The coolest Linux laptop ever

Hey,

Looking for a Linux laptop. I asked in this forum since I want it to run Linux and thought I'd get better responses here.

I want to buy a laptop online in the UK for £600 ($1000), around 13" - 16" screen (normal size- not massive, not tiny). Mainly just playing games through WINE. Nothing intensive, just games like Guild Wars.

Battery life is not important as I'm just using it as an easily portable desktop. The laptop should be reliable and last a good few years.

I don't need much hard drive space. I would prefer an external optical drive since I don't use it often and it's a waste of space really.

Thanks.

 

Don't buy an Acer or Asus, Id recommend a solid Dell or Toshiba.

 

Yep, Dell would be a good choice given the budget, though if you are into gaming, I'd recommend going with Clevo. You can get i7+GTX280M under 2000$. Plus, linux drivers from Nvidia really improved lately so you won't have too many issues. Worst case - dual boot.

 

I would recommend Dell as well--they support Ubuntu on some of the laptops so you would not have issues with drivers or support.
S

 

But, what's a solid Dell or Toshiba?

Is there any good Dells, Toshibas or any other brand that has P8400 cpu, high resolution, LED and Nvidia mobile card for under $1500 Cdn?

Really hard to find!

I can't afford Sager/Clevo... looked into it and none are under $1500....

 

Now that ATI drivers are open source I ain't touching Nvidia unless the performance difference is MASSIVE. Sure the binary blob driver is easy to install but it causes lots of weird probs that you'll never be able to get fixed.

I had a toshiba P100 with Nvidia 7900gs gpu, a combination of dodgy bios from tosh and the binary driver meant it would overheat to 115 degC on a standard linux install. The damage this did likely shortened the laptops life considerably. I also couldnt use the old nv driver as it woulnt display colours properly in mplayer, generally not fun.

ATI drivers may be a PITA to install (i havent checked them recently) but at least they will eventually be fully supported.

 

Eventually? Try asking some people who deal with them everyday who are experienced with the distro or installing the drivers.

There are people on various sites and who write scripts for the nvidia/ati install and almost all of them are praising or prefering the nvidia binary blob install.

Every time the kernel updates or X.Org goes to a new version, the ATI driver is not mature, not ready or full of bugs and issues. The updates of the Nvidia binary blob driver just works. It will install with some doing and you might run into some 'black screens' but it's easily repaired if you know what you are doing. I just edit xorg.conf and put 'nv' back and it's back to what it was. Easy.

But, I read of headaches with the ATI driver regardless if it's open source or proprietary. Some hardware is only supported by one of them and some are supported by both but one or the other loses the user certain features depending on what driver you installed. That sounds like an unorganized mess to me. Ironically, I would LIKE a working ATI driver as I prefer ATI in principle since there is that open source choice and ATI desktop cards in general are cheaper in comparison to the equivalent Nvidia card. Also, Nvidia has that infamous bump issue and allegations that they have faulty hardware going far back so I don't know what to think. ATI hasn't had similar problems but they don't have the same resources or the manpower to support their drivers or come up with the same potential as Nvidia.

The other problem is that the open source driver means loss or lack of features like power savings and hibernate/suspend features that don't work quite right. I think they are okay in Windows but both companies make sure the Windows side works as a priority.

Anyway, if I am wrong, I don't know about it. I suspect I'll have a large group of people who agree and would expand on this. I do wish ATI would improve steadily because I would like to choose them. Also, a lot of laptops have ATI GPU so it would make choosing a laptop much easier too. I think ATI should look at optimizing their proprietary driver in Linux since it would then be at par with Nvidia. The open source idea is good and preferable as an ultimate destination but if both are flawed in some way, it doesn't benefit when people want something that just 'works.' When you are deciding between the two companies, too many people will compromise the open source solution for something that gives them the features they want which will work in most cases.

 

ATI is getting better. Ever since AMD took control, ATI has been giving a lot of time and effort to Linux with their Catalyst driver. It now has near feature parity with Windows! The problem to my understanding is that it tries to work "with" Linux's standards so changes in X or whatever, have to be coded around. Nvidia's binary blob on the otherhand, replaces a lot of X with their own implementation. ATI still has a ways to catch up, but doing it "right" is not the same as doing it "fast". I'm sure in another year or two ATI's catalyst will be on the same level as the Nvidia bins. I wouldn't say that either are bad at the moment, but Nvidia has a better chance of "just working" at current. Also, the RadeonHD open source driver has come a LONG way and is lauded by some to be the best open source video driver on Linux in terms of features. It excels at 2D and is slowly making its way into 3D.

