I've been running linux - Fedora - since about 2003 on several different boxes, including two 3 or 4 year old Dell laptops. I've never experienced a problem installing and using Fedora on anything and I'm in the market for a new laptop.

Is there anything, some specific hardware or possibly, a configuration, that I might need to look for and avoid if I intend to immediately ditch the windows and install Fedora or Ubuntu? Has anyone experienced problems using their distro with any particular brand (HP, Lenovo, or Dell, for instance) or hardware (AMC, perhaps)?

If it helps, I won't be using the machine for anything stressful - mostly web-surfing, text-file & picture storage and watching the occasional DVD. Retired, ya know.

Any heads up about this is appreciated.

In my experience, you're like best off with Intel inside. I have been lucky enough to be able to buy native Linux computers in recent years, and, in my experience, they have all been all Intel inside, including the graphics and video chipsets.

Based on my own experience and what I've read here, problematic hardware can include Broadcom and Realtek wireless and NVidia graphics. They can usually be got working, but it can take some extra steps.

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There is a certified hardware list for ubuntu here: https://ubuntu.com/certified?categor...op&vendor=Dell
but there can be other lists too.

I'd second avoiding nvidia graphics - they require a proprietary driver that can be a pain to install, and that sometimes causes other issues (e.g. I've seen it break 'Sleep' functionality on some systems). I'd also avoid Creative sound cards (they're just poorly supported in linux), and Samsung SSDs (which have issues with TRIM related to their proprietary/exclusive controllers that Samsung seems happy to just blame on linux/BSD).

If you're looking at a laptop, you should keep in mind some other things like BT/WiFi modules that may not work out of the box or may require a newer kernel or somesuch (basically just search for the specific laptop model or its family + 'linux' or 'linux wifi' or something like that and see if folks are complaining about issues).

I've had no issues with all-Intel or all-AMD systems (laptops included), but I've never owned a laptop with a discrete/secondary GPU - I've played around with PRIME on various desktops and workstations and it can be finnicky, so I'd probably 'pass' on it for a laptop if you don't absolutely need the extra 3D performance (especially since it seems most laptops with discrete GPUs have nVidia chips in them). Some of the AMD APUs are pretty competent 3D chips in their own right, and Intel is talking about launching (or re-launching?) competitive offerings with their current forray into 'better graphics' (they're calling it 'Arc' this time - a few years ago (the last time they did this) it was called 'Iris Pro' and those tended to be pretty competent for their day, and some of them (complete systems I mean) even had Intel's blessing for 'official' linux support). I would take care though, as some AMD APUs are fairly dated in terms of their GPU, which could impact video playback performance (if you need VP9/AV1 support), whereas newer Intel CPUs (I think 10th gen and up) should support that on their GPU just fine.

i dont understand what is wrong with nvidia drivers, my arch box downloads and updates nvidia drivers maybe once a week (not sure how often) and i have _never_ had any problems with em.
my driver setup is 100% automatic, i haven't had any problems with em.

Depends on the Nvidia device. Nvidia drops support for it's older devices, and some of the newer Nvidia devices have to wait for support. You have to wait for their binary blob. or use nouveau.

Any all intel machines that I have installed linux on have been a non event. And updating is a non event.

Broadcom and Realtek can sometimes be problematic.

+1 to this, and to add: they also gimp/nerf features at will, unless you've paid up enough, and even then largely things are only expected to work if you use the machine as they intended until they decide you need to pay some more. AMD and Intel drivers, as teckk points out, tend to be completely painless ('it just works'), and if you're getting new hardware from the ground up, why set yourself up to have extra headaches?

Not to put too fine a point on the 'drops support' bit, but GeForce cards from 5-7 years ago are 'end of life' in nvidia's world - I've successfully booted Radeon cards from the early 2000s (as in, pre-AMD) and everything works just fine, and equivalent-age Radeon cards (to those 'obsolete' GeForce cards) handle all sorts of 'next generation' features like Wayland, Vulkan, and PRIME that are probably still 'coming soon' in some next-generation nvidia product... (oh, and suspend works...)

I agree with the general consensus here, avoid companies that are FOSS-unfriendly. Broadcom wireless, Realtek wireless, Nvidia graphics.

well, those cards are for gamers, graphix card from 2016 is obsolete if you want to play triple a games.
for linux those are powerfull enuff, and i have to say that it is a shame nvidia drops the Linux support of em.

It's already been said, avoid any gpu besides intel or amd for maximum compatibility and future support, and avoid wifi by realtek/broadcomm if you don't want to deal with proprietary drivers.

Ah, thanks to all for the info. At one time, I knew about the difficulties people were having with nVidia graphics, but had forgotten (so thanks for the reminders!). I'll take care to avoid realtek/broadcom wifi, too. Didn't realize that was a problem.

Nothing in my response related to "triple a games" - more broadly my issue is with forced obsolence and arbitrary feature lock-outs to let them sell the same card with a 10x markup to 'professionals' (which is not just for 'old hardware'). Again, as I said, nvidia hardware can generally be made to work with a number of qualifications, but if you're buying an all-new system why set yourself up for that? Especially in a laptop where you can't remove it (so when it goes, the whole machine goes) - why have a 5-ish year clock on the thing until nvidia decides its time for you to go buy another one, even if the system is otherwise still fine? Yes maybe it becomes too slow or insufficient for your needs, which is a sane reason to upgrade, but it's frankly insane (imho) to update just because a vendor wants to make numbers next quarter...

On the Wifi/BT thing: I'm not sure how common it is for those to still be mini-PCI or mini-PCIe cards, but that's always been my experience with those devices, so in theory you could replace a less desirable model if it came down to it. Of course I wouldn't go into it saying 'that is the best way to do this' (because ideally you get something that works right out of the box) - just something to think about is all.

So a lot of the modern "ultrathin and light" will have soldered wifi/bt modules nowadays, and pretty much everything in the ultra-budget range. Other laptops will have m.2 2230 pcie wifi/bt cards.

Of course they do...

Well, I'd vote for a machine that isn't built like this if possible - are 'business' laptops still largely serviceable?

Some. Most of the Thinkpads E/T/L series are still serviceable (although often have soldered ram in the E/T series), along with the P-series, and some Latitudes that aren't 2-in-1's. Most of the PRecisions are still. Not overly familiar with HP's line to say with any confidence one way or another.