Which is the best laptop for Linux?

mvdvarrier · 2008-10-20 01:11:18

Hello gentlemen,
It is the time for me to buy my first laptop. I intend it to be a linux only machine.
At first I have to decide between nettops and real laptops.
The available net tops in India are Asus-eepc-901(?), MSI wind, Acer Aspire One AOA 150.
The laptops include Dell studio{15,17}, Inspiron, etc. and from Lenovo ,HP
The main problem is the extent of linux support they have. Please post your feedback form valuable experiences
mvdvarrier

SiC · 2008-10-20 01:45:39

Most of the netbooks appear to have good linux support, indeed most of them come with linux anyway. I am thinking about an aspire / wind myself shortly, as my toshiba is quite heavy and I have to carry it around a lot... As for the dells, not too sure whether they have spectacular support, check the web also...

Garns · 2008-10-20 02:28:33

The question Nettop or laptop should depend on what you want to use it for.

Regarding laptops, Thinkpads in general work quiet well with linux. You can check www.thinkwiki.org for details.

dsr · 2008-10-20 03:32:41

I second the ThinkPad recommendation. Everyone I know who has one says they're really good quality. I myself use a MacBook (without a Mac OS X partition ) and it runs Arch well, but ThinkPads aren't much more money and they seem to last longer.

Edit: The ThinkPad is currently on sale for less.

Last edited by dsr (2008-10-20 03:34:14)

phisphere · 2008-10-20 06:40:46

there's no such a thing as a perfect linux laptop.
but yes, thinkpads have always had a good linux support.
also because dell is shipping laptops with ubuntu linux, they're well supported under other distros too (like arch).

i'm using dell vostro 1400 and everything works basically out of the box.

Last edited by phisphere (2008-10-20 06:41:29)

timetrap · 2008-10-20 11:40:50

I am using a Dell Latitude 630. Everything has worked out of the box, it just has a really poor speaker.

Mostly when buying a laptop, be VERY hardware aware. If Dell offers you an "Intel 3945 Wireless Card" or a "Dell Wirless Card" always go with the explicitly stated vendor. The generic Dell hardware listings change quite a bit. At least with the real hardware specs in mind you know what you're getting into.

Dieter@be · 2008-10-20 17:30:30

Thinkpad is solid hardware but often no fancy extra's (bluetooth,wireless). Well at least everything is 100% supported ;-)

I think the question "what's a good laptop for linux" is the same as "what's a good laptop". A good laptop has quality components. quality components have best support on linux.

flowheat · 2008-10-20 17:37:48

Dieter@be wrote:

Thinkpad is solid hardware but often no fancy extra's (bluetooth,wireless).

I have a thinkpad T61 which has both bluetooth and wireless. The reason thinkpads are so good for linux is that they typically use a lot of Intel components which by nature are rather well supported.

I would also reccomend the thinkpad although to be honest I've also had a fantastic linux experience with my HP DV9030us.

Basically get anything with an intel wireless card and either an intel or nvidia graphics card depending on your need for eye candy and you should be off to a pretty good start.

schuay · 2008-10-20 17:46:06

I've tested the EEE 1000H, Acer Aspire One 110L and Aspire One 150L.

Out of those three I'd definitely recommend the Aspire One 150L.

1000H:

+ long battery life (4-6h)
+ large disk
- i didn't like the screen.. it seemed a bit blurry compared to the aspire one
- heavy and bulky compared to aspire one

Aspire One:

+ small and light
+ good screen
+ good keyboard
+ no problems running arch on it
- only 2 h battery life

110L:

+ quiet
+ cool
- the ssd is slow as hell

150L:

+ plenty of space on disk, no traffic jams like the SSD
~ the fans kick in from time to time, so not as quiet and cool as the 110L

except for the battery, this is my perfect netbook. i currently use it as my primary work pc with an external monitor.

lucke · 2008-10-20 18:08:14

I presume 10'' Wind is even better than 150L. In any case, I just love mine and wouldn't trade it for any other netbook or notebook ;-) As far as compatibility is concerned, it needs external modules for wifi and ethernet, but it ain't that much of a problem.

Stythys · 2008-10-20 18:45:59

personally I've always loved apples laptops

nexus7 · 2008-10-20 18:59:56

You may also have a look at http://tuxmobile.org/, with dozens of distros tested on hundreds of machines; esp. usefull if a machine is not cutting-edge (otherwise the list of supported older ones can give a hint about 'linux-friendlyness').

I've been running linux on an acer tm for about three years now. With most of the drivers being standard (intel), installation always has been easy. the only a bit annoying thing might be the special fn-key, so this has to be reconfigured manually, if one doesn't like it. And Arch has got the packages acerhk (community) and acer_acpi (aur).

Ntl I've also read/heard that the thinkpad-series has always been well supported.

