-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, 7 Oct 2012 11:43:31 -0700 Randy Stapilus wrote: > > I'm looking at getting a new (nearly new in this case) laptop on > which I would dual boot Windows (probably not often) and Linux, > probably either Ubuntu or Mint. > > A friend has a machine up for sale which looks like a good deal and > I think might work for me. It's an HP Pavillion dv7 (descriptive > page<http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/B2P31UA?HP-Pavilion-dv7-7012nr-Entertainment-Notebook-PC>). > > The specs suggest to me this seems like a reasonable machine for > what I want. Question - anyone know of a problem area here, a > reason dual-booting wouldn't work smoothly enough with this > particular laptop?
There's an easy way to find out. Get a Live CD for Ubuntu and boot it. See http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop . If it detects everything (the GPU, ethernet port, wireless chipset and power controller, primarily) and boots successfully, then it will work. You should check that everything (LAN, wireless, suspend/resume) works. This laptop has a Nvidia GT650M GPU so getting the custom video driver installed might require work if Ubuntu doesn't load that automatically, but if the free Nvidia video driver works maybe that might satisfy you. Buying a new or used laptop always presents a set of tradeoffs, mostly related to desired specifications versus price. You don't say how much your friend wants for this machine, but various HP Pavilion dv7 models are going for anywhere between $200 to $500 or more on eBay right now. You might look at eBay listings and check those with comparable specs. Whether a particular laptop is right for you depends on how you'll use it and is largely a matter of taste. This is a 17in notebook, so it is more of a 'desknote' than a road warrior's machine, but if you are not planning to travel with it a lot, that might not matter to you at all. On the other hand, if you are always on the road you might soon regret buying such a large notebook that doesn't fit on airplane tray tables. It also has a 1920x1080 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio screen, which is all too common, but is more suited to viewing media than creative work. I think that a 1600x1200 resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio screen is better for writing and viewing webpages because it doesn't force you to do as much scrolling, but that's a matter of what you are comfortable using. HP's customer service and technical support reputation has declined in recent years due to extensive layoffs and outsourcing, so there's that to consider, too. Will you be able to get an original purchase receipt to back up any warranty claim? Is the HP warranty transferable to you? You might ask a local laptop repair shop about HP notebook reliability and ease of repair in recent models. I'd rather buy a Lenovo Thinkpad, because those are well built and almost bulletproof if not mistreated. Those are some things to think about. I hope that helps. Best of luck! Robert -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.12 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAlBx/18ACgkQ+qYMIUkNJCzgxQCdHZzKPAMypzjbiDRURiLJUUSm Pm0An0JQbJZWZk40KKxVhh390JTHyr2b =b64A -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
