[ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
On 23/12/2009 10:57, Matthew Daubney wrote: Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney One of my old customers had some Novatech laptops, they're basically generic rebranded laptops, I believe manufactured by the likes of Mitac. Wasn't very impressed myself, the build quality was poor and they all either failed or fell to pieces within a couple of years. I've got an Acer Aspire 2920 and I can't fault it myself, plus a 3 year extended warranty is something like £60 and it covers accidental damage. I've also had a play with a Samsung, not the R520, I think it was an R500 or something along those lines. It's a nice little machine and does the job well (a friend of mine has one, seems solidly built). Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
On 23/12/09 11:05, Rob Beard wrote: One of my old customers had some Novatech laptops, they're basically generic rebranded laptops, I believe manufactured by the likes of Mitac. Wasn't very impressed myself, the build quality was poor and they all either failed or fell to pieces within a couple of years. I've got an Acer Aspire 2920 and I can't fault it myself, plus a 3 year extended warranty is something like £60 and it covers accidental damage. I've also had a play with a Samsung, not the R520, I think it was an R500 or something along those lines. It's a nice little machine and does the job well (a friend of mine has one, seems solidly built). Rob Really? Thats a bit of a shame, they where coming out on top in terms of price for what they where offering. I suppose I could go into their Reading store and have a look. Have you ever had to deal with Acer or Samsung? Are they very easy to deal with or worse than average? Thanks, -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] [ADMIN] Next meeting 03/01/10 @ 19:30 GMT in #ubuntu-uk
Hi all, The next Ubuntu-UK Team meeting will be held via IRC at 19:30 GMT (that's 19:30 UTC) on Sunday 3rd January 2010 in #ubuntu-uk. We encourage everyone who is a member of the UKTeam to attend whether to take part or merely watch from the sidelines. If you have anything in particular you would like to table for discussion at the meeting, please add it to the following page:- https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeamMeetingAgenda You will need a launchpad account to edit this page. If you would rather not register on launchpad then feel free to mail me or reply to this post with items for discussion and someone else can add the item(s) for you. Please note however if you wish to discuss something then it makes sense for you to turn up at the meeting or it may get passed over. We try to keep the meeting to just one hour, but if there is a lot to discuss then we may overrun. Once the meeting is over we usually post the log to the page linked above pretty much immediately, then over the next few days whoever chaired the meeting disseminates the information into a more manageable summary on the same page. Hope to see you there. -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] [ADMIN] Next meeting 03/01/10 @ 19:30 GMT in #ubuntu-uk
On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 11:49:02AM +, Matthew Daubney wrote: Hi all, The next Ubuntu-UK Team meeting will be held via IRC at 19:30 GMT (that's 19:30 UTC) on Sunday 3rd January 2010 in #ubuntu-uk. I'll make a note and endeavour to be there! Thank you! -- Regards, Isabell Long isabell...@gmail.com [[User:Isabell121]] on all public Wikimedia projects Freenode Community Co-Ordinator - issyl0 on irc.freenode.net PGP Key ID: 0xEB83C2BD signature.asc Description: Digital signature -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
Personally I would only go for Lenovo or Dell for Linux laptops. No-one else seems bothered about broken BIOS's and ACPI implementations. Why not Intel graphics? Whatever you do don't go ATi/AMD graphics. I'm stuck with an ATi HD 3400 R600 in this Toshiba laptop. The ACPI is broken and the VGA doesn't report correctly meaning the binary fglrx driver won't work with it. I'm having to run a Lucid kernel on Karmic with xorg-edgers git builds to get kwin compositing. Because of the buggy ACPI it won't S3 suspend, battery charging doesn't report correctly so I have no power management etc. All because Toshiba had to break the BIOS to get it to pass Microsoft HCT tests so they could put the designed for Windows stickers on the case and get a 50% reduction in OEM licences... -Original Message- From: ubuntu-uk-boun...@lists.ubuntu.com [mailto:ubuntu-uk-boun...@lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of Matthew Daubney Sent: 23 December 2009 10:58 To: UK Ubuntu Talk Subject: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:05:42 -, Rob Beard r...@esdelle.co.uk wrote: On 23/12/2009 10:57, Matthew Daubney wrote: Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney One of my old customers had some Novatech laptops, they're basically generic rebranded laptops, I believe manufactured by the likes of Mitac. Wasn't very impressed myself, the build quality was poor and they all either failed or fell to pieces within a couple of years. The build quality is a bit doubtful, you can see/feel where they have tried to save money. I have dealt with a company that had a few and, as Rob said, they don’t survive long even when left on a desk. -- Steve -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 10:57:52AM +, Matthew Daubney wrote: I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: Of the three you've listed I'd only consider Samsung, based on 2nd hand opinions from trusted friends and podcasters. May last few laptops have included a Dell XPS (never again after they refused to replace the video card that broke multiple times), Asus EEE (not again until they sell them again with Linux), Toshiba (never again - apalling build quality, requirement for Windows to BIOS update). Work laptops have included Thinkpad, HP and Fujitsu/Siemens. Of all of those I am now certain my next full size laptop will be a thinkpad. End of story. If price is an issue then you could get a refurb/2nd user one here:- http://www.sterlingxs.co.uk/scpages/ibmtoshibalaptops.html Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: Digital signature -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
On Wed, 2009-12-23 at 12:00 +, Matthew Daubney m...@daubers.co.uk wrote: Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about ?500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney I bought a Lenovo N500 with Ubuntu from the Linux Emporium in July for £457.70 all incl., and I haven't had a single problem with it. Check their web page for the exact specs on all the machines they offer: http://linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/ Rowan -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
