Hello linix@lemmy, I got fixed on the idea of replacing my iPad with a 2in1 like the thibkpad X13 for uni since I use the keyboard with my iPad a lot. The only time I need to take handwritten notes is in chemistry, mathematics and to annotate PDFs. Does anyone here have experience with convertibles running Linux? What would be the best one for palm rejection and writing?
I was unable to find reviews on reasonably modern hardware. Until now I have my eyes set on an Thinkpad X13 since it is Ubuntu certified at least. Thanks :)
Don’t get a Lenovo yoga they kinda suck
Not sure about the ThinkPad yogas, only used a non -thinkpad one but I’m sure someone will chime in
From what I hear, ironically enough the surface pros are pretty good for Linux
I had a surface pro 4 with Linux for several years. The install process is a bit annoying since you need to get the custom surface kernel but other than that it worked great. I had a lot of issues with the hardware (unrelated to Linux), but I’ve heard that it has gotten better with the newer versions
I’m using a Dell Inspiron 2in1 and from the linux side everything runs great. In the three years I have this laptop I tried multiple distros and all worked fine. Besides that the biggest problem was to find a program to make handwritten notes. I really recommend Rnote as it has matured very well over this year and is the only option if you need an infinite canvas to draw on.
I can’t recommend you the hardware tho as it is really aweful. The trackpad gets stuck sometimes and does not come back up with the keyboard showing the same symptoms now, the aluminum chassis gets greasy really fast and the hinges aren’t the best either. Also you must use the cheapest version of all Dell pens because the screen is only compatible with that one pen.
I have a shitty hp 2in1 that really sucks, but for taking notes and annotate pdfs is good enough. In case you’ll choose KDE as desktop environment check out this kwin script I wrote to get a tablet-like experience
Hardware wise dell xps 13 2-in-1 is a good choice. However folio is horrible, magnetic stand is way too weak and I still cannot figure out deep sleep/hibernation. Aslo fingerprint scanner doesn’t work.
Another thing is that Linux is not the best choice for a touch device. I’ve tried gnome and kde and they both suck. I’ve also tried plasma mobile and it feels like nearly days of touch screens.
We have had the 13" 2in1 XPS and found Fedora and Stylus support to be good (once the drivers were available, the downside of getting a prerelease model).
We recommend our users to have xournal++ for handwriting support.
There’s a quite active community of people running linux on surface devices back on reddit.
