never once has a lenovo laptop fail me when using Linux. I know the prices depending on your preference might not be amazing but second hand there are some bangers out there like it never hurts to check your local repair shop or recycling operation.

At least if you order from China you're supporting the people doing the work, rather than some shitty western bundler like Apple or Dell.

Good on you for looking for an ethically sound option! Can’t speak to their manufacturing, but Valve has the Steam Deck you can get cheap, runs Linux in desktop mode (still handeld, just called that to differentiate from SteamOS). Works rather well! And Valve is nowhere near perfect, but they’re much less of an ethical quagmire than some other producers.

I once had a coworker that used a mini PC instead of a laptop for work. Being lighter, and more powerful worked well for him.

My understanding is that each brand will contract out the design and manufacturing, with potentially totally different factories and people involved. So the same brand will have models that are built totally differently, in terms of quality and ethics. This happens from the cheapest no name products to big western brands. Make sure to check reviews for the specific model, and not blanket trust one brand to be 'good'. Notebook check and robtech on youtube do mini PC reviews.

I feel you on the ethics side, and unfortunately it's pretty difficult to ever avoid. You can try buying second hand, at least save something from landfill and get a bargain.

I don’t think you’ll be able to find products in this category that are as ethical as you desire. I think our present incarnation of capitalism eradicated the concept already. I may be horribly cynical, however.

i love the idea of mini pc too but i really want to be sure that they are:

• really good at low power scenarios and adapting when usage goes up
• really low noise and easy to clean if fans and dust involved (i wonder if passive cooling would be better/possible)

generally i don't think they need to be very powerful for my self hosting needs

Came here to dunk on the idea of any positive correlation between kindness and trustworthiness, found a bunch of "holistic" non-sense mixed with good intentions. That said ...

I prefer blunt people and trustworthy results. End-of-the-day, I don't care about intentions and goodwild outside of direct, inter-personal interactions. Considering intentions first over results as a cultural value is a concept I don't often even encounter, but good on you.

I can live with quite a few otherwise substandard things in my life where I know they came from a place of love, but that brakes down versus strangers rather quickly, and corporations? I would sooner slash their tires for shits-n-giggles, or send my first-born off to be raised by sketchy fae creatures, than ever trust their intentions. In my country, they(corporations) are, by law and definition, the worst sorts of "people". They ARE the real inhuman other our grandparents warned us about, made manifest.

All that said, good on you for being so eager to trust and abide. I hope it works out for you.

1. Are you sure you want a mini PC? You will need a display. If you carry a display around with you it's just as awkward as a laptop. If you don't carry a display around you won't be able to use your computer on the go. You will also have to plug into walls or buy a battery pack that outputs the tight voltage.

2. Supply chains for computers are opaque. You'd need to go inspect the factory yourself, basically. An alternative is to buy used, which slightly distances you from the consumption.

Personally I'd say to look into a used thinkpad. If you definitely want a mini PC, look into a used 1 liter business PC like the ThinkCentre M series. The slightly older models can be purchased on eBay for around $130.