Lenovo ThinkPad - Ubuntu desktop

[Stockyard1]

I have been an Apple fanatic since 2006 when I ditched my Windows desktop in an effort to ditch my video game habit. At that time Apple was not that great for games but it allowed me to browse the web and pay my bills securely. Perfect.

Since that time I have purchased and used 2 MacBooks, 1 MacBook Pro, 2 MacMinis, 2 iPADs, several iPhones and too many cables to count. I also convinced a number of my family members to switch to Apple. No more Windows support calls! Everyone has the blue chat bubble!

I could justify the higher cost because everything just worked, the security is great and I was able to buy the lower end models and upgrade these when the performance needed it and the cost of the parts inevitably came down.

In addition I realized that I did most of my computer work at my desk and in the cloud and so was able to purchase the MacMinis at a much lower price point than the MacBook Pros.

Unfortunately circumstances have changed and I now need some portability in my personal computing needs. I eagerly pulled up the Apple store on my iPhone and quickly realized that the MacBook Pro that I want would set me back close to $3,500.... ouch. In addition Apple now makes it much, much harder to upgrade these machines later on... and have driven super 3rd party service providers like Carbon Computing (carbonation.com) out of business. Plus I now do most of my personal photo and video capturing and editing right on my iPhone. And my technology related interests are really satisfied in the cloud and using the OSXs BSD subsystems.

So this week I ordered a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5... which was closer to $1500... and today I installed Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on it. I splurged and purchased the UA infrastructure essential support for $25 per year...

In the next few weeks I will be integrating this laptop into my (still mostly Apple) ecosystem.

I am typing this note on LibreOffice Writer... the Ubuntu software store has many of the applications I use on OSX like Spotify, VS Code, PyCharm etc...

I will let you know how it goes...

Wish me luck!

 

[russell_314]

Let us know how it goes. It’s always fun to try new things. I’m more of a traditional Lenovo ThinkPad kind of person but the Yoga looks nice

I’m just curious though why did you think you needed a $3500 MacBook Pro when you bought something closer to the specs of a MacBook Air but with the form factor of an iPad Pro?

 

[Stockyard1]

There are a couple of reasons that I wanted a MacBook Pro as opposed to the MacBook Air.
The first and probably the most important has to do with the number of screens. My current Mac Mini supports 3 large monitors. I am one of those people that are far more productive when given a lot of screen real estate to work with. The MacBook Pro would then replace my Mac Mini and the Mini would be handed down to those that need it. The MacBook Air only supports two external screens.

Of course the Lenovo ThinkPad only supports 2 external screens... but once the purpose of the laptop no longer became the replacement of the Mac Mini than other reasons made me chose the ThinkPad. I realised that what I wanted the mobility for was to work with software that runs on and interacts with cloud resources that are Linux based. In addition it would be beneficial to be able to install, potentially mess up and re-install the Linux OS whenever needed. In other words an IT Skunkworks laptop. The ThinkPad became a more logical choice.

The final reason is a little silly. I suppose I wanted the MacBook Pro as something like a status symbol but I just could not bring myself to spend the $. So I settled on a really nice Lenovo ThinkPad with a Tux sticker on the back. I think that's cool. Silly but there it is.

I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Technerd108]

I have been an Apple fanatic since 2006 when I ditched my Windows desktop in an effort to ditch my video game habit. At that time Apple was not that great for games but it allowed me to browse the web and pay my bills securely. Perfect.

Since that time I have purchased and used 2 MacBooks, 1 MacBook Pro, 2 MacMinis, 2 iPADs, several iPhones and too many cables to count. I also convinced a number of my family members to switch to Apple. No more Windows support calls! Everyone has the blue chat bubble!

I could justify the higher cost because everything just worked, the security is great and I was able to buy the lower end models and upgrade these when the performance needed it and the cost of the parts inevitably came down.

In addition I realized that I did most of my computer work at my desk and in the cloud and so was able to purchase the MacMinis at a much lower price point than the MacBook Pros.

