openSUSE on laptops
 

Hi Folks,

I use Ubuntu 8.04 with GNOME at work as well as on my HP Compaq 6715b (dual booting with XP on the latter). I've been peeking at KDE 4.1 and i think it looks MUCH better than GNOME. This matters to me, as i like to enjoy my environment.

Has anybody had experience running openSUSE 11 on a laptop, with an "everything works" installation? I currently have problems with my Broadcom 801.11 b/g wireless on Ubuntu on my laptop, and i think ive had my fill.

Any words on running openSUSE vs Ubuntu 8.04?

Thanks a mill,

Lloyd

I use OpenSuSE 11 on my Vaio, and everything worked (including the memory stick slot), out of the box. I've never used Ubuntu, so I can't comment on which is better, though.

FWIW, I like the way KDE4.1 looks, but it has too many quirks for me. I stuck with 3.5, and skinned it up the way I like it. Using SuperKaramba gave me plasmoid-like widgets, and more stability than 4.1, but again, that's just my opinion. :) There are OpenSuSE KDE community repositories that can keep you up to date on the latest KDE updates.

Me too.

Anyway, you can always try a liveCD and see if it works out of the box without installing on the hard drive.

Guys, thank you all for your responses. I have also been looking at Fedora 9.
I do feel however, that i will go with openSUSE.

I have a maxdata 4011w laptop and everything, including wireless, works out of the box. openSUSE and Mandriva (2009 beta) are the only ones that play along nicely with my graphics card out of the box.

This is a matter of personal liking totally. I like Ubuntu Gnome very much but because of a problem in my laptop, I have to install Opensuse. Again in OpenSuse, I am in the process of conversion to Gnome from KDE4. Because i like Gnome environment. OpenSuse also gave me problem before. My touchpad stopped working.

If this broadcom device would use the b43 kernel module there is a script that is installed with the b43-fwcutter package. Connect the laptop to a wired connection, and run the script as root:
"sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware". It will download the firmware and install it. Then run "kdesu yast2 network" to configure your network.

Sometimes getting the video working properly takes some work with SuSE. My machines have nvidia cards. You might want to download the nvidia driver installation program and burn it to a CD. That may come in handy.

In the part of yast where you configure your installation sources: kdesu yast2 inst_source
be sure to check the "Community Repositories". Here you will be able to add the packman, Videolan, nvidia, ati, etal. repositories for non-oss packages. The packman and videolan repos will have packages that enable dvd and mp3 playback.

openSUSE 11 is great
 

I'm using openSUSE 11 on a Toshiba P105-S6207. Everything works and it as been a very pleasant experience (in GNOME, of course). With openSUSE the latest software like Banshee can be accessed easily with one-click-install.

Specs: Core2 Dui 1.6GHz 2Gb RAM 200Gb HD DVD-RW 17"Wide

I also ran openSUSE 10.3 on this laptop.

Previously I had a Toshiba (M35X-S163, 1.4GHz PIII) which I used for a long time with openSUSE 10 ... 10.2. Even with the weaker processor the experience was very good. Only downside with that laptop was that the wireless (Atheros) had to be futzed with a bit to get it working.