Ubuntu on HP Envy 17?

I just ordered a HP ENVY 17-1011NR from Newegg. I'm a software developer and like doing my work in virtual machines and have liked working with VMware player on a Vista Ultimate 64bit box. I need to decide between Windows 7 and Ubuntu (or other Linux) as the host OS.

Some of my thoughts.

With Ubuntu as host, I can run Windows 7 in a VM - I would like to do this.

I'm not a gamer, so a native Linux may give as much hardware support as I want.

Native Windows 7 will support the Envy 17 hardware better, but I can't afford another Windows 7 license, so will have no Windows 7 VM.

Anyone have experience with running Linux on the Envy 17?

 

I just installed Ubuntu 10.04.1 and Kubuntu on a Envy 17 1090ez and everything went smooth. At the first network connection (ethernet) the system proposed to install the wireless broadcom driver and the graphic ATI driver. Then reboot. Then everything was working. It is the first time I install a Linux distribution without the need to work out some hardware issues by hand.

Glxgears : I get 6700 frames/s initial screen and 1400 f/s full screen. This is very good compared with my desktop with Nvidia 7600GT which delivers 380 fps full screen (both full HD).

 

I'm glad to hear this. I've starting using my Envy 17 with the installed Windows 7, but I do almost everything in Ubuntu desktop 10.04 running in VMWare player. Apparently the OEM Windows 7 license is only valid running directly on the hardware. When I get more reports of native Linux on the Envy 17 I may be tempted to try it.

 

It seems that Ubuntu 10.04 is very good. In the past I have got a number of problems with the migration to 9.10, including fancy screen resolution at boot, on another notebook.

After a couple of days now using the Envy 17, I still cannot find any problem. The wireless looks stable. I have not tested the speed. I think my hotspot is not "n" but "g". I have tried the WiFi in ad-hoc mode with a smartphone in WiFi hotspot mode (using JoikuSpot) and this works well. Concerning your remark about Windows 7, I am very strict about not allowing Apple or Microsoft software in my environment si I did not even allowed the PC to boot W7. I first tried with the Ubuntu Live CD.

Some posts on the web mention strange high pitch noise in the Envy 17, possibly from the WiFi module. I can confirm this, but the noise is very low on mine and not a problem from my point of view.

 

could someone make a video showing how ubuntu/linux run on it?
im saving money to buy an Envy 17 and as i can't find it in a store here in Brasil to test Linux I'd like to see a video
Thank you all

 

I still don't find many reports of Linux on the HP Envy 17. Too expensive and too new I guess. A quick survey found:

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forums/hardware-compatibility-list/32526-hp-envy-17-1011nr.html

[ubuntu] hp envy 17 wireless problem - Ubuntu Forums

Andreas Demmer Review: Running Linux on the HP Envy 14

 

I believe you'd be better off trying to find if each device (WLAN, network card, video card etc...) works correctly on Linux.

And glxgears is not a benchmark, it is just a way to see if you video card is working corrrectly.

 

Ping. Anyone else care to report on Linux on an HP Envy 17. I'm continuing to use Ubuntu 10.04 in a VMware player with the factory Windows 7 running direct. I would like to try bare linux with multiple VM's sometime.

The envy 17 is awesome. 2 annoyances:
1) I run with MacBook users and they frown on "Windows users"
2) The "`" key has fallen off.