I'm considering buying a secondhand Yoga Slim 7 with AMD/Ryzen 7 for 400 dollars. Is this a good deal? My parents advise against it because the laptop is old (3-4 years), so I'm not sure. I also don't know how well Linux (Fedora/KDE) runs on this particular model. It comes with 512/16GB. I need advice cause I need to make a decision in like 2 days.
Before I install Linux on anything, I would Google to see if anyone else did it. It takes out a lot of guessing work and headaches.
Getting the exact product number would be really helpful. There's like 8 versions of the normal one by itself.
I've been trying to find sources online but I'm never sure if it's the exact model. How do I get the product number? Like in specifications under settings ("model-ID")?
Not definite but there should be as sticker or text printed underneath.
My parents had that same worry when I tried to get a used laptop. If it’s what you have to do to convince them, then maybe look into a newer Thinkpad. I have an E16 AMD with a Ryzen 5 7000 series. I initially had some minor issues with the Wi-Fi modem, but I found some kernel parameters that fixed it. Otherwise, it’s been very smooth-sailing.
If what you want is a used laptop id look into the Lenovo Thinkpad T480, or Dell Latitude 7400. Both have great linux support, are very repairable, and upgradable, and personally i own a 7400 and love it. You can pick either up for around 200$ and spend the rest upgrading them. The thinkpad one is gonna be a bit slower probably, and a bit less slim, but will have better thermals, and battery life most likely too. The 7400 for me required a good bit of tweaking to get it running nicely. i added some thermal pads, repasted cpu, flashed bios update, and did some software tweaks to get thermals under control. If your not up for that the T480 has a massive fanbase online to help with any issues. Careful when looking at options that you dont go for the cheap screen. Get a 1080p screen option one youll regret it if you get the shit screen.
If it helps at all, I'm typing this on a Lenovo Ideadpad 5 that has a Ryzen 5 and 8gb that's running up-to-date Arch (btw) and KDE perfectly well with no troubles at all. I haven't owned the Yoga Slim specifically, but I've had a few Lenovos over the years and mine have all run various forms of Linux quite happily.