However, if I'm correct that at least for the moment ATI has problems with WINE, so you may want to stick with Nvidia. As far as laptop brands are concerned, can you tell us what else you value in a laptop? I would say that the new Asus G1Jx may be right up your alley, as it is 15" and powerful with a Core i7 proc and a Nvidia GTX360. The Dell Studio XPS 16 has MAJOR heat issues with the Core i7, so stay away from that. HP, BIOS issues to the point I had to send my Envy15 back.

 

I do hope ATI improves sufficiently and progressively.

But, I have read of ATI being awfully inferior in the way of features. Nvidia has CUDA and VDPAU, to name two major ones. As I understand it, ATI's XvBA is at a poor state right now.

If ATI were to show steady signs of improving, I would 'switch.' Even now, I would consider an ATI-equipped laptop if all the other specs were what I want. I wouldn't game on the laptop as I believe it's better to use a desktop for that and one can choose or switch cards if desired.

But, I don't want issues when watching video or using 3D.

You asked what else I value: I want decent processing power, enough for VT if I can get it in my budget. I want video without tearing or issues. I would like workable 3D without crashes or problems.

I am looking for something minimum of: P8400 cpu, res of 1440 x 900 or higher, with eSATA port (hopefully), HDMI so I have a digital video input option... LED backlight screen preferable...

I can be flexible with the screen size if the above are met. I would like it all in a portable package but I can accept larger screens since there's a better chance to get the above in my budget with a larger screen size. I think it's probably easier to use (watching video) on a larger screen but with HDMI, I can get the picture on a monitor or tv.

I would like to install VirtualBox so I'd like a VT compatible cpu so P8400 min.

So, that should answer the quesiton?

 

Which Dell laptops are good? Don't they use the Broadcom chipsets? I heard Dells are really unreliable.

The Clevo laptops look really cool but they're all $1500 or more- too expensive. Where can I find one for $1000?

 

What's wrong with Asus? And Dell has poor cooling.

Either way, I'd say stick with an Intel/ATi combo. Yes, the closed source ATi drivers suck, but the open source drivers are miles better than any closed source driver (there is some X.org devs working on the driver at the same time as X itself). And stick to xorg-video-ati, xorg-video-radeonhd is still very alpha.

 

My Dells have been really reliable, and I have on site service if something does break...that's why I quit using Asus's because I can't mail off my work machine for 2 weeks and be down. Asus's are good for the money...I have a vid card go bad in the A8JS and C90S both....fwiw

ps: I just ordered another DELL in sig....so I'll post how linux goes with that, but I don't anticipate any problems.

 

Which Dell did you order?

I can't afford the Dell business line or I'd get one. The Precision and Latitude look like a real solid laptop but I can't afford either if I configure it how I'd like. The Studio and Studio XPS line I could barely do but after all is said and done, I could maybe just make it. However, what I have read here is that the heat production on the Studio XPS line is rather high and equivalently, the cooling is not good enough.

I don't own one of course and never have so that is something an owner has to confirm or deny.

I do like the configuration options for the Dell Studio (and XPS) line as long as a Canadian can call up and request particular options (that are available on the Dell.com site). If they can accommodate customers like that, it is a major plus on their side.

I wish they would not have such confusion with the naming, though. The Studio series look way different from the Studio XPS series. It's confusing. Are they both even or equivalent in terms of hardware quality/integrity? In other words, similar constructon? I suspect the Latitude is better but like I said, out of my budget.

I don't know if the Asus models are better at cooling but there seems to be a lot of complaints or discussions about some Asus models with Nvidia cards - in particular, the G51 series.

One concern I had with Asus is the news that Asus will start outsourcing some of their products including motherboards (to ECS). I have no idea if this will apply to their laptops.

 

Hmm... Let me guess... the Vostro V13 with pre-installed Dell-buntu? Hehe...

 

To the OP

I checked Dell's UK site and I no longer see the option for "Open Source PCs" maybe I just missed it, not sure. However I bought a Inspiron 15(1545) about 7 months ago and love it. When I got it, Ubuntu came pre-installed. (in this time I've also wiped the drive and reinstalled Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu, so no worries since you will have to wipe the drive or dual boot Win7 ) It does use a broadcom chip for wireless but it works perfectly. Hope this helps. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...aptop-inspiron-1545?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

 

@puter1

If it helps the precisions are also certified against redhat which means not only will it work but they actually had to test it and going forward will need to retest on it when the patch the bios/firmware so no nastys are going to crop up.

Also I recon I got at least 20% off the sales price so there is room to haggle even on uk systems.

For my purposes the hp envy 15 would have served as well as the m6500 I have on order but a quick search shows its not just thermal issues you need to watch, its bios is a bit of a dog also.


I have had a tosh laptop fail due to the Nvidia binary driver and dodgy bios stopping it cool properly and an old ATI card lose driver support as part of a windows upgrade. Basically I want a proper linux laptop with no messing about so am willing to pay a premium.

