What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

Greenstuff · 2010-01-04 12:08:11

Hi,
I'm about to get a new laptop to replace my Dell E1505 I used untill now. i'm very happy with it, but it got old and starts to fail. I want to get a new laptop that's simular to it but new and more up to date. I looked at some of the computers avaliable and was thinking, which manufacturer makes the most linux friendly computers? Should I stick with dell or maybe HP is the better choice? What's your experiance on the subject?

Zeist · 2010-01-04 12:20:36

Lenovo is usually best and Dell second in my experience.

Army · 2010-01-04 12:22:54

I know that Dell computers work really good with linux. If you still need Dell in general, there's no need to change.

chpln · 2010-01-04 13:24:33

From what I've seen, major manufacturers give little-to-no concern towards Linux support when designing a product. Should they have a string of products which work hassle-free, it is through coincidence alone.

To take Lenovo as an example, many of their notebooks in the past have included a wireless card they referred to as a "ThinkPad wireless adapter", which was renowned for functioning 'out of the box' with the ath5k driver. During the middle(?) of last year, and without indication, the "ThinkPad wireless adapters" changed, and now use an rtl8192se chipset. ndiswrapper has limited success (if any); a functional driver has only recently been created for this chipset; and support still missing from the kernel.

While my next laptop will probably be a Lenovo it will be for their build-quality and not their Linux support. When looking for a laptop, I recommend finding something which matches your specifications, design and price and then thoroughly checking compatibility of the components: it's the only way to be sure.

samuele.mattiuzzo · 2010-01-04 14:19:42

i've been changing a lot.. toshiba, dell, apple, hp, acer... as far as now, the first notebook i had without problem was dell inspiron 6400 (aka E1505), after that my hp pavilion dm1 1010el works super mega good

i just moved my arch installation from dell to hp, from 32 to 64 bits and in 1 hour i was up and running again

sHyLoCk · 2010-01-04 14:30:58

Acer works for me.

Army · 2010-01-04 14:38:34

samuele.mattiuzzo wrote:

the first notebook i had without problem was dell inspiron 6400 (aka E1505)

My sister has exactly this laptop and it works perfectly ... Seems like you were a bit unlucky with your hardware choice

eldragon · 2010-01-04 14:45:25

system 76 builds and sells notebooks preinstalled with ubuntu, so they should give no problems. they are expensive tho..

ArchArael · 2010-01-04 15:00:21

I had two Dell laptops so far. The last one is M1330 and never had problems running GNU/Linux. Also in my experience Dell is an optimal choice.

By the way, Dell machines are not ugly and heavy any more as they used to be.

tomd123 · 2010-01-04 16:07:06

From a sony owner. Avoid the sony vaio at all costs if you believe in capitalism and want less proprietary hardware XD

Lexion · 2010-01-04 16:44:46

Laptops made a year ago usually have good support, but newer stuff has worse. I don't think that brand matters much *prepares for massive amounts of retort*.

Dells can ship with Ubuntu, so you would think that they would have good support for Linux, but I got a dell mini 10 and it had next to no support for Linux (they made their own drivers that only work in their version of Ubuntu). I had to return it and get a 10v.

milomouse · 2010-01-04 17:49:00

I still swear by HP since I run them into the ground for years on end and they never had a problem. I would always get everything working for my HP laptops too, even one of the multimedia models from the HP dv6000 series. I just really hate their laptop designs now-a-days but that's just me. Currently, I'm running a Lenovo Y450 which I just purchased so I'm still debating on how linux-friendly it is.

dcc24 · 2010-01-04 18:03:20

I've started using ThinkPad's with T41. I now have a T61p which is one of the most rock-solid laptops I've ever seen. Even NASA ordered a few of them for the ISS. I'd suggest buying a ThinkPad (T or X series, NEVER SL or R series) and you'll never buy another brand again.

ShortError · 2010-01-04 18:07:06

Well i have had a great experience with my HP dv9620us and will buy more HP's in the future

Gen2ly · 2010-01-04 18:39:29

Cause I'm a Google god :

http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech … 0104023555

Last edited by Gen2ly (2010-01-04 18:41:29)

Stalafin · 2010-01-04 19:12:47

Gen2ly wrote:

Cause I'm a Google god :
http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech … 0104023555

Why would you even consider still getting a T61? I would much rather go for the new T400s.

dcc24 · 2010-01-04 19:23:36

Because you can still find a 4:3 T61, but all T4xx and T5xx are 16:10.

