Hello, I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers. I would be interested to read comments on what would might be a good model or vendor and advice on hardware options that definitely struggle to work? I realise that there are all sorts of websites for advice but sometimes the models aren't readily avaiable here. If someone has recently bought a laptop that they are really happy with Linux wise, I'd be interested to know. Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi. Thoughts, comments appreciated. Chris
Someone mentioned a while ago: Take a LiveCD to your fav. store, and _ask_ (1) if you can give it a try on the laptop(s) you're looking at. DSE I believe may be more inclined to let you do this, but also give PBTech Hamilton a try, as they have been fairly flexible in the past. 1 - May pay to explain that this is a complete operating system on a CD, and will not touch/affect the existing computer system in any way. HTH. Elroy. Chris O'Halloran wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported,
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
Thoughts, comments appreciated.
Chris
I hear Apple laptops usually support Linux quite well. My old HP nx7010 supported Linux well. But I had some hardware failures on the HP that makes me hesitate to recommend. Lately for any moderately expensive electronics I have been going for extended warrantees and it has been paying off. :) Regards Chris O'Halloran wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers.
I would be interested to read comments on what would might be a good model or vendor and advice on hardware options that definitely struggle to work?
I realise that there are all sorts of websites for advice but sometimes the models aren't readily avaiable here. If someone has recently bought a laptop that they are really happy with Linux wise, I'd be interested to know.
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
Thoughts, comments appreciated.
Chris
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On Thu, 2007-04-26 at 11:29 +1200, Chris O'Halloran wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers.
I've had no issues with either of the IBM Thinkpads I've owned... My current laptop (THINKpad R51) runs Ubuntu 7.04 very nicely. (It always ran Ubuntu straight out of the box.)
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
I don't have the camera, figerprint reader, or anything else. WIFI, no problem. The graphics card is an Intel chipset.
hmm, finger print reader sounds interesting. do people know if they work under linux. I remember reading an IEEE magazine about laptop security a few years ago and it seemed pretty low level techy stuff, ie very much tied into the hardware level. I will go do some googling.. On 26/04/07, Lindsay Druett <lindsay(a)wired.net.nz> wrote:
On Thu, 2007-04-26 at 11:29 +1200, Chris O'Halloran wrote: Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers.
I've had no issues with either of the IBM Thinkpads I've owned... My current laptop (THINKpad R51) runs Ubuntu 7.04 very nicely. (It always ran Ubuntu straight out of the box.)
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
I don't have the camera, figerprint reader, or anything else. WIFI, no problem. The graphics card is an Intel chipset.
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* Lindsay Druett <lindsay(a)wired.net.nz> [2007-04-26 03:10]:
I've had no issues with either of the IBM Thinkpads I've owned... My current laptop (THINKpad R51) runs Ubuntu 7.04 very nicely. (It always ran Ubuntu straight out of the box.)
Same here: Thinkpad R51e. The only thing that doesn’t is sleep mode – at least not out of the box. I have been lazy and booting Windows mostly because wifi is a hassle in Linux (wifi-radar doesn’t want to work well and the GNOME stuff used to suck; gotta give the new network manager a shot) so I never bothered to look into whether sleep mode can be made to work. Everything else Just Works™, however. Soundcard, ATI graphics, ethernet, wifi, CD writer, all flawless. Regards, -- Aristotle Pagaltzis // <http://plasmasturm.org/>
If you have had poor experiences with GNU/Linux wifi software in the past, definitely give NetworkManager a shot... it is brilliant -- better than Windows XP's built in wireless manager and better than most of the proprietary ones that get distributed with your network card drivers for Windows too. Ubuntu Feisty handles networking very well, with the configuration set to roaming mode, I can plug my laptop in to my home network and it just works; likewise I can take it out at University and if there is signal it finds the network and connects to it. Its getting pretty seamless. -- Sam On 4/26/07, A. Pagaltzis <pagaltzis(a)gmx.de> wrote:
* Lindsay Druett <lindsay(a)wired.net.nz> [2007-04-26 03:10]:
I've had no issues with either of the IBM Thinkpads I've owned... My current laptop (THINKpad R51) runs Ubuntu 7.04 very nicely. (It always ran Ubuntu straight out of the box.)
Same here: Thinkpad R51e.
The only thing that doesn't is sleep mode – at least not out of the box. I have been lazy and booting Windows mostly because wifi is a hassle in Linux (wifi-radar doesn't want to work well and the GNOME stuff used to suck; gotta give the new network manager a shot) so I never bothered to look into whether sleep mode can be made to work.
Everything else Just Works™, however. Soundcard, ATI graphics, ethernet, wifi, CD writer, all flawless.
Regards, -- Aristotle Pagaltzis // <http://plasmasturm.org/>
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Chris O'Halloran wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers.
I would be interested to read comments on what would might be a good model or vendor and advice on hardware options that definitely struggle to work?
I realise that there are all sorts of websites for advice but sometimes the models aren't readily avaiable here. If someone has recently bought a laptop that they are really happy with Linux wise, I'd be interested to know.
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
Thoughts, comments appreciated.
I have a Dell Precision M65 (core duo, nvidia, intel wifi) and I am very happy with it using Kubuntu (currently on 6.10, but was good with 6.06 too). However I don't need the modem, IR, or firewire so I've never bothered to see if those work. The only setup customisation I needed was xorg.conf so that it would auto detect whether it has an external monitor attached and configure appropriately. Glenn -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz
i have a Dell Inspiron 6400 (Centrino Duo, Intel GMA graphics, intel wifi) and Ubuntu runs splendidly on there -- better than Windows Vista by a long shot :) The graphics card, while not being high end has free software drivers that support OpenGL programs fairly nicely. Barring the screen not turning back on when the lid is opened (happens very occasionally or when running some OpenGL applications), probably a bug in the Xorg drivers, I have had no problems with it. Dell support have provided fairly good support too, even though I am not running Windows (I had a hard disc fault that showed itself after a month) -- after a short call to Tech support they were happy to overnight courier me a replacement part; and even offered to send a technician on site to reinstall Windows (which I declined). Highly recommended. -- Sam On 4/26/07, Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> wrote:
Chris O'Halloran wrote:
Hello,
I am interested in buying a laptop. A key requirement would be that it ran Linux (Kubuntu) smoothly and that all the hardware was supported, not neccessarily by *open* source drivers as binary drivers would be okay eg NVIDIA drivers.
I would be interested to read comments on what would might be a good model or vendor and advice on hardware options that definitely struggle to work?
I realise that there are all sorts of websites for advice but sometimes the models aren't readily avaiable here. If someone has recently bought a laptop that they are really happy with Linux wise, I'd be interested to know.
Options I am interested in moderately large screen, nvidia graphics card, intel duo and linux support camera and wifi.
Thoughts, comments appreciated.
I have a Dell Precision M65 (core duo, nvidia, intel wifi) and I am very happy with it using Kubuntu (currently on 6.10, but was good with 6.06 too).
However I don't need the modem, IR, or firewire so I've never bothered to see if those work.
The only setup customisation I needed was xorg.conf so that it would auto detect whether it has an external monitor attached and configure appropriately.
Glenn
-- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz
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participants (7)
-
A. Pagaltzis -
Chris O'Halloran -
elroy -
Glenn Ramsey -
Lindsay Druett -
Oliver Jones -
Sam Douglas