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Linux - Laptop and Netbook Having a problem installing or configuring Linux on your laptop? Need help running Linux on your netbook? This forum is for you. This forum is for any topics relating to Linux and either traditional laptops or netbooks (such as the Asus EEE PC, Everex CloudBook or MSI Wind).

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Old 02-05-2007, 11:56 AM   #1
DeNayGo
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Registered: Jun 2005
Location: Aachen, Germany
Distribution: Debian
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Looking for the right laptop


I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, since it doesn't really have to do with Linux, but I'm gonna ask anyway.

As you can see in the title, I am looking for a laptop. I know some things about PCs and I've already bought several laptops, but those were for people who just wanted a more or less working Windows laptop. What I want is a little more (e.g. Linux).

So far, I have attempted to install Linux on four different machines, and though I was always successful eventually, I had to notice that some PCs are more willing to cooperate than others. The laptop that I want to buy myself should work very well with Linux, i.e. _all_ the hardware should work properly.

Right now I have absolutely no idea what to take, especially where CPU details, producers and, well, Linux compatibility are concerned.

The laptop is meant to be for work (mainly programming; also presenting, so it should work well with projectors) and for watching movies when I'm away from home, plus some other stuff.

Now here are the things that it should have/should be capable of:

- w-lan
- 16:9 screen, preferably of the larger kind
- audio in/out slots (2.0)
- PCMCIA slot
- DVD burner
- 100GB+ hard disk (but there's always my external HD)
- 1GB+ RAM, better 2GB (and the option to extend the RAM to about 4GB)
- large keyboard
- TV-out
- VGA
- RJ-45, some USB slots..
(- preferably no touch pad, but I guess I can forget about that)
and also:
- Windows Vista (for developing software that "normal" people can use)

as for the CPU:
I have no experience with AMDs, all my PCs were driven by Intel, but I'm open to new things.
The laptop will have to do some compiling but apart from that there's no need for a fast CPU..

And here some things that it _doesn't_ need to have:

- camera (why do they put cameras in laptops anyway?)
- built-in speaker
- good videocard

Price: at most $2000

The reason why I'm posting this in a Linux forum is that it's really important that the machine work well with Linux, and where else can I find information on that? So if someone who reads this has a laptop that has most of the features I mentioned, please tell me about it.

Last edited by DeNayGo; 02-05-2007 at 12:02 PM.
 
Old 02-05-2007, 03:10 PM   #2
Randux
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Registered: Feb 2006
Location: Siberia
Distribution: Slackware & Slamd64. What else is there?
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It's a good idea to burn some live CDs from your favorite distros or *BSD version and make sure they boot and run on the machine you want to purchase, then you will not receive any bad surprises

Even booting the Slackware installer can tell you a lot about how good it will be to run Slackware for example (try different kernel boot options etc.)
 
Old 02-05-2007, 06:59 PM   #3
yodermk
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Registered: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio
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Hi, I'm in the same boat, but I'm maybe looking for something more high end than you. I've decided to buy something from PowerNotebooks.com, which sells laptops without Windows. (Although, I'm actually going to grudgingly put a small Windows partition on it so I can use GPS map nav software.)

> - w-lan

Look for an Intel chipset here. The 3495 works with an open source kernel module and a closed source regulatory daemon. At least (I think) it doesn't taint your kernel like ndiswrapper and some others do.

- 16:9 screen, preferably of the larger kind

Here's PowerNotebooks' selection of 17" models.
http://powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=25
I am currently trying to decide between the PowerPro I 12:5 and A 2:38. Probably leaning towards the later at this point. Fully loaded they'll run you more than $2k, but you can get them for less.

Screen shouldn't be an issue though. AFAIK almost any screen works in Linux.

> - audio in/out slots (2.0)

Audio mostly works in Linux. But before you buy, try to find out the audio chipset, then google for "alsa chipset_name" and see what you get. For example, I learned that the RealTek ALC883, which is in both laptops I'm considering, only became fully functional starting in kernel 2.6.19. Guess I'll need to install the pre-release Ubuntu Feisty.

> - PCMCIA slot

Being replaced by ExpressCard slots, which are probably better. Unless you have old PCMCIA cards you need to use. The I 12:5 (above) has one of each slot... nice touch.

> - DVD burner

All but the cheapest laptops have them, and AFAIK none have trouble with Linux.

> - 100GB+ hard disk (but there's always my external HD)

Not an issue. The A 2:38 (above) even has a built-in eSATA port for FAST external data! I am waiting to hear back from them which chipset it uses to figure out if it should work with Linux.

> - 1GB+ RAM, better 2GB (and the option to extend the RAM to about 4GB)

Get 2GB definitely. Don't consider less. RAM is cheap. The A 2:38, I think, has an option for 4GB. But you may need to wait for the Santa Rosa platform in a few months to take full advantage of 4GB. If I'm not mistaken, the current Core 2 Duo platform maxes out usable memory at around 3GB. At least that's the case on the MacBook Pro.

> - large keyboard

The I 12:5 has a numeric keypad.

> - TV-out

Many laptops have them. I have no idea how well Linux supports it, if at all. But if you'll just use that in Vista, no problem.

> - VGA

Yeah. If you don't need high end, Intel integrated graphics would be great. That's the only option that won't taint your kernel, assuming you need 3D. Problem is, they are not available with 17" screens.

> - RJ-45, some USB slots..

All have them, 99%+ should work fine in Linux.

> (- preferably no touch pad, but I guess I can forget about that)

ThinkPad. But again, Lenovo doesn't make 17" screens. If they did, I'd probably get one instead of a PowerNotebooks model.
 
Old 06-06-2007, 04:52 PM   #4
cyberfishee
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Registered: Mar 2005
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Also, if you want dedicated graphics, choose NVIDIA over ATI. Their Linux driver support is far far superior to ATI's at the current state.
 
  


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