Need advice Linux laptops

[hdas]

Hmm, I do have the standard dell wireless 1390 on my vostro (bcm4311 - 14e4:4311), and it works nice for me with b43. Even at airports . Ndiswrapper works great too and it was way more than just life-saver till kernel 2.6.22.

[Kano]

If you buy that thing, choose the 1490 WLAN, that can work with native Linux drivers. 1390 (default) currently needs ndiswrapper.

[niniendowarrior]

I was close to gettin the Vostro, but those things are damn expensive here. I will say, it does look like a great laptop.

[hdas]

I have said this earlier in this thread, but even at this time, one just cannot beat the dell vostro 1400. Its small and compact and light enough to be portable. Although 14", its form factor is similar to 13.3". Has Nvidia 8400m gs graphics and Intel core2duo. 2 gb of ram and 160gb hard drive. Add an 85Whr battery and even with discrete graphics it lasts a whopping 6+ hrs in linux (they claim 7hrs). Everything works in Linux - even the inbuilt webcam and microphone and bluetooth (and even the modem if anyone cares ). The wireless, though broadcom, is now well supported by b43 driver (and ndiswrapper if need be), and might be swappable with a ipw4965agn. All this within 800 usd (850 with ipw4965) is a dream deal. I must say, I have been very happy ever since I bought it late last year. Both for work and play. Everything works as it should in Linux .

[jeffro-tull]

I'd rather have that little bit extra in 3D, which is why I'm specifically after nVidia boards.

Keep the suggestions coming, because I'm going to have to buy one fairly soon.

About Thinkpads, at first I was thinking of getting R61, until I found out it was a pain to install Linux. Dang Lenovo!

For what it's worth, I've got a Lenovo Thinkpad T60 model 2007, and one of my close friends has a Thinkpad R61.

The only issue we've both had is with the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 ABG chipset. I say "issue" and not "problem" because, depending on your familiarity with the tools at hand, it's easy to fix: in our collective experience, the ipw3945 driver is trash. Most distros ship with (or can easily attain) the microcode needed for the iwlwifi driver. I know Suse 10.3 and newer ship with both and its easy to switch between the two, though it seems best to just plain get rid of ipw* to make sure it doesn't much things up.

Other than that, mine has an ATI X1300 chipset, which should speak for itself. My buddy was smart enough to go Intel.

[deanjo]

I'm looking for a laptop that's compatible with Linux (again). I was hoping to obtain a few suggestions/opinions/ideas.

I'm debating about:
1) 13.3 v.s. 14.1 screen
2) Intel graphics v.s. Nvidia dedicated graphics (probably 8400M)
3) which brand and configuration

I suspect if I go for Intel Core 2 Duo cpu, Intel wireless and the graphics is a matter of preference (but, Intel graphics is easier to configure, I should be okay? Using Ubuntu?

For brands, I'm considering Dell, Lenovo Thinkpad T61, Asus and possibly, HP. I need to buy from a store (it's okay if I can order online but needs to be from a store) and budget is under 2K.

Is it better to get 2GB of RAM, best/fastest cpu I can afford, Intel wireless and either GPU card?

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB133LL/A?mco=NzUyMzc2

[niniendowarrior]

By going to the intel graphics route, you open up a couple of laptop options for you. Generally they should be good, unless you want graphics intensive stuff but are easy on the budget. You'll find a lot of options. I don't have a list ready though but you can scour this thread because a number of models were thrown in for discussion.

The one real weak point I have figured in my laptop here is wifi operability is dodgy. It's luck-based when I am able to detect my own hot spot and I extremely hate that. Sometimes when I reboot, it cannot find it anymore and sometimes it will. At times, I'll boot to Vista to connect to the wifi and it works out great.

My DVD rom drive also on Acer Aspire 5920g seems to be acting up too as I cannot seem to burn stuff. Other than that, I love my laptop.

[Panix]

I'm looking for a laptop that's compatible with Linux (again). I was hoping to obtain a few suggestions/opinions/ideas.

I'm debating about:
1) 13.3 v.s. 14.1 screen
2) Intel graphics v.s. Nvidia dedicated graphics (probably 8400M)
3) which brand and configuration

I suspect if I go for Intel Core 2 Duo cpu, Intel wireless and the graphics is a matter of preference (but, Intel graphics is easier to configure, I should be okay? Using Ubuntu?

For brands, I'm considering Dell, Lenovo Thinkpad T61, Asus and possibly, HP. I need to buy from a store (it's okay if I can order online but needs to be from a store) and budget is under 2K.

Is it better to get 2GB of RAM, best/fastest cpu I can afford, Intel wireless and either GPU card?

[niniendowarrior]

Kano made a good suggestion. If you don't want to do that, it'll show up in sane as device in the "scanners" list if Linux supports it (Not that you can USE it as a scanner via XSane...) and you can use Ekiga to check cam function.

Well, Skype can use it so as of now that'll do. Would have been neat to be able to take pictures using it, but seems like support is scarce. I need a camera app that works with v4l2, and so far, the apps I tried that were supposedly support v4l2 haven't been successful in using it.

[Svartalf]

I prefer using a manual configuration but I'm having lots of problems figuring it out.

If you want to use a WiFi GUI, try Wicd. It seems to be the fav for Linux. I would stay clear of Network Manager. Wicd is probably in the repositories by now. I've been told it's easy to install and one can even download it via Windows and then install it in Linux.

Why would you suggest to stay away from Network Manager?