Kubuntu on laptop

[d.O.LF]

Hi,

I want to install Kubuntu to a Packard Bell laptop with a HDD of (in theory) 20GB. I want to make it a dual boot system with its current Win XP home. The Parckard Bell has an AMD XP 2000+ M processor with 256MB RAM (just some info...).

Packard Bell has made two partitions, a 16.6GB(NTFS) C: and a 2GB(FAT32) backup partition invisible in Windows so I won't mess with it. Meaning I have 16.6 GB for my Windows an linux which is now completely NTFS. My question is would I run partition magic first to make (+/-6GB?) space free for Kubuntu and then just install from te dvd or is it possible to arrange this at installation?

Another question is whether Kubuntu will have good hardware support with a laptop (will it be able to read battery levels, shut off when the screen is closed...). Are there Kubuntu versions specially adapted for laptops or isn't this necessary?
Meaning the best to download is the 6.10?

I think there's sometimes a little too much information on the web cause I have found A LOT but not the answers to my questions. Your help will be very much appreciated.

Thank you,
dolf

[sky]

Re: Kubuntu on laptop

Hi,

For the installation, If I were you, I would first make place on the disk with PM and then install kubuntu on the free space made.
For the install, you can use 6.10 and in one month upgrade to 7.04 when it will be stable, it's really a nice system and run smoothly on my laptop.
Finally, if you want to find out if your laptop will be well recognized, the best solution is to try out the livecd (from which you can also install the system) or check in databases like :
http://www.linux-laptop.net/
Or on the kubuntu wiki

Hope it helps

[d.O.LF]

Re: Kubuntu on laptop

Maybe xubuntu is a better option because it's requirements are lower?
I'll just try both kubuntu and xubuntu live cds and see how good the hardware support is, or isnt this a good idea?

greetz
dolf

[sky]

Re: Kubuntu on laptop

You're right 256Mb of memory is quite low for kde, and xfce is nice also to use

Cheers

[d.O.LF]

Re: Kubuntu on laptop

k, thx

The laptop is an easynote so it should work, thx for the link.
I'm trying the live cd right now at my desktop and I must say i like this Kubuntu much more than the 5.10 Ubuntu I have installed at my pc. The X/Kubuntu would come on my girlfriends laptop which I'll get in my hands on monday. I'll let you know...

The Xubuntu isn't downloaded yet....

Oh, I have read that those new installations use QTParted which configures GRUB/Kile hope this works a lot better than my Ubuntu where I had to manually adjust the GRUB file

[the tree]

Re: Kubuntu on laptop

shut off when the screen is closed

With my laptop, if I close and open it quick enough. I get to see a message saying "laptop lid closed, blanking screen now" and it makes me laugh every time.