Rowan Berkeley wrote: [...] I bought a Lenovo N500 with Ubuntu from the Linux Emporium in July for £457.70 all incl., and I haven't had a single problem with it. Check their web page for the exact specs on all the machines they offer: http://linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/ I helped three friends buy laptops from Linux emporium and they were delighted, and I was to. I think the machines were two Lenovo and one asus or acer(?) because of a then shortage of lenovo supply. -- alan cocks Ubuntu user -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
I haven't had any direct experience but I've had my eye on PC Specialist - www.pcspecialist.co.uk - for a while. Pretty decent prices and you're able to configure the laptop/PC to pretty much whatever you want including the option of No Operating System [certainly much more of a configuration on offer than anything Novatech has]. It would be interesting if anyone else has experience with them. 2009/12/23 Matthew Daubney m...@daubers.co.uk Hello, It's that time of year again when everything will briefly become a bit cheaper (and I'm trying to avoid VAT returning to normal again as well). So am looking around for a new laptop. As far as specs go, I'd like a core 2 duo branded chip, something like a T6600 would do. 2-4 GB of RAM, don't care about HD size, would be nice to be 7200RPM though, and a seperate graphic card (not an intel one) would also be nice. The main purpose of this machine is for my general purpose use, bit of web browsing, bit of dev, bit of office work and so on. So it doesn't need to be overpowered, but needs to have some kick. I've a budget of about £500, and my research so far has hilighted 3 possibilities: 1. Novatech X16 HD Pro - http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x16hd.html 2. Acer Aspire 5738 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-DVD-RW-Premium/dp/B002IVTTJC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top 3. Samsung R520 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176506 Does anyone have any experience of Novatech laptops? I've never even seen one before, so the build quality is an unknown quantity for me. If anyone has any opinions on the others I'd be interested too, or any others you think fit the bill. Any opinions welcome :) -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Routers, open source firmware and IPv6
Hi all, Following troubles with karmic, ipv6 and my net connection, I'm looking to get a new router, which I think will solve my problems. As karmic works with my university network, I'm sure the problem is on my end. I get broadband from ukfsn, with a static ipv4 address, via entanet, over a bt line. As far as I know, this is all ipv6 compatible (though I'm not sure whether the static ip confuses things). So I think it is my router; I'm currently using a SafeCom swart2 54125, and I've found ipv6 problems mentioned on some forums. Hence, the need for a new router. Can anyone suggest a reliable, ipv6 compatible router? TIA, and seasonal greetings, John -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Routers, open source firmware and IPv6
Quoting John Levin technola...@gmail.com: Hi all, Following troubles with karmic, ipv6 and my net connection, I'm looking to get a new router, which I think will solve my problems. As karmic works with my university network, I'm sure the problem is on my end. I get broadband from ukfsn, with a static ipv4 address, via entanet, over a bt line. As far as I know, this is all ipv6 compatible (though I'm not sure whether the static ip confuses things). So I think it is my router; I'm currently using a SafeCom swart2 54125, and I've found ipv6 problems mentioned on some forums. Hence, the need for a new router. Can anyone suggest a reliable, ipv6 compatible router? Linksys or similar and OpenWRT as the firmware? M. -- Matthew Macdonald-Wallace matt...@truthisfreedom.org.uk http://www.truthisfreedom.org.uk/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Routers, open source firmware and IPv6
If you wish to enable ipv6 on your computer, just do sudo apt-get install miredo which will automatically give your Ubuntu system a ipv6 address that just works with no more hassle. There is no need to buy any new hardware since you now have an ipv6 tunnel setup on your machine. Regards, Chris. 2009/12/23 Matthew Macdonald-Wallace matt...@truthisfreedom.org.uk: Quoting John Levin technola...@gmail.com: Hi all, Following troubles with karmic, ipv6 and my net connection, I'm looking to get a new router, which I think will solve my problems. As karmic works with my university network, I'm sure the problem is on my end. I get broadband from ukfsn, with a static ipv4 address, via entanet, over a bt line. As far as I know, this is all ipv6 compatible (though I'm not sure whether the static ip confuses things). So I think it is my router; I'm currently using a SafeCom swart2 54125, and I've found ipv6 problems mentioned on some forums. Hence, the need for a new router. Can anyone suggest a reliable, ipv6 compatible router? Linksys or similar and OpenWRT as the firmware? M. -- Matthew Macdonald-Wallace matt...@truthisfreedom.org.uk http://www.truthisfreedom.org.uk/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Laptop Time
Hi, On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 12:14:56PM +, Alan Pope wrote: May last few laptops have included a Dell XPS (never again after they refused to replace the video card that broke multiple times), Asus EEE (not again until they sell them again with Linux), Toshiba (never again - apalling build quality, requirement for Windows to BIOS update). Work laptops have included Thinkpad, HP and Fujitsu/Siemens. Of all of those I am now certain my next full size laptop will be a thinkpad. End of story. Interesting. I may be in the market for a new general purpose laptop in early 2010. I currently use a Thinkpad R61 and I'm reasonably happy with it although the Intel wireless is hopeless under the currently-installed Jaunty (haven't tried upgrading yet, I work around it with a PC wifi card). It's a 15.4 screen with a resolution of 1680x1050 and that's really spoilt me. While I find 15.4 a little hefty when out and about, I really like the high resolution. I was looking around the Lenovo site and it seems like they don't offer as high resolutions anymore on the 14 models. I might have been willing to go down to 1440x1050 or 1440x900 but it doesn't seem available. I was interested in what other brands were highly valued but your post has made me more likely to stick with Thinkpads, if I could find a good balance of size vs. resolution.. Cheers, Andy -- http://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting Greatness sits upon my shoulders as the dog urinates upon the pavement - with naturalness and ease and some offence to passers-by. -- The League Against Tedium signature.asc Description: Digital signature -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