Frankly if any company ever starts selling opensource bios boards I would happily put my hands in my pocket to pay at least £100 premium. The linux devs do an amazing job but there is only so much crud they can hack round and these closed parts of the PC are always the ones that cause you pain.

 

epz: I hear ya....

I can't afford a Precision so I have to ask what you recommend if on a budget of $1 or less.

I would like to go a bit higher as the choices then fit my requests better but alas...

I don't know what to make of the Nvidia complaints. There was a complaint about certain cards but then people are saying they're all bad. How do you define or confirm that?

There are users who overclock their video cards so what do you expect? Most gaming video cards are NVIDIA cards plain and simple. Where are the Mobility HD Radeon 4850 and 4870 cards? Answer: there aren't any. At least, not in mainstream and easily availbable laptops. ATI has 'safe' cards that aren't sufficient for heavy gaming so they don't get stressed as much. Wait until laptop manufacturers go to more 'gaming specific' ATI cards and see what happens.

Right now, some laptop manufacturers are still with Nvidia so if all Nvidia cards were created with a guarantee for failure, wouldn't they ALL switch to ATI? ATI in Linux is absymal at best and although there are claims of improvement, the experts all say they are a pain and the only guarantee is sudden lack of support or drivers that become inadequate after kernel and xorg updates. There are also various features lacking and the progress on those are frustratingly slow. Until there are major gains in performance and driver support, I think the ATI praise should be suspended until further notice.

 

Most high end games will be woefull on a laptop or you need to spend a LOT on abig heavy beast.

Frankly you will get laptop with better battery life, smaller form factor, increased longevity (less heat so it will live longer) and cheaper if you jut buy an xbox/ps3 for games.

I cant really advise on specific models but it would say that aiming for a business class one with a lot of models sold is likely to cause least hassle.

That said a new i5 class laptops (released on the 7th) may be worth holding out for.

 

The coolest Linux laptop... EVER

The drivers for 280s are pretty good, the SLI however still requires some work. All the rest is perfect. Currently playing Kings Bounty Armored Princess, Dragon Age and a few older titles. I'd say the performance is ~80% of the Windows gaming (FPS,AA, PhysX) but with a top card and high details you will hardly notice any difference.

 

If you really want to do a serious choice, have a look on Lenovo, HP, Dell. Find laptop from each company fitting in your budget scale. Then do some search on testing, comparisons, linux driver support and possible problems on internet. Then choose.
It's hard to say which model is best, since it's very personal. .

I'm with Lenovo and last time i looked around the Lenovo had best laptop considering price/installed parts - i think models R500 or SL500 would be your target types.

 

What do you mean by a serious choice? The world is no longer what it was 10 years ago, when IBM was practically ruling the notebook segment with quality and performance. Today you have powerful lines in every big company, so just to make an extensive comparison (brushing through zounds of marketing-oriented reviews and zillions of negative and + feedbacks) will take more of your time than actually looking for fixes and updates to make everything work. Linux distros come out every several months and the currently stable suddenly gets upgraded to an unstable and not exactly working for your perfect machine. And now another serious choice - roll back to the previous version or tweak the new one with new fancy features and nicer SSD support .
So the point is simple, you will end up wasting your time on tweaking regardless of how serious is your choice, unless you don't use your laptop beyond Office and web-browsing...
IMHO, go for the machine you really like to get.
Don't worry, one of the distros will fit there nicely, and you can always have a dual-boot option if you like.
I never thought I'd put linux on an Alienware laptop, but did give it a shot and enjoy every minute. In a few days my favorite distro was set on it and is more stable than W7 or Vista.
As for the SLI that requires some tweaking - heck I enjoy it even more, the system is easy to learn and once you develop some skills in Linux - you can tweak it to your own whims and wishes
Enjoy!

 

Yes, the world isn't like 10 yrs ago - e.g. my hangovers are taking one more day to cure, so change there is, for sure, my young padawan .

On serious note, by 'serious choice' i meant what i meant and i personally wouldn't buy laptop from companies like asus or msi etc.
I don't say those machines are bad, but i do work in IT technical positions since 1998 and i seen much more ppl satisfied with those brands than any other considering reliability and stability.
I won't argue, since i know ppl who have e.g. asus ntbs and are happy years, but what i can say (from my experience) is, that probability of hw failure is lesser with those big brands.
Take it or leave it, someone's else experience might be different.

 

Wow, we work in the same field since 1998.
Yep, I've seen that too and personally would add HP and Acer to your list of no-gos, as well as a few others.
But given the acceleration of techno-progress even the best machines are unlikely to be kept for longer than a couple of years (I still keep my 7-year-old IBM Thinkpad, but that's a relic). Now add 1-3 years of warranty that most people get and you are ok even if your mobo gets replaced a few times.
So it comes down to the looks and other personal preferences.