Unfortunately circumstances have changed and I now need some portability in my personal computing needs. I eagerly pulled up the Apple store on my iPhone and quickly realized that the MacBook Pro that I want would set me back close to $3,500.... ouch. In addition Apple now makes it much, much harder to upgrade these machines later on... and have driven super 3rd party service providers like Carbon Computing (carbonation.com) out of business. Plus I now do most of my personal photo and video capturing and editing right on my iPhone. And my technology related interests are really satisfied in the cloud and using the OSXs BSD subsystems.

So this week I ordered a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5... which was closer to $1500... and today I installed Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on it. I splurged and purchased the UA infrastructure essential support for $25 per year...

In the next few weeks I will be integrating this laptop into my (still mostly Apple) ecosystem.

I am typing this note on LibreOffice Writer... the Ubuntu software store has many of the applications I use on OSX like Spotify, VS Code, PyCharm etc...

I will let you know how it goes...

Wish me luck!

I am curious why not get something with Linux pre-installed? Dell and Lenovo both make several laptops with Linux.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 | Ultralight, super-powerful Intel Evo laptop

Meet the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 built on the Intel® Evo™ platform—redesigned for improved collaboration, extra security, and powerful performance.

www.lenovo.com

The reason I ask is because I have installed Linux countless times on many laptops over the years and if it was not installed by the manufacturer there was always some hardware issue that wasn't supported by Linux. The manufacturer would not help and just say they don't support Linux on said device.

Have you had any loss of functionality at all using Ubuntu? Like laptop functions tied to the keyboard, sound, wifi and does the battery last as long with Linux as Windows?

Also in terms of Apple being a sealed system which it is so are a lot of Windows computers. Obviously not to the degree that the unified architecture from Apple but most Lenovo laptop have the ram soldered to the motherboard. Some go so far as to solder the ram and ssd. So in most cases all you can upgrade is the SSD and opening up the laptop is not always easily done without marking up or damaging the device in some way so I don't see moving away from Apple as being too advantageous in your reasoning. Desktop is a completely different arena but laptops are pretty much all sealed systems these days.

 

[c0ppo]

The reason I ask is because I have installed Linux countless times on many laptops over the years and if it was not installed by the manufacturer there was always some hardware issue that wasn't supported by Linux. The manufacturer would not help and just say they don't support Linux on said device.

Have you had any loss of functionality at all using Ubuntu? Like laptop functions tied to the keyboard, sound, wifi and does the battery last as long with Linux as Windows?

I've installed Linux (PopOS mostly, and some arch based distros) on countless thinkpads. Just one issue, and it was with thinkpad x1 extreme (gen1). Wi-fi didn't work. All it took is connecting it via cable and updating.

Also in terms of Apple being a sealed system which it is so are a lot of Windows computers. Obviously not to the degree that the unified architecture from Apple but most Lenovo laptop have the ram soldered to the motherboard. Some go so far as to solder the ram and ssd.

I'm sorry, but most Lenovo laptops don't have soldered RAM. Just ultrabooks like Nano, X1 Carbon, etc.
And even on those you can at least replace SSD and/or wi-fi module. I haven't seen any Lenovo laptop with soldered on SSD? Actually, their workstation laptops, even thin ones like X1 Extreme usually come with 2 nvme slots.

And all of them are really easy to open. Without any damage. Or special tools.

 

[Technerd108]

I've installed Linux (PopOS mostly, and some arch based distros) on countless thinkpads. Just one issue, and it was with thinkpad x1 extreme (gen1). Wi-fi didn't work. All it took is connecting it via cable and updating.



I'm sorry, but most Lenovo laptops don't have soldered RAM. Just ultrabooks like Nano, X1 Carbon, etc.
And even on those you can at least replace SSD and/or wi-fi module. I haven't seen any Lenovo laptop with soldered on SSD? Actually, their workstation laptops, even thin ones like X1 Extreme usually come with 2 nvme slots.

