Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano

I use this feature a lot when using my X1 Nano while lounging on my bed. Opening the screen to its near-maximum extent and holding the laptop vertically puts the screen at eye level in that position, making it more comfortable to use for an extended period because it doesn’t keep my neck craned down.

Thinkpad X1 Nano with an intel CPU because I needed Thunderbolt for my setup. I got a matte screen to reduce reflection and added a 5G modem for only $100 more. Highly recommend as a lightweight travel laptop.

Just for clarification, the parent I was originally responding to was expressing their negative view about the Nano and how they love their M1 MacBook Pro, so I wanted to provide my experience with the two laptops that I have used extensively. I did briefly have a 2020 M1 Air for 2 years. It was fine for carrying around. It failed for portability primarily in its inability to dock to a 2 monitor workstation. I still vastly prefer my Nano as a portable laptop to travel with (e.g. plane or bus travel outside of my city). The Air indeed weighs very little, but it still weighs 40% more than a Nano! I usually travel with a portable screen that weighs half a pound, so my combo still weighs less than just an Air. It’s hard to describe the experience with an Air, since weight is about physical feel, but that weight saving does make a difference. The Nano is so lightweight that I can quickly pick it up and use it on the sofa as comfortably as an iPad. My Nano even has a 5G SIM card slot that I can pop my cellphone SIM into. However, that only works on the Windows side for now. Finally, the keyboard is much more pleasant to type on with the Nano. It really is a great travel laptop. Add in the ability to natively run Arch Linux, and I’m happier than ever with it.

I use a ThinkPad X1 Nano (gen 9 I believe) with an intel CPU since it supports Thunderbolt, which I use to dock my laptop. I ended up on Fedora and am happy as can be. Everything works besides the 5G cellular modem, but I just use my phone as a hotspot. This was my first time purchasing a laptop that isn’t a MacBook, and I really like it! My favorite aspect is probably the keyboard, which I find a lot more enjoyable to type on than my MacBook for work. I purchased this laptop to pair with a nice desktop setup, so I wanted something lightweight (~2 lbs.) for traveling that just worked. I’m a software developer who primarily uses Firefox, kitty, and VS Code. I was concerned about the “just works” aspect before purchasing, but after some very slight initial tweaking, I find that it does just work and never gets in my way of productivity. Gnome Extensions made that minor tweaking much simpler than setting up an Arch environment. Overall, I’m extremely happy with this laptop and hope to use it for years to come.

My Thinkpad X1 Nano also runs Linux quite well. They come with Windows pre-installed but are certified for Ubuntu. Qubes/Xen also runs pretty well, although Xen doesn't support hibernate (only suspend).

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 or X1 Nano are my favorites. Small, light, but powerful. Before I used the ThinkPad X230 and DELL Latitude 7270, each for many years and bought second hand. The DELL was particularly sturdy. All of these are Ubuntu LTS friendly boxes. Avoid Microsoft Surface Laptops, which require patches to run Linux, Microsoft doesn't offer an Image ready to burn on a stick. And although I'm writing this on an M1 MacBook, I can't recommend that box yet as a primary machine; I use it mostly for making and presenting slides and browsing HN and such, not for serious dev work. In a year's time, this may look different.