even when bought second hand. My recommendation? Go for an AMD Acer laptop, they’re very good machines and Linux Mint works out of the box in all laptops I’ve tested it so far. And I’m sure there are other affordable / good OEMs out there.
they’re not cheap, even when bought second hand
I mean, I bought my T480 for $170 second hand (not from a refurbisher) a few years ago.
Thanks for the tip - I’ll check out the AMD Acer laptops. You thinking of Nitros, in particular?
I’m really fond of the Aspire 15 at the moment. You can get them without any preinstalled OS, which is perfect if your goal is to run Linux on them, since you won’t be paying any hidden costs for a Windows license you never intended to use anyway.
Aspire 15
Looks nice - and nice price too!
I’m also in the Nordics (so accustomed to the overall electronics prices by now), and going to echo that their prices are looking kinda steep for what you’re getting. Unless you’re somehow extremely uncomfortable with picking up a refurb machine somewhere else, and installing whichever distro(s) you want on it yourself. That should be a simple enough process, maybe especially dealing with a Lenovo–and really on just about any laptop you can find, as compared to 20 years ago. Or probably even the 10 since you were last using it.
Just getting a refurb elsewhere and making an install USB is the way I would suggest going. If you use Ventoy to write it, you should be able to try several different live system options off the same stick before deciding which to go with for now.
That site did not seem to be actually specifying what distro they’re installing for you, but their “Linux installation” service page (for the equivalent of $150US or €130+!) shows Mint and offers the option of several desktop flavors of Mint, Ubuntu, or Fedora. If you’re happy to pay that kind of premium for someone else to spend maybe 15 minutes on likely a Mint install set up however they decided was best? Sure, it might be a decent way to go. Doesn’t really seem necessary even for a complete beginner, however.
Good points all round, thanks - and I did think the Linux installation cost seemed high. I might be willing to pay a premium for good support. I’ve heard good things about System76’s customer service (but they’re US-based). Installing a distro on an old laptop doesn’t scare me - I’ve done it before. It’s more the hardware/driver issues that might arise. And then I’d love to discover an “out of the box” solution that I could recommend to my friends and family, who have little appetite for tech tinkering. Maybe that’s where Tuxedo comes into the picture…
I’ve been using refurbished thinkpads for at least a decade and in my experience they have pretty decent value for money. I’m using local shop (taitonetti.fi, I don’t think they currently ship outside Finland) which ships their machines mostly with OEM windows, but that’s not a big deal for me.
Looks like a nice selection. A sensible approach, and one I may end up taking: getting a Windows laptop for good value and then installing Linux myself.
Unless they are literally $150, still nothing to beat a Refurb Framework from their Refurb store for $350-450 that comes with a warranty.
Franework isn’t even available in my country (switzerland) so I guess it’ll be difficult to find refurbished ones in the EU.
Can’t seem to find refurbs on their website - and judging from the original announcement, they may only be available in the US and Canada (I’m in the EU).
It looks like they renamed it to “Outlet” now: here’s a link
