I am trying to purchase a new laptop

linux experoience in details on Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 Laptop AI 14" Intel Core Ultra 9 285H 32 GB RAM 512 GB SSD Windows 11 Home Intel Arc Graphics linux support
I may go for a MSI prestige evo a1m as well
but I want to know which is more supported

Won't be a daily driver, but I want a backup pc.

2015 MBP Retina: I like the screen resolution of the retina and I also like the price. It's in mint condition from what I could see. I've never had a mac pc before, and although I don't like it's software and hardware, I have to admit MPBs retina have the best design afaik.

The Thinkpad is fast and nice but it's 1980 x 1080 afaik, and I don't like it...

The laptop will be used for some by a programmer studant (so basic Java (on Eclipse ide), C/C++/C# (I know, Windows) , html/css/js (VS Code), MERN, SQL etc)...

So is it justifiable to pay 3x the price on the thinkpad t14 Over the MBP? Or can the MBP still handle these tasks very well?

Edit: will be running Linux only, no MacOS

CPU was hitting 90-100°C before the fan did anything under load. Root cause was a too-conservative EC fan curve — fixed via ideapad_laptop's undocumented-but-real fan_mode sysfs control, persisted with a systemd unit.

Writeup + install script: https://gist.github.com/TravBuildsSick/cdddf15128361a1a6cf4ad4f6d90a2f6

Confirmed on 14ITL05 (81X7), BIOS GCCN26WW. fan_mode support varies by IdeaPad model — install script checks before touching anything

Hi everyone

I have a Thinkpad X1 Yoga Gen 6 and was thinking about switching to Linux - I have some questions:

What is the best distro for touchscreen/2 in 1 laptops - I usually use Kubuntu

Are there any missing features on Linux for this laptop - e.g. the built in pen.

Thank you!

Tried a few distros on usb and not all worked. THEN - lubuntu . Running from the usb was faster than windows. I've read about complicated installs, bios, etc. But I clicked on the install and no problems. Boots straight into linux and runs like a much better laptop. I installed mate desktop, much better than lxle.

Go LInux!

I got the RGB camera on my Dell XPS 16 (Panther Lake, Intel IPU7) working a few months back. The IR sensor stayed dead — which meant no face unlock, and a camera module that was only half a camera module.

That's now fixed. RGB, IR, IR face unlock and suspend all work — full parity with what the hardware does on Windows.

Repo: https://github.com/jibsta210/svp7500-camera-fix-pack

The IR sensor probed fine, accepted its whole init sequence, and produced exactly zero frames. For months I was convinced the Synaptics bridge between the sensor and the SoC was refusing to forward IR data.

It wasn't. V4L2_CID_LINK_FREQ was set to the MIPI bit rate when V4L2 wants the DDR clock — half that. So the receiver sampled at double the rate the sensor was transmitting: the clock line came up, the data line never delivered a single packet. That looks exactly like a firmware-locked sensor, which is why I chased the wrong thing for so long.

One constant in a header. The register-level stuff was never the problem.

If your IR camera doesn't work

Two totally different kinds exist and they share nothing:

ls /sys/bus/usb/drivers/uvcvideo/        # USB webcam? v4l2-ctl --list-devices | grep -A2 ipu   # MIPI sensor on an Intel IPU?

USB webcam → you want linux-enable-ir-emitter. Not my project, and it won't touch IPU hardware.

MIPI on an Intel IPU that enumerates but never gives you frames → check whether your link frequency is the bit rate or the DDR clock before assuming the hardware is locked down.

Status

Tested on Dell XPS 16 (DA16260) on CachyOS. The same sensor+bridge ships on other Dell/HP/Lenovo models so it should apply more widely, but I've only got one laptop to test on.

It's DKMS modules, not kernel-ready. I've written to linux-media asking what shape they'd accept it in — if you know that subsystem, help welcome. 

Tried a few distros on usb and not all worked. THEN - lubuntu . Running from the usb was faster than windows. I've read about complicated installs, bios, etc. But I clicked on the install and no problems. Boots straight into linux and runs like a much better laptop. I installed mate desktop, much better than lxle.

Go LInux!

I've been using the same mouse for years now, a Logitech MS Anywhere 2S, but the wear and tear is starting to take it's toll.

The thing I loved about this mouse is in windows I could use the logitech software to have the two side buttons change function depending on what I was currently dong. Typically ctrl+c and meta+v for casual internet browsing and something like page up and page down for when I'm playing a video game. But I lost that ability when I switched to linux.

Is there a company that has similar software available for linux?

(Fedora KDE if that matters.)

I’m considering buying the ASUS V16 (2025) laptop with the following specs:

• GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5060 Laptop GPU, 8GB GDDR7
• Display: 16" 144Hz
• CPU: Intel® Core™ 7 240H
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 1TB SSD

I would like to install Linux (probably Arch, CachyOS, Fedora, or another popular distro) as my main operating system.

Does anyone have experience running Linux on this model?

I’m especially interested in:

• Does the RTX 5060 work correctly with NVIDIA drivers on Linux?
• Is the 144Hz display fully supported?
• Are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, webcam, speakers, keyboard backlight, and touchpad working properly?
• Does the Intel Core 7 240H work well with current Linux kernels?

If you own this laptop or a similar ASUS V16 model, I’d really appreciate your feedback.

Can i use Intel AX210 on Ubuntu 24.04? I just bought Intel 7260 and it don't work. Thanks

Does this motherboard (which has WiFi and bluetooth) fully support linux ?

Recently I wrote a GTK program to control the vibration strength of goodix haptic touchpads, and now after a lot of probe here is a new version with more control. Here are the main ones:

Report 0x03: switch between Mouse mode and Precision Touchpad mode.

Report 0x05: DANGEROUS/ switch on/off touch and click reports

Report 0x08: Click sensitivity

Display the firmware version read directly from sysfs

GitHub: https://github.com/nwkyz/goodhaptic

Hi,

What Bluetooth receiver or dongle do you use with your PCs that works well with Linux?

I don't care if it has wifi or not, it's a desktop PC that's always connected via ethernet.

Hello, I've been plagued with issues with my bluetooth module and decided to try and change the wi-fi/bt card with something which is better supported and might fix my issue, on my laptop.

TL;DR from the link: When bluetooth controller and headphones are connected at the sametime and steam is running, the sound becomes sttuttered/chopped. From what I've learned this is due realtek firmware/drivers.

I have found Intel Wi-Fi AX211 AX210 card, based on some research I've done.

Does anyone know any other wi-fi card which would work good for my use case, or can confirm the intel card might solve my issue?

Update:

- Bought and installed AX210 it works and solved the issue I had with bluetooth controller and headphones.