Last edited by nexus7 (2008-10-21 04:50:26)

1LordAnubis · 2008-10-20 19:31:39

Thinkpads are sturdy and well supported, but they only come with Centrino Duo processors. I would recommend an HP, they are a better value than Thinkpads, and you can generally get better componets. Unfortunately, you can't get an AMD turion in a thinkpad, which makes them seem several times slower than their amd counterparts. Although, they seem to use very little power. Personally, I've found my thinkpad to be a good power saver, but lacking at processing power, sound card, screen, ports, etc. Thinkpads do have good linux support, sometimes wireless cards aren't that well supported on hp though, but I haven't encountered any other problems. As far as customer support goes, I must say that I've had a very good experience with lenovo, the same can't be said for my friend with an HP, although the problems were from normal wear and tear.

dsr · 2008-10-20 20:43:04

1LordAnubis, to my knowledge Intel processors have outperformed their AMD counterparts since the Core 2 Duo came out. The only reason to prefer an AMD processor noawdays is if you get a better deal on it. AMD offers good prices on certain CPUs in the dual core Athlon 64 X2 series and the triple and quad core Phenom series, but that's only relevant if you're assembling a desktop. The fact that ThinkPads come with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs is a good thing, not a bad thing.

creslin · 2008-10-21 00:51:34

Is there any reason for this thread considering there's almost an identical thread just a few posts down?

jwcxz · 2008-10-21 01:12:22

My XPS M1330 (~$1000) has had no major issues so far (other than problems with Intel GMA). Hardware support is almost perfect.

nexus7 · 2008-10-21 05:15:14

creslin wrote:

Is there any reason for this thread considering there's almost an identical thread just a few posts down?

Not really. But threads like this one are coming up regularly, I guess...

clu · 2008-10-28 22:22:50

I have a ThinkPad T61 and a Dell Inspiron 4150.
The ThinkPad is rocking hard (it has such a nice keyboard too!).
The Dell works fine, but the 4150 is just old...

Dheart · 2008-10-29 06:50:39

I've got Inspiron 1525n and basically everything is running out of the box (except for the wireless card - I needed ndiswrapper before Broadcom realesed the propietary broadcom wl driver.
The only problem is GMA x3100 (GMA 965)

syntaxerrormmm · 2008-10-30 21:16:30

Hi,

no experience at all on netbooks - sorry. I have got some ThinkPads (T30 and X41 tablet) and both are running Arch. No problems at all on hw supporting - all worked out of the box or with a little effort. ThinkWiki is a good place to find infos, and for the configuration Arch Wiki is the best because is full of simple and step-by-step instructions.

I definitely advice a ThinkPad.

Cheers

fcristini · 2008-10-30 21:39:09

I had a Toshiba M30X (Intel Centrino 1.7Ghz, 512Mb RAM, ATI mobility radeon 9600) on which I installed gentoo and works very well.
Now I've got a Toshiba A210 (AMD Turion TL-64, 2Gb RAM, ATI mobility radeon HD2600) on which I had Ubuntu and now I have Archlinux and works very well.

IMHO support for CPUs, NVidia and ATI graphics cards, laptop monitors, battery, keyboards and touchpads is very good.
Maybe you can choose your laptop by looking at the support for other integrated devices you may need like:
- wifi (intel and atheros are well supported)
- bluetooth
- card readers

22bsti · 2008-11-04 07:34:15

This question has been asked many times, basically the answer is use intel chipsets where ever possible, they don't have much in the way of 3d oomph but they do work. Laptops that come installed with linux or have variants that run linux out of the box are also good bets. Stay away from vendors that use non standard parts like many Vaio's. Historically ATI chipsets were not as well supported but this is changing. Stay away from Broadcom for the most part. Thinkpads are well liked around here. ASUS laptops have good all around linux support (usually) probably as good as Lenovo. One of the best laptops I have owned linux compatibility wise is an Aspire One. Long and short get to know the perspective hardware and find a laptop with components that are decently supported.

Last edited by 22bsti (2008-11-04 07:36:47)

Llama · 2008-11-10 16:31:29

Toshiba notebooks are also good, even the cheap ones. I've got Toshiba Satellite L40-14G. The only piece of hardvare that gave me any trouble was RTL8187B WiFi chip (had to use ndiswrapper), but as of kernel 2.6.27.4 the native support is perfect.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-20 01:11:18

Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#2 2008-10-20 01:45:39

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#3 2008-10-20 02:28:33

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#4 2008-10-20 03:32:41

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#5 2008-10-20 06:40:46

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#6 2008-10-20 11:40:50

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#7 2008-10-20 17:30:30

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#8 2008-10-20 17:37:48

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#9 2008-10-20 17:46:06

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#10 2008-10-20 18:08:14

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#11 2008-10-20 18:45:59

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#12 2008-10-20 18:59:56

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#13 2008-10-20 19:31:39

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#14 2008-10-20 20:43:04

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#15 2008-10-21 00:51:34

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#16 2008-10-21 01:12:22

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#17 2008-10-21 05:15:14

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#18 2008-10-28 22:22:50

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#19 2008-10-29 06:50:39

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#20 2008-10-30 21:16:30

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#21 2008-10-30 21:39:09

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#22 2008-11-04 07:34:15

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

#23 2008-11-10 16:31:29

Re: Which is the best laptop for Linux?

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