And all of them are really easy to open. Without any damage. Or special tools.

Well I have almost without exception had one issue or another with driver support on a non supported laptop using Linux. For example on 11th gen Intel laptops sound was a terrible problem that could not be resolved on multiple laptops from different brands.

I was asking the OP since he spent a decent amount of money and bought an X1 Yoga which most certainly has soldered ram.

He can pretty much change the SSD. Maybe the wifi card too. Laptops, specially thin and light ones are just not as upgradable as they were in the past. If you are talking Thinkpad or workstation laptop they are a lot more upgradable but that is not what the OP has.

PopOS is one of the better distro's to support a wide range of software, even better than Ubuntu.

The problem with Linux in general is software. Yes, you can get a ton of free software and that is great and the more popular software usually has great support and frequent updates but a lot of less common software is not as well supported or optimized. Some of it is pretty bad unless you know how to work around or write new code yourself. I am just an average user and I like Linux a lot but there were a lot of headaches ranging from software support, driver support, peripherals that would not work to kernel updates that would wreck my installation.

So for me if I go Linux again I would personally want it to be installed and supported by the manufacturer. Since you can get many more laptops with Linux pre-installed for not much and sometimes less than the pre-installed windows counter parts.

My question to the OP is why he did not go that route if there were any issues and some manufacturers like Dell have their own software repository which would be very helpful.

 

[ArkSingularity]

I have Ubuntu on a HP laptop, and honestly I've had very good experiences with it. People thought I was crazy, but it's been smooth sailing for me.

Software support is leaps and bounds better than it used to be, games get better framerates than they did on Windows, and it actually geekbenches a few percent better and even gets better battery life. No hardware issues whatsoever (even printers "just work" - I've never had an easier experience with a printer than I've had on Linux). And Gnome 3 feels very at-home coming from a Mac.

My only gripe with Ubuntu is that you kinda have to check the top dropdown box in the software center and make sure of which kind of software package you are getting. Ubuntu is pushing Snaps very aggressively and the snaps can sometimes be notoriously slow (15+ second app launch times in some cases). I always try to make sure to get the .debs if I can, and if they aren't available, I have flatpak support added to my system and grab the flatpak instead (flatpaks don't integrate quite as well with the Ubuntu theming, but they perform MUCH better on a cold launch in my experience).

Other than this, I've had great experiences. I'm also a big fan of Gnome 3. Once dash to dock is added (which Ubuntu has already done) it feels natural. The overview is amazing. It's literally mission control, spotlight, and launchpad all in one menu. It's so elegant that I sometimes wonder if Apple will ever take some hints from the overview and come up with something like it of their own.

 

[Technerd108]

I have Ubuntu on a HP laptop, and honestly I've had very good experiences with it. Games get better framerates than they did on Windows, and it actually geekbenches a few percent better and even gets better battery life. No hardware issues whatsoever (even printers "just work" - I've never had an easier experience with a printer than I've had on Linux). It's definitely far better than Windows in my opinion, and Gnome 3 feels fairly at home coming from a Mac as well.

My only recommendation with Ubuntu is to check the little dropdown at the top to see what type of package you are getting. Ubuntu is pushing Snaps very aggressively and the snaps are notoriously slow in some cases (15+ second app launch times in many cases). I try to make sure to get the .debs if I can (be careful, the software center defaults to snaps), and if they aren't available, I have flatpak support added to my system and grab the flatpak instead.

Other than this, I've had great experiences. I'm also a big fan of Gnome 3 (once dash to dock is added, which Ubuntu has already done) and it feels natural. The overview is amazing. It's literally mission control, spotlight, and launchpad all in one menu. It's so elegant that I sometimes wonder if Apple will ever take some hints from the overview and come up with something like it of their own.

Well Apple sure copies Android features like Always On Display that has been on Android for a while. Pill cut out cameras now too.

So I would not be too surprised if they didn't emulate some of the best features of Ubuntu/Linux/Gnome etc.

