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Recommended subnotebook with good Linux compatibility

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  • Recommended subnotebook with good Linux compatibility

    Hi,

    I recently purchased an Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830TZ which is a pretty cool 11.6" Subnotebook with a ULVP Prozessor (Intel U5400) which means it has a very good battery runtime with about ~8 hours.
    But this device had a few issues with running the latest Ubuntu. The following things were broken:

    * Changing the brightness of screen backlight (fixed after BIOS update)
    * Scrolling with the touchpad
    * Wireless keys for deactivating/activating etc - it was always disabled after boot

    So ... I'm now on the search for a possible new Subnotebook.
    What do you think? Have you suggestions/knowledge about which recent Subnotebooks are working well with a Linux system?
    I'm able to do the configuriation/compiling drivers by hand if necessary.

    Which brands are known for beeing very good at Linux compatibility?

    Thank you so much!

  • #2
    Originally posted by phxx View Post
    * Scrolling with the touchpad
    * Wireless keys for deactivating/activating etc - it was always disabled after boot
    Both sound like software issues. I don't think buying new hardware will help, nor is it needed.

    For Touchpad scrolling, have you installed and configured the Synaptics drivers? I don't use them, but they sound like they'd solve your issues.


    ⭐ Gentoo Linux is a distribution or operating system that provides users with extensive customizability. Its creator, Daniel Robbins, developed the system to minimize CPU usage and improve system performance.


    Not sure about the rfkill switch. It works fine on my lenovo notebook, but there it's a dedicated toggle switch, not a hotkey. Is there any information in dmesg? Try
    Code:
    dmesg | grep -i rfkill
    in a console.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi and thanks for your reply.

      These issues look, like you say, like software issues ... But infact I tried a few late nights to get these things working. Especially the touchpad thing - and it didn't worked. I checked all driver possibilities and udev configurations but had no luck in getting it working.
      Unfortunatelly I already returned it to the vendor. So I cannot keep trying.

      I usually don't have these problems with other notebooks I've used yet with Linux -- so there might be also some good opportunities in the subnotebook segment.

      Comment


      • #4
        For newer hardware, it sometimes takes a few kernel releases until it is supported properly. Your best bet would be to install a recent kernel (2.6.34 or 2.6.35-rc4) and see if the problems persist.

        Unfortunately Ubuntu 10.04 decided to ship a 2.6.32 kernel, so if you plan to buy hardware for Ubuntu 10.04, look for computers that are confirmed to work, or that were on the market for ~6 months prior to 2.6.32 release to be on the safe side.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by chithanh View Post
          Your best bet would be to install a recent kernel (2.6.34 or 2.6.35-rc4) and see if the problems persist.
          Hi,

          you can easily check that by adding the kernel-ppa.
          Code:
          sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa
          sudo aptitude update
          You can now install some newer kernels (but keep in mind that they are not officially supported).

          Comment


          • #6
            The Thinkpad X201 supposedly works quite nicely with Linux. And if you're a german student you can even get it without Windows preinstalled. Here's a german blog-entry which describes what works and what doesn't. According to that only the Sleep-button doesn't work out-of-the-box (but emmits a key-event, so it should be possible to make it work) and the Wireless Hotkey only works for turning off.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks again for all your replies.

              @bbone: I will definitly check this out next time I buy me a notebook. This might fix some of this issues. I'll test that. Thanks!

              @Zhick: The X201 (especially X201s) is amazing!! That might be my next subnotebook. And the best thing: I'm actually a german student :-)
              Can you give me a hint where I can purchase the X201(s) without Windows preinstalled? That would be nice. Thanks!

              Comment


              • #8
                (Sorry for double posting ... but I haven't found an edit button)

                To the X201: I already found the "education" version. 999? which is pretty good (but why does Lenovo provide 1280x800 in a 12" display? - some netbooks can do better!)

                Notebookreview.com has a review of the X201 line - they say in their specificiations that the X201s was cheaper than the X201.

                How is that possible? In Germany X201s costs at minium around ~1800? to 2200?.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by phxx View Post
                  (Sorry for double posting ... but I haven't found an edit button)
                  Editing is only possible within one minute of posting. That supposedly somehow is necessary to fight spam.
                  Originally posted by phxx View Post
                  To the X201: I already found the "education" version. 999? which is pretty good (but why does Lenovo provide 1280x800 in a 12" display? - some netbooks can do better!)
                  Yeah, the (relatively) low resolution and the lack of a digital video-output (it's only got VGA) are also my two biggest complaints with the X201. Still I think I'm going to get one (I'll soon be a german student as well ). A 13-inch modell would be even better imho, but unfortunately Lenovo apparently has no plans to update their X300/X301-series to the new Intel Core CPUs.

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