 

+1 for Dell, and ThinkPads are also good.

 

The m6500 in sig.....be a couple of weeks yet....I quit spending all my money on motorcycles 3 years ago, so now it all goes on laptops... I got a 1220. dollar discount off of it, special offer on Covet that lasted for 2 days, Free overnight, and a free laser printer, so I took the plunge.

You'll see a linux post about it sooner or later....

 

Yes, i gotta agree here, that design is getting more important (at least with the female market customers ) and that the recycle period of laptops decreased and with warranty and all, you should be fine. But just imagine this situation (IRL it really happend).

I got a friend, he's much younger and 'eager' after new tech. He got to position of main admin and it manager in middle sized company.
He got a task to choose new laptops for sale dpt. and for managers. He, being active, studied ntb configs, prices, really wanted 'the best' for the price.
He choose Asus. It really was best considering what they got for the price. It was about 30 ntbs.
In 2 yrs, roughly 75% went at least one time for warranty repairs. Such repair takes even a month.
Now, imagine, the angry managers complaining on you and ringing you up couple times a day 'how the hell are repairs going with my ntb?' Heheh.
Long story short, the company is now happy with dells and hp and my friend's happy about it too .

 

depends..for your "average" female user {and i'
m aware that's who you're talking about}..or someone that doesn't know much about tech then yes..they are gonna look at the pretty flower pattern or whatever on an hp and go ooo i want it..LOL
me i'd rather have a black sager np2096 or whatever from xoticpc b/c of the hardware..customer satifsaction and all that good stuff..
but yea going a bit off topic here and i know what you're saying..don't know why but just to say not every female wants the pretty patterns and cares more about the hardware and company that support it..
As far as linux support i would go +1 for the dell..just as far as the linux support they have for it..

 

I agree. What do you mean, 1ceBlu3, by 'it depends?'

It's true. Maybe you are too afraid to agree.

Laptops are increasingly manufactured for the 'computer illiterate' market and like it or not, this includes a lot of female buyers.

I don't hear of anyone asking for certain features like eSATA, a high resolution or asking about future upgrades. Buyers in these retail stores talk about wanting games, or something for their digital cameras because they want some place to store their pictures. Or they want to know if they can use a web cam on their computer or whatever.

They want certain colours or it to look cool or shiny or whatever.

I don't claim to know a lot but it's happened more than once I'll be in a big box store or computer store that sells laptops and I'll think I know more than the sales guy. I don't want to argue so I'll just let the guy finish and then inspect the laptop to see if it's one I'd want to use every day.

 

well bud i'm saying it depends..because it depends..are u talking about a female like me...angelic..cin.. or the other females in this forum who know what they are talking about some of the time..or are u talking about some computer illiterate female or male for that matter..lol I know a lot of female friends who don't know what to look for in a laptop..and you see them rather have nice and shiny then a laptop like a Sager..or Clevo..(not to mention most "
computer illiterate haven't heard of these brands)
and you see if with older people to. i've come across many sales people that try to get the "computer illiterate" to spend money on a 1,000+ laptop because they dont know any better...
sure..i'll ask my questions..i'll listen to the sales guy to b/c that's what they get paid to do...but i already go in there knowing what i'm looking for..as do a lot of ppl on these forums..I don't know everything either..noone will ever know everything about computers or what not..but i like knowing the fact that i'm aware of what i want ya know..
mmm..i think i kinda lost ya there..but to afraid to agree with what?
never said anything liking it or not..lol..i also think that more females..even males should become aware of what they are potentially buying...

 

I don't know if you perceived my comments as implying you or just grouping everyone. I meant the averages that includes all consumers.

What I didn't say but should have added is to suggest that in families, couples etc., women often determine the purchases and so if family members both don't know enough about the technologies, they'll choose, for e.g., based on appearance and/or the recommendations of the sales staff. Females have a lot of influence on the purchases so a shiny laptop that presents a certain style might be preferred over other hardware that doesn't have the looks/specs etc. Marketing also enters into it, too, etc.

I totally agree. At least, they should be aware of the basics.

 

i get what you are saying..
while that is true as far as purchasing but if you have a husband or wife that knows more about computer than one or the other they will be the determining factor as to what they buy. take my situation..my husband could care less..cause he knows i know what to look for and he doesn't care as long as he can do what he wants and knows that it will last for a while...
and visa versa...

while we're on the subject.look at schools today. there are schools around here that expect the kid to bring a laptop..u know just a small one to school by 1st grade!. while it's good on some levels..not on others..especially if a family can't afford it..but yea starting kids out early is good these days and age b/c technology is evolving and always will.. but that is also coming from someone who is into tech..LOL..