which Linux for T500

I want to buy a Lenovo T500, with following specs

what Linux should I choose? I have not much expereince with Linux so far. It has to work, and needs agood community, stabilty is everything to me!

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz), 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache

Chipset: Intel PM45

Display: 15.4" TFT WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)

RAM: 1x 2048MB DDR3, 1066MHz, maximal 2x 2048MB

Harddisk: 160GB S-ATA, 5400rpm, mit Active Protection

Graphic-Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 mit 256MBOptical

Drive:Ultrabay Slim DVD-RW


Network: 802.11 a/g/n WLAN, Gigabit LAN, Modem, Bluetooth, UMTS/3G/WWAN

Sound: Conexant Azalia Audio Codec

Connections: 3x USB, FireWire, VGA, Display Port, Docking Port, RJ-11, RJ-45, Audio, 1 x Typ I/II und 1x ExpressCard

Particularities: Fingerprint Reader, ThinkPad Roll Cage and Top Cover Roll CageOperating

System: Windows Vista Business D/F/I/E, mit XP Recovery Medien

Accumulator: Li-Ion Akku, 6 Zellen, 6.6h


Measures: 35.8 x 25.5 x 3.4cmmWeight:2.49kg

 

Linux nowadays doesn't really matter what brand/model of computer you have now. Compatibility is almost at 100% for all new popular models. Thinkpads are definitely included.

Since you don't have much experience, it's best to start with a distro that has a large online community and/or forum so if you have any problems, it's easier and quicker to find solutions. Ubuntu (for gnome) or Kubuntu (for KDE) or Fedora are all major distros. Mandriva as well, I think (someone else confirm or add suggestions?).

I started from Ubuntu, and I believe most new Linux users have as well.

 

Ubuntu is the best distribution to start with. It is relatively easy to use, has considerably web documentation, and has a very large community that is quite friendly and willing to help newbies.

It is also the distribution that a lot of people on this particular forum use so you can get some more specific help if you go to set it up.

For starters, you should back up everything on your hard drive. After that you need to decide if you want to dual-boot or simply wipe the drive and install Ubuntu as your only operating system.

This might help:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

Next you need to download the appropriate ISO.

http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download

Burn the ISO to a disc. When you reboot you can put it in your PC and actually boot into the operating system from the CD. This will let you mess around inside of Ubuntu and see how it would run were it actually installed on your PC.

You might also find this thread by Thomas very helpful
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=241870

 

thanks to all,

how is OpenSuse? i like how looks...better than the brownish style of ubuntu?

 

hehehehe.. That's pretty fast, algus, 4 links and only a few seconds slower!

@lukasdesign, the latest version of Ubuntu is 8.10, which is supported to 2010. The version before that, 8.04, is a Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which is supported to 2011. So just choose whichever you prefer.

The colours can all be changed. Have a vist to the Show off you Linux Desktop thread to be amazed.

To the Ubuntu people, would running a system update on 8.04 be the same as 8.10? Like, will it automatically update 8.04 to be the same as 8.10 without doing a distribution upgrade?

 

One neat thing about OpenSUSE is that it lets you pick which desktop environment you want to use during installation. I suggest Ubuntu simply because of the available documentation and community.

I actually don't use Ubuntu myself anymore, partly for the reasons you described. I'm not a big fan of the sort of dark brown "coffee" thing that Ubuntu has going. However, the other Ubuntu flavors (Kubuntu, Xubuntu) have different themes going if you'd prefer to try something different and, as with Windows, you can always customize all of that if you want.

 

Ubuntu, Mandriva, OpenSuSe, Fedora.

 

thanks once more to everybody contributing!

I read some troubles about the fingerprint reader of the T500 and that is not possible to switch between the two graphic cards. Is there a way two set up two user accounts, let's call "3d Artist" and "Surfer", each with a different driver installed. This would work like on the new macbook pros. switch by logging out, that would eb fine enough for me. Will battery life be worse under Linux?

The fingerprint reader is not so important to me.

Important is that the trackpad, mousepad and keybord works,
as well as the WiFi.

Where can I expect troubles with this specific laptop?

thanks

 

www.thinkwiki.org is your new best friend.

 

Ubuntu and openSUSE should be a good start. You might want to try LinuxMint (it is basically Ubuntu with a different theme and multimedia codecs installed out of the box).

 

All the sources I've checked say no.

Switchable graphics is currently unsupported under linux systems. The problem, I believe, is that the Xorg server which provides the graphical user interface cannot use it. On-the-fly driver switching is not a new thing for linux, so I don't think the kernel is an issue here. The best thing to do is wait. I'm sure Xorg developers are currently working to incorporate this new technology.

Others know more.

 

Thanks for the Thnkwiki hint....seems to be goood starting point!

 

you're welcome!

 

If you know someone with one or a place where you can demo it perhaps you can take it for a test drive with a Ubuntu 8.10 LiveCD.

 

Switching graphics subsystems under Linux has been discussed before with laptops from Sony and Asus, which incorporated both Intel and nVidia graphics chips. In this thread you can see that you can get a measure of dual graphic chip support under Linux. It works by first enabling the desired graphic mode in the system BIOS, and then configuring the Linux system to detect which chip is running when it boots, and then setup the proper X server configuration file as part of the boot process. This way it's possible to switch between graphic modes by rebooting, going into the BIOS and changing the graphics mode. It's not nearly as nice as a Windows system tray program/icon, but the only other thing to do is to pester Lenovo to provide a Linux tool to accomplish the same thing.

The best place to further discuss this would be on the Lenovo Linux message boards, as it appears that folks over there are wrestling with the same issues, as evidenced by this post.

Good Luck.