Cheapest fanless Linux Intel laptop with a display 13 inches or larger

Question

Fan sound drives me crazy
I want Linux, not Windows nor ChromeOS. I do not need games nor 3D, probably console tty only.
Displays smaller than 13" are too small
Intel has better Linux support than ARM or Tegra
If I have no CPU-intense ambitions, why shouldn't it be cheap - let's say <= $250 (some Chromebooks, for example, are confirmed to be easily converted to Linux, but most models do not have seabios from the box and requires model-specific not-officially-supported hacking)

The criteria I am searching for are, again:

fanless
Linux
>= 13"
Intel
cheap

I've searched for the past year and couldn't find anything. The Asus UX305 is ideal, only not cheap (still ~$600).

Can someone recommend something?

Is it OK if it comes with windows but Linux ought to be installable? — Journeyman Geek, Mar 11 '16 at 14:39
@JourneymanGeek Yes, windows based laptops usually do not have specific bios-boot problems like ~80% of chromebooks have. Even ms-surface is easily converted to ubuntu. — MetNP, Mar 11 '16 at 17:13
These days an old MacBook non-pro with ubuntu might be reasonably priced. — Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen, May 07 '23 at 06:25

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 12 '16 at 20:47

4

You could buy a fanless Chromebook and install linux yourself.

It shouldn't be that difficult if you have much Linux experience, which you probably do if you only want it for the command line.

edited Mar 12 '16 at 20:47

Adam

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answered Mar 10 '16 at 00:53

Samuel

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thanks, prodct.info seems very helpfull, i will try to find something, and running linux seems scary in some seabios patching/flushing science. Some models are intended to be os-independent, some not: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Chrome_OS_devices – MetNP Mar 10 '16 at 01:19

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 12 '16 at 20:58

4

The HP Stream 13 might be a good option.

I've run Fedora on the older, bay trail 11-inch model and it works out of the box. You may need to turn off secure boot for some distros. Otherwise? Dual core Celeron processor (mine was bay trail but there's a newer model), fanless, roughly 6-hour battery life, 32GB eMMC for storage, and it's entirely silent.

edited Mar 12 '16 at 20:58

Adam

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answered Mar 11 '16 at 11:46

Journeyman Geek

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I think that hp stream 13 is the best recommendation, (i heard about it, and forget it somehow)... I will mark it as an answer after few days if something better do not shows up. – MetNP Mar 11 '16 at 17:26

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 17 '16 at 14:42

2

Just to add one possibility that I found after posting this question:

an ideal laptop would be:

device called NexDock
combined with some IntelStick / Raspberry Pi / BeagleBoard

But there have been similar startup projects before, and they did not succeeded. I hope that NexDock will (but it is critical, the current status is 52% with only one month left).

edited Mar 17 '16 at 14:42

JTL

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answered Mar 11 '16 at 17:36

MetNP

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Based on my prior experience, either the NexDock developers have no prior hardware-development experience and aren't asking for anywhere near enough money for a product launch, or they've got another source of funding and are merely using IndieGoGo as advertising. In either case, having it hit 100% funded is meaningless. – Mark Mar 12 '16 at 21:27
rpi and beagleboard are arm based. Intel's stick... first generation was underwhelming, and not much cheaper than a modern day netbook. – Journeyman Geek Mar 17 '16 at 15:00
Nexdock is still around: https://nexdock.com/explore-nexdock/ – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen May 07 '23 at 06:27

Cheapest fanless Linux Intel laptop with a display 13 inches or larger

3 Answers3