Anikom15 · 2010-01-04 20:05:23

IMHO...
Best: Lenovo and Acer
Good: Dell and HP
Worst: Sony and Toshiba

doorknob60 · 2010-01-04 21:29:40

eldragon wrote:

system 76 builds and sells notebooks preinstalled with ubuntu, so they should give no problems. they are expensive tho..

This. Dell also sells laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled, they should be at http://Dell.com/ubuntu

Grazz256 · 2010-01-04 21:35:00

I'm running a dell inspiron 710 and it works well other then the card reader which I have no real use for so +1 for dell

softtower · 2010-01-04 22:09:08

I just bought two machines that work *flawlessly* including quick and reliable suspend/resume:

Lenovo Thinkpad T400 with Intel Wi-Fi and Intel graphics
Dell Latitude E6400 with Intel wi-Fi and nVidia NVS160

They're both awesome. One runs Ubuntu and another - Arch.

In my experience it is better to ignore the laptop brand but avoid certain components that historically earned bad rep on Linux, i.e. ATI graphics and non-Intel wi-fi cards. I know there are exceptions and some of that hardware is workable, but why risk it?

Last edited by softtower (2010-01-04 22:12:30)

mikesd · 2010-01-04 22:19:20

Dell and HP have both done the job for me in the past.

combuster · 2010-01-04 22:34:58

Well, imho it doesn't matter who is the OEM, what's important is that components inside are linux compatible. I have a Dell Vostro 1310 and when I was reviewing possible candidates for my laptop some of the guidelines were that it has to have a intel igp and wireless and intel hda. Intel was always kind to Linux users, all drivers are opensource, in kernel support - now I don't want to get into performance ground, performance sukZ for years but at least I can recompile my kernel without messing around with gpu and wireless drivers.

Dell is a wise choice but you have to be caucious there, they can mess things up with wireless chips, always look for intel soultions...

Acecero · 2010-01-04 22:42:02

softtower wrote:

I just bought two machines that work *flawlessly* including quick and reliable suspend/resume:
Lenovo Thinkpad T400 with Intel Wi-Fi and Intel graphics
Dell Latitude E6400 with Intel wi-Fi and nVidia NVS160
They're both awesome. One runs Ubuntu and another - Arch.
In my experience it is better to ignore the laptop brand but avoid certain components that historically earned bad rep on Linux, i.e. ATI graphics and non-Intel wi-fi cards. I know there are exceptions and some of that hardware is workable, but why risk it?

On the T400, how good is the performance graphic wise?

samuele.mattiuzzo · 2010-01-04 22:52:05

Army wrote:

samuele.mattiuzzo wrote:
the first notebook i had without problem was dell inspiron 6400 (aka E1505)
My sister has exactly this laptop and it works perfectly ... Seems like you were a bit unlucky with your hardware choice

lol there's a little misunderstanding here with my dell i never had any problem in 3 years of using less than two with debian, the remaining time with arch

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-04 12:08:11

What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#2 2010-01-04 12:20:36

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#3 2010-01-04 12:22:54

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#4 2010-01-04 13:24:33

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#5 2010-01-04 14:19:42

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#6 2010-01-04 14:30:58

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#7 2010-01-04 14:38:34

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#8 2010-01-04 14:45:25

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#9 2010-01-04 15:00:21

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#10 2010-01-04 16:07:06

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#11 2010-01-04 16:44:46

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#12 2010-01-04 17:49:00

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#13 2010-01-04 18:03:20

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#14 2010-01-04 18:07:06

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#15 2010-01-04 18:39:29

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#16 2010-01-04 19:12:47

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#17 2010-01-04 19:23:36

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#18 2010-01-04 20:05:23

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#19 2010-01-04 21:29:40

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#20 2010-01-04 21:35:00

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#21 2010-01-04 22:09:08

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#22 2010-01-04 22:19:20

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#23 2010-01-04 22:34:58

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#24 2010-01-04 22:42:02

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

#25 2010-01-04 22:52:05

Re: What computer manufacturer makes the most "linux friendly" laptops?

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