Since lots of ppl already cover laptop different options, i will skip this part.

Blender is a huge topic. What exactly does your wife exactly do? Something like sculpting, rigging don’t need much gpu power. How complicated the scene is it? For a complicated scene with un-optimisted mesh, it can be expensive. The most expensive part should be high quality rendering. But you can use render farm to “outsourcing” jobs to remote hosts.

Also, it’s 2024. Ww can already launch and run blender remotely thru vm and streaming technology smoothly.

To be honest. I had a similar question for my girlfriend for drawing with krita. A drawing tablet + a traditional laptop is better for almost everyone except students who will be taking notes in class and people who have to be drawing in a chair or meeting room with no desk setup.

Otherwise a drawing tablet is more accurate, faster, and with better features than a 2-in-1. Much better sensitivity, generally better pressure and tilt functions, and a much better feel (more like paper)

You don’t even have to spring for a Wacom. They have been resting on their laurels for over a decade and have become completely uncompetitive in the past 5 years (kind of the Intel of drawing tablets).

An XPPen Deco Pro Gen II (as an example) has good ergonomics, rotary knobs for zooming, rotating, and scaling, and works over Bluetooth. Their Linux drivers (4.0.x) are pretty great at a fraction of the price of a Wacom or the price difference between a traditional laptop and a 2-in-1.

It ends up being way more ergonomic also to look at a screen and not having to hunch over a tablet. It just takes a week or so to get used to not looking at your hands.

Dell laptops usually have good Linux support, and they offer powerful machines, requirements and budget permitting.

deleted by creator

No manufacturer support. But zephyrus g14 (2022) is my favorite laptop ever. Very few issues with Linux.

Consider giving devices offered by NovaCustom a look.

When it comes to Linux-first laptop vendors, it’s definitely my favorite out of the bunch.

On purchasing one of their devices, they offer:

• 3 years of warranty
• 5 years of firmware update support
• 7 years of (guaranteed) spare parts availability

I’m simply unaware of any other (Linux-first) firm that can compete regarding the above.

And I haven’t even mentioned how vast their customization options are, or how well-praised their support is.

I’m actually stunned why it’s not mentioned more often in these conversations.

Btw, I’d actually recommend you to consider the whereabouts of the respective support centers before you buy a device. You never hope to be in that situation, but it makes a real difference when it matters. So, in case you’re unaware, AFAIK:

• NovaCustom; Netherlands. But as long as you’re in EU mainland, it should be good enough.
• Star Labs; UK. EU outside of Great Britain is OK.
• System76; USA.
• Tuxedo; Germany. Again, EU mainland is fine.

Laptops from over 5 years ago are well supported by Linux (for the most part). However, the very modern laptops have bits and pieces that aren’t supported, from fan profiles, to the new intel webcams etc. They will run Linux, but you might fry them if your fans don’t work properly. So your best bet would be to get either an old one (I got a Macbook Air from 2015 with 8GB RAM, works great), or get a Tuxedo, or a System76 one, or a couple more Linux-specific ones. And it’s not because suddenly Linux does worse job supporting hardware, but it’s because these machines are. getting more complex and they need drivers for every little thing. Back in the day, things were more generic (e.g. the fans) and worked with a single driver.