On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 07:03:43PM -0800, Thomas Taylor wrote: > What recommendations do you people have for laptops that will > run on linux with minimal problems?
Generally speaking, I suggest looking to those which are *available* with Linux pre-installed, whether or not yours will be. As others have mentioned, Lenovo's tend to have good Linux support. Search the Web for "Linux" and "Thinkpad" to get a sense of this. Maybe look into System 76: <http://system76.com/article_info.php?articles_id=22>. I have no personal experience with them and haven't spoken to others who do, but I came across them when shopping a few months ago, and got a good feel upon initial inspection. If you're interested in portability and affordability, and can live with "only" the computing power of top-of-the-line laptops from just a few years ago (1.66 GHz Intel Atom processor), consider Asus' Eee line. I recently acquired a 1005HA, available for under $350, and I absolutely love it. It's about as small as those with a nearly-full-size keyboard come these days. Unlike some others in its class, this one has the shift key in the right place and a reasonable arrow key layout. I believe Asus offer it with Linux (maybe only a particular sub-model; if I remember correctly, there are three different 1005HAs) but mine came with Windows. Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix installed easily and works great on it. They offer a 1008something that is even thinner and lighter, but the battery is not removable, and runs only for about four hours vs. this one's 10. In practice, I'm seeing like six to seven hours, but other people report 9+ using the stock Windows installation. I've not tweaked any power management settings. There seems to be a large Linux-on-Eee community, so I expect improvements to come rapidly. * <http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product1005ha.html> * <http://www.canonical.com/netbooks> Before settling on this 1005HA, I strongly considered HP's netbooks (great build quality & keyboard feel, but high-ish price and unimpressive battery life) and a very similar one from Toshiba (slightly thinner, and in my opinion, better looking [so what?], but not offered with Linux, and people reporting some trouble installing Ubuntu on it). Hardware specs in this class are very similar, primarily because Microsoft implemented some scheme to constrain the specs by offering their OS at a lower price to manufacturers who did so (or similar). Expect a drastic decrease in power consumption (resulting in smaller, lighter, longer-running machines) when manufacturers start offering them with ARM processors next year. * <http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/23/arm-cortex-based-netbooks-said-to-be-coming-soon/> * <http://www.debian.org/ports/arm/> * <http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/arm> If you're interested in something to tinker with, take a look at Always Innovating's Touchbook, which is ARM-based with open hardware design, removable keyboard, all-sdram-storage: * <https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/> -- Phil Mocek Arrested at ABQ airport TSA checkpoint November 2009: <http://www.cdc.coop/tsa_arrest> No comment at this time. Fight back: donate to my legal defense fund: <http://tr.im/F7KX>