 

[ArkSingularity]

Well Apple sure copies Android features like Always On Display that has been on Android for a while. Pill cut out cameras now too.

So I would not be too surprised if they didn't emulate some of the best features of Ubuntu/Linux/Gnome etc.

Agreed. I would be thrilled to see an overview-like feature on Mac. It's pretty much the perfect UI in my opinion.

 

[Stockyard1]

I am curious why not get something with Linux pre-installed? Dell and Lenovo both make several laptops with Linux.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 | Ultralight, super-powerful Intel Evo laptop

Meet the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 built on the Intel® Evo™ platform—redesigned for improved collaboration, extra security, and powerful performance.

www.lenovo.com

The reason I ask is because I have installed Linux countless times on many laptops over the years and if it was not installed by the manufacturer there was always some hardware issue that wasn't supported by Linux. The manufacturer would not help and just say they don't support Linux on said device.

Have you had any loss of functionality at all using Ubuntu? Like laptop functions tied to the keyboard, sound, wifi and does the battery last as long with Linux as Windows?

Also in terms of Apple being a sealed system which it is so are a lot of Windows computers. Obviously not to the degree that the unified architecture from Apple but most Lenovo laptop have the ram soldered to the motherboard. Some go so far as to solder the ram and ssd. So in most cases all you can upgrade is the SSD and opening up the laptop is not always easily done without marking up or damaging the device in some way so I don't see moving away from Apple as being too advantageous in your reasoning. Desktop is a completely different arena but laptops are pretty much all sealed systems these days.

I could not find Lenovo ThinkPads with pre-installed Linux in the Canadian store at the same price point. I also remember reading a press release from Lenovo that all of their laptops were certified for Linux. So Lenovo made the decision easy for me... install it myself or spend more.

I have been using, casually, my Ubuntu ThinkPad for a week and I am very impressed. I initially ran Ubuntu on it from the USB stick just to do some basic testing. It ran without issues. I connected to wifi, to two monitors, printed to a wifi connected printer and browsed to a number of websites that I frequently use without any issues. I decided to install via the dual boot option.

The installation itself was straight forward. The only decision that I had to make (to support the dual boot option) was to un-encrypt the disk drive. I was ok with that as I am not planning on storing anything confidential on the drive. The installation wizard took me through all the steps including selecting how much of the drive to allocate to Ubuntu and how much to leave for windows.

After the installation I made the decision to subscribe to the Ubuntu Livepatch support service which is $25/year. Then I used the Ubunutu software app to update all of the software that it recommended. I think Lenovo also decided to update the BIOS (which was interesting) but I did not get the chance to capture the screen with the details.

To test out the sound I installed Spotify and I can say that it works and sounds great on the ThinkPad speakers... although I have not figured out how to connect to my Sonos speakers yet.

I was also able to use MS Office via the Chrome browser... and while the cloud apps do not have all of the functionality of the Windows native apps they get me 90% there...

So far I have encountered one glitch and that is that the FireFox browser crashes my wifi connection. I resolved the issue by downloading and using Chrome. Chrome has so far worked flawlessly and does not crash my wifi connection. I was surprised that the browser Ubuntu includes as default would crash my wifi. Perhaps if I subscribed to the Ubuntu $125/year support service we would figure it out... but for now I am just going to use Chrome.

As to the battery life that is a hard question to answer as it depends on what you are doing with the laptop. I can say that when fully charged and with my screen set at 10% of brightness the battery meter tells me I have 14 hours to go... when I set the screen brightness to 100% it drops to 7 hours. (as an FYI the last MacBook that I purchased had a terrible battery life... much less than Apple claimed).

In terms of upgrading the components. The memory is soldered and so I picked 16GB to start. I am hoping that Ubuntu will be happy with that for a long time. The SSD is up-gradable and I plan to do that in a couple of years as the need requires.

Next I will look at security. I will let you know how that goes!

