I am thinking of buying a relatively cheap laptop that is reasonably powerful. I am at loss when it comes to new CPU naming and its compatibility with Linux (from both Intel/AMD). I prefer Ryzen 5 or Core 5 above with atleast 16GB RAM.
Framework laptops are not available where I live.
I saw some Reddit posts claiming AMD being not optimized for Linux particularly for arch related distros (I use EndeavourOS). I am thinking of buying a Thinkbook from Lenovo, but confused b/w team blue & red.
Which of these CPUs are better for running Linux long-term with respect to optimizations, power management, thermals, track pad support etc. If anyone has a laptop recommendation, please feel free to comment down below.
Also, should I go for a high end Laptop like Asus Zenbook S14? A lot of reviews are picking it as the best compact laptop to buy this year. Its expensive. But if it keeps working for a long time, like 6+ years, then I don’t mind investing.
Edit: I use Gnome as my DE with EndeavourOS, but can also try Debian 12 with Gnome.
Honestly you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to cpus, anything you’re looking at should for the most part “just work” as long as it’s within the last 3-8 generations of cpus (I’d recommend the last 2, since they significantly improved power efficiency and you’re going for a laptop). What you’ll mainly want to consider is linux support for the system devices (wifi, etc, etc) which you can Google per model and robustness of the device (which is slightly subjective, but a 1.1lbs 5mm thick whatever is generally less robust than say a ThinkPad).