Ubuntu on R705

Has anyone installed Ubuntu on their R705? I'm just wondering how compatible it is.

I've read on the Ubuntu forums about some problems, but could anyone who actually has the laptop detail them out because people didn't really explain what happened, just that some strange things were working. I saw this laptop while I was browsing at Best Buy and I really fell in love with it. Typing on my Macbook Pro makes my hands really tired after doing a lot of work as a comp sci major, so I was thinking of switching to this laptop and giving this to my mom since she really likes it. The only thing stopping me from buying it now is that I want to make sure it works and is stable, because I don't want to be working on an assignment and have it just die on me since this laptop is mostly going to be used for school work.

Any input is appreciated, thanks!

 

I installed VirtualBox on my R705 and run Ubuntu as a guest operating system (with Window 7 as the host). It works extremely well except for the webcam. I have yet to get it recognized in order to use it with Cheese. VirtualBox can be downloaded for free and I have yet to see it crash.

My accounting practice requires Windows-based software and a virtual machine was the best way for me to try Linux. Initially, I started on Mandriva and then moved to Ubuntu 10.10 when it was released.

Obviously, there are some compromises when running a virtual machine. You're sharing resources and that means some performance penalties. It isn't slow but it isn't as fast when everything is at the operating system's command.

There are other options. You can partition your hard drive and dual boot or if you are willing to cut the Windows cord, you can use Ubuntu as your sole operating system. With the R705's Core i3 processor, I would assume Ubuntu would be lightning quick with these two options.

Bottom line: You shouldn't have any worries about the R705 and Ubuntu.

 

I have been using 10.10 part-time for the past couple of months on my R700 and everything works for the most part; that means sound, video, wifi, bluetooth and all the important components work and the performance is very impressive (compared to Win 7). I don't know about webcam and fingerprint reader though. But i really don't care about those and haven't tried to resolve those issues. The one outstanding issue that bugs me is that if you turn off wifi under windows, then when you log into ubuntu you cannot start wifi. Has anyone been able to fix this problem?