 

[Technerd108]

I could not find Lenovo ThinkPads with pre-installed Linux in the Canadian store at the same price point. I also remember reading a press release from Lenovo that all of their laptops were certified for Linux. So Lenovo made the decision easy for me... install it myself or spend more.

I have been using, casually, my Ubuntu ThinkPad for a week and I am very impressed. I initially ran Ubuntu on it from the USB stick just to do some basic testing. It ran without issues. I connected to wifi, to two monitors, printed to a wifi connected printer and browsed to a number of websites that I frequently use without any issues. I decided to install via the dual boot option.

The installation itself was straight forward. The only decision that I had to make (to support the dual boot option) was to un-encrypt the disk drive. I was ok with that as I am not planning on storing anything confidential on the drive. The installation wizard took me through all the steps including selecting how much of the drive to allocate to Ubuntu and how much to leave for windows.

After the installation I made the decision to subscribe to the Ubuntu Livepatch support service which is $25/year. Then I used the Ubunutu software app to update all of the software that it recommended. I think Lenovo also decided to update the BIOS (which was interesting) but I did not get the chance to capture the screen with the details.

To test out the sound I installed Spotify and I can say that it works and sounds great on the ThinkPad speakers... although I have not figured out how to connect to my Sonos speakers yet.

I was also able to use MS Office via the Chrome browser... and while the cloud apps do not have all of the functionality of the Windows native apps they get me 90% there...

So far I have encountered one glitch and that is that the FireFox browser crashes my wifi connection. I resolved the issue by downloading and using Chrome. Chrome has so far worked flawlessly and does not crash my wifi connection. I was surprised that the browser Ubuntu includes as default would crash my wifi. Perhaps if I subscribed to the Ubuntu $125/year support service we would figure it out... but for now I am just going to use Chrome.

As to the battery life that is a hard question to answer as it depends on what you are doing with the laptop. I can say that when fully charged and with my screen set at 10% of brightness the battery meter tells me I have 14 hours to go... when I set the screen brightness to 100% it drops to 7 hours. (as an FYI the last MacBook that I purchased had a terrible battery life... much less than Apple claimed).

In terms of upgrading the components. The memory is soldered and so I picked 16GB to start. I am hoping that Ubuntu will be happy with that for a long time. The SSD is up-gradable and I plan to do that in a couple of years as the need requires.

Next I will look at security. I will let you know how that goes!

I didn't know all Lenovo Laptops were Linux certified. That is awesome.

Well I just might have to test it out on my Lenovo. Lol

Dual booting is what caused problems for me in the past. Let me know how things go and I might try it again. About a year ago I tried on a Lenovo 7i 13" with tiger lake and it was reminding me of the days of Mepis Linux where you had to hope that you could get wifi working.

Good luck and enjoy your Lenovo!

 

[Stockyard1]

I did encounter an issue with wifi connectivity. While on battery power the wifi connectivity would drop. To fix the issue I would have to go and toggle the airplane mode. This happened frequently enough to be an issue.

I opened a L4-non-urgent issue ticket with Cononical Ubuntu support. I was surprised to get a response from a human within 15 minutes.
They asked me to check my kernel version and the default wifi powersave configuration using the following commands:
- ~$ uname -r
- ~$ cat /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

It turns out that I have the generic version of the kernel and not the coveted oem version and that the wifi powersave was enabled. This means that the wifi is turned off after a period of inactivity to conserve the battery. The wifi should turn back on seamlessly when needed but clearly this does not work well on my laptop with the generic version of the kernel.

Ubuntu support asked me to disable wifi powersave. This solved the issue with the wifi connectivity. The battery consumption went way up but still gave me 6+ hours. Plenty for my needs.

I also reached out to Lenovo support. The hardware support team were responsive but were not able to help me as they determined it was not a hardware fault. They sent me to their software support - after I asked when Lenovo would roll out support for Ubuntu 22.04 desktop - but after being on hold for 20 minutes I gave up.

I continue to be impressed with my Lenovo laptop and the Ubuntu desktop.

More to follow...