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Comment by mintplant | Hacker News Reader

Somewhat tangential: any recommendations for an Arch Linux install? My old IdeaPad V570 is wearing down and I'm thinking of replacing it in the near future. Either used or new.

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The nuances of running Linux on any ThinkPad are documented in minute detail at http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki.

For the most part I have simply booted Ubuntu install images and had no problems at all. On some models I reprogram the fan controllers because I don't like the fan noise and the defaults are too conservative on thermal margins anyway.

I'm using arch on T430s and T440p. wicd didn't play well with wifi card/driver on T430s- no wifi after resume. It works fine with NetworkManager though (or maybe driver was updated in the meantime).

I'd recommend a Tx30(s/p) depending if you want 14" or 15" screen. Just get one with a resolution >1376x768 and a good CPU. You can easily upgrade the rest.

T420. should only run about $275 refurbished. you want intel graphics. fill it with 8Gb memory. simply great with Archlinux. with a 9cell battery and standard hard-drive tuning (consider swapping in a SSD sometime) you can easily get 8hours on a charge.

I use the x230 and all the hardware works right out of the box. Pretty much the only manual setup i did was for laptop power management and a xsessionrc to disable the touchpad since I always use the red dot.

I'm running arch on my x230. Make sure you don't get a x230 with Realtek. If you do, quickly replace it with a Intel card[1].

[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008V7AAJU/ref=oh_aui_detai...

X220 Tablet, if using Wacom is your thing.

Runs well on my T440s

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