Hi all

I am looking at buying a new Laptop, for use when going on to study my M.Sc. (Microelectronics). This will be the first time I have ever bought a Laptop for my self or even bought a complete system (my first few computers where hand me downs (a 286 clone and a 486), followed by home built (out of new parts and whatever I could get my hands on). One advantage I find from building my own systems is that I can select hardware that I know will work with GNU/Linux.

Wherever possible I would like to use FOSS software but I don't have a moral problem with closed source "binary blobs" (by example I have a nVidia graphics card on this machine, and I use the nVidia driver (not nv)).

I would like to get a high quality laptop by which I mean solid casing, decent KB, screen and battery life are more important to me than and extra 100MHz or saving a few quid, and I'm looking at the HP Probook series at the moment.

The laptop needs to be a decent media device (It will be my only access to entertainment at university), although I will keep my external monitor and speakers and a mouse (I can't work with a touch pad all the time). But also needs to be a bit of a workhouse as it will need to run SPICE and other modeling software. As well as being used for software creation and compilation (both native and cross compiling). So it will need some grunt (although I have not had any issues with the dual core Pentium E 2500, w/ 2GiB DDR2 RAM I am typing on).

I would also have a preference for getting a system with MS Windows 7, as I have come across situations where having a Linux only PC has been a handicap (during my bachelors I ran a Virtual Box instance with a locked down version of Win Server 2003 (off Dream Spark), for when my university demanded windows). I then intend to shrink the C:\ partition and dual boot with Debian. Gaming is not an issue for me (As long as it runs Wesnoth and ooLite I will be happy), so I see a big powerful GPU as a waste of battery life.

My feelings are that I would like a Intel Core i{3,5} system, as the last time a put a computer together AMD where not really competitive on desktops at that time so I may be biased here).

I was thinking of a system with the following specs

1. Al chassis (although a high quality plastic would be OK).
2. Dual core processor at greater than 2GHz clock speed.
3. Screen >= 13", Screen <= 17", but I really thinking of a 15" screen (pref a matt finish but not too worried)
4. Memory >= 2GiB, Would prefer =4GiB+
5. Storage >= 300GB (assuming 20GiB for Windows C:\ partiotion, 20GiB for Debian root, 20GiB for a guest OS (other Linux/BSD, will change). the rest dedicated to a swap drive and debian /home volumes. If this seems wrong please advise).
6. HDMI or DVI output
7. USB 2.0 >= 2 port (more the better, and a USB3 port would be nice).
8. Abillity to run for notetaking/lab book software for 5 hour between charges (low performance stuff).
9. 802.11 b/n wireless essential (n would be nice, I have never needed a and dont see it being useful), 10/100 Ethernet (again gigabit a big plus).

I have budget of ~£500 although obviously cheaper the better. I may be able to go up to £600 (+20%) as absolute max (inc. VAT and shipping etc).

OK to the questions.

1. I have been looking at the HP ProBook 4530s (link to ebuyer page where it up for £474.89). Does anybody have any experience with these machines? Are they as good as they look? How is H/W compatibility with Linux? How do they compare to the HP EliteBooks (which I have used at work and would really like but can't really afford).
   
2. Can anyone recommend an alternative choice that meets these specs?
   
3. Is there a place where I can back the FOSS world with my purchase. I have looked at linux emporium , where I bought my current Wi-Fi card from but there laptops seem expensive, for the spec and still leaves me with no Windows (I appreciate that large OEMs can sell MS OSs much cheaper than you or I could get hold of one), I have also never used a Lenvo machine, although thinkpad has a good rep.

I've used Sony Vaio's for years, and have never had problems getting things to work. Had good luck with Dell's too, and the refurbished options from their respective websites will get you some good deals, with the full warranty intact. I use openSUSE, but Mint or Ubuntu will probably also work fine, as would pretty much ANY distro.

That said, there are small things that may be an issue. Things like the FN keys (brightness/volume, etc.), may not work perfect right out of the box. But your basic hardware will probably fire right up. Also, depending on the drivers, HDMI output may/may not work correctly, and require a bit of tweaking. Best advice would be to download several different distros, and try them, to see how well your hardware is supported right off the bat.

TB0ne

Thanks for the quick reply, I did consider a Vaio, my step-brother has one and they are nice bits of kit. I am however trying to avoid buying Sony products at the moment, due to some of there business choices.

Really interesting point about refurbished DELLs there seems to be some really good details on that site, have you had any experiance with these, Do they come with new battery? These seem to be the first thing to go on laptops and seem to very expensive to replace.

I would prefer to use Debian as my main distro (have been using it for a couple of years before that it was ubuntu). I have used other distros including Open SUSE but I keep coming back to Debian. I also want something that will be rock solid for a couple of years (period of the course). I also always keep a partition for a guest OS to find out what I'm missing, but have been using it less over the last couple of years as I can now virt the system

I don't mind getting a bit down and dirty with the configuration with things like FN keys, however HDMI or DVI output will be essential as I would like to use my monitor

Yes, they do, but again, they come with the full, brand-new warranty. If the battery is lame, send it back and get a new one.
Consumer-grade distros are usually on a six-month update cycle. For example, openSUSE 12.1 just came out...and the 12.2 milestone 1 is already available. If you don't want to upgrade, then don't, and you should be ok, but be warned that some pieces may come end-of-life before others. Just something to keep an eye on. Debian is a fine choice, but again, pretty much any current distro should be good with current hardware.
If it's a laptop, avoid getting one with a dual-video card setup. Some come with an Intel video card, AND an nVidia card. Getting them to play nicely together is a bit of a chore. My Vaio has an nVidia card in it; out of the box, openSUSE 11.4 WORKED...but the HDMI out didn't. Once I loaded the nVidia drivers from their site, everything worked fine.

Thanks TB0ne

Plenty of good advice given. As Graphics performance is not an issue for me I was tending to Intel graphics anyway but you point about avoiding dual GPU systems is very helpful.

How do AMD APU systems fair, A quick google seems to though up that they outperform intel systems (Bang/$, and Bang/W), but all the benchmarks seem to be based around a windows system running a very GPU intensive tasks (game based benchmarks). I have also seen quiet a lot of complaints about the APU not being supported but it seems to be solved by installing flglx.

Not sure, honestly. I'm using Intel Core i7 now, but others on here have used AMD and have had good luck.