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    #1

    New laptop choices.

    It's getting time to get a new laptop and I want to run kubuntu on it. A quick scan of the laptop posts here show that there have been some problems with some laptops.

    So....

    Are there any "currently still sold" laptops that are known to work well?

    Are there any video/sound/wireless chips top stay away from?

    Are there any laptops to avoid at any costs?


    Any advice is appreciated.

    Thanks in advance,

    wmrobins
    Tags: None
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    #2
    Re: New laptop choices.

    Dell sells some PCs and notebooks with Ubuntu pre-installed, so they are mostly certified hardware. =)
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      #3
      Re: New laptop choices.

      I'm running the Dell Latitude D820. It came with XP installed, so i did a full wipe and installed Fiesty with no problems at all.
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        #4
        Re: New laptop choices.

        I did look at the Dell laptops with Ubuntu. But I really need to do a dual boot with Vista. I've been the "go to guy" for PC problems for about 30 years now, and if I don't get some Vista experience soon I'll be in trouble.


        Mike,

        How's the battery life and heat on the Dell 820? I like to sit with my Laptop on my, um, laptop at night and work while I watch TV.
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          #5
          Re: New laptop choices.

          When it comes to batteries you could order the latest at Dell. I asked for the battery life and I got one that working at the highest capacity can give me from 4:30 hours to 5, and that is with no power saving scripts.
          You can get me Using Threema: B6WSCFVY
          Mastodon: @pookito@latinos.social
          Jabber: pookito@neko.im
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            #6
            Re: New laptop choices.

            Battery last me from 4 to 5 hours depending on what i'm doing. The unit is quite thin and it does produce a good amount of heat on the bottom/back/left corner, which is where the fan exhaust is located, but I use it on my lap every night quite comfortably.
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              #7
              Re: New laptop choices.

              I did look at the Dell laptops with Ubuntu. But I really need to do a dual boot with Vista. I've been the "go to guy" for PC problems for about 30 years now, and if I don't get some Vista experience soon I'll be in trouble.
              Well if you really need shista then why not get the same laptop that has ubuntu preinstalled but with shista preinstalled and the just install Kubuntu in dual boot?

              Or better yet, get a ubuntu dell with lots of ram put shista as a vmware guest in and blow your friends away with compiz-fusion/beryl. Sorry couldn't resist

              This may be of help:
              https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam

              http://tuxmobil.org/distribution_lin...op_ubuntu.html
              HP Pavilion dv6 core i7 (Main)
              4 GB Ram
              Kubuntu 18.10
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                #8
                Re: New laptop choices.

                You idea looks good Fintan 
                People complain so much about installing Ubuntu when Windoze is already there. Now let's see what is difficult, get Ubuntu pre-installed and then try to install the malware.
                Oh!!!! It may not be possible!!! Windows partitioner doesn't see ext3 partitions, so if the HD has only the swap and ext3, but no space left unpartitioned, you won't install it!! Besides, it can't resize anything, for that, you will need, errrrrr, the livecd to resize stuff and leave some free space to install the malware!! ROFL
                Now, who is bad? =)
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                  #9
                  Re: New laptop choices.

                  When installing a windows/linux dual boot, windows gets really nasty (worse than normal) if it's not the first OS installed. Only install the linux first if you're only going to limit windows to VMware or the like!

                  I've been fighting to get my family to not pigeon hole me as the computer tech support, and I'm finally managing to get free of the obligation now that I've only had limited and infrequent access to windows for three years. The only time I've touched a windows machine in that time was if it was someone else's, and I'm happy to keep it that way. You might consider breaking out of the windows support shackles too, wmrobins.
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                    #10
                    Re: New laptop choices.

                    Oh, I'll definably be doing a dual boot. I'd just like advice on what laptops out there are completely Kubuntu compatible and which ones aren't.

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                      #11
                      Re: New laptop choices.

                      Originally posted by wmrobins
                      ...completely Kubuntu compatible...
                      That is, I think, the holy grail of desires for Linux users. Unfortunately, I don't think one (that has a M$ OS pre-installed) exists.

                      Your probable best course of action is to go online to the manufactures web sites for the models you are thinking about, and review the specs: video graphics chip set; audio chip set; ethernet and wireless connections; BIOS manufacture and version; etc. With this information at hand, you can then start to determine how well the laptop will integrate with *ubuntu "out of the box" and potentially, how much tweaking you are going to have to do, by searching the Forum for 'like items.'
                      Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                      Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                      "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                        #12
                        Re: New laptop choices.

                        I just went through all that in April. I bought a Toshiba Satellite A135-S4467--guess what they don't make it any longer; then it got hit by lighting and I started looking again. My machine was repaired (new motherboard, CPU, & memory) through my service contract with Circuit City - took six weeks.

                        I looked all over again. I took a Kubuntu live CD to Circuit City and started putting in different models. I discovered that all models with an AMD CPU and ATI video chip did NOT work. The ones with an Intel 64 bit CPU (T5200 through 5500), Intel 965GM Chipset, and either an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 or x3100 worked out of the box. This was the specs of my old Toshiba.

                        I also learned that laptops are only made for a few months and many models specific resellers, e.g. Circuit City, Office Depot, etc. Don't waist you time looking for a model you found at Best Buy at Circuit City - you won't find it.

                        I had Kubuntu up and running in less than two hours including pruning my Windoz Vista partition down to 20 GB from 160 GB. It took longer to reinstall my home partition and its 129,000 files (from an external hard disk backup) than it did to install Kubuntu.

                        Jon Piper
                        Systems Analyst
                        JonPiper@cox.net
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