Best laptop distribution?

[mikazo]

Hi all,

I am definitely going to continue using Ubuntu on my desktop computer, but in my experience with running Ubuntu on my laptop, I have had wireless issues, overheating problems, and significant battery life reduction, compared to both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Does anyone have any Linux distributions specifically geared to a mobile platform? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[spencercarran]

Wireless has traditionally been an issue for Linux in general, because of proprietary drivers for the wireless chipsets. I've also found my laptop to run hotter than it did in OSX, but not too horrible. That said, if someone is able to recommend a distro that doesn't heat the laptop up as much, I'll definitely give it a try,

[L815]

OpenSUSE dropped the temp so much for my laptop. On par with Vista.

I think it's because it uses a newer kernel than ubuntu.

[dietkinnie]

OpenSUSE did drop my laptops temp abit.

But i hate the windows feel it has.

[enlightenment now]

Hi all,

I am definitely going to continue using Ubuntu on my desktop computer, but in my experience with running Ubuntu on my laptop, I have had wireless issues, overheating problems, and significant battery life reduction, compared to both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Does anyone have any Linux distributions specifically geared to a mobile platform? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

OzOS (http://cafelinux.org/OzOs/)(based on Xubuntu but uses an e17 WM) is awesome for this, the developers appear to have fine tuned the OS for laptops, netbooks and minis (http://cafelinux.org/forum/index.php/topic,1717.0.html).

They have also published a fine How-To on an OzOS installation using USB sticks (http://cafelinux.org/forum/index.php/topic,1701.0.html).

Also if you want to stay with Gnome, the developers have made an Oz-Gnome-Desktop meta-package (http://cafelinux.org/forum/index.php/topic,1578.0.html).

[mikazo]

Thanks for all the suggestions... I think I'll give OpenSUSE and OzOS a try in VirtualBox and see which one I like best. I may or may not report back on findings, depending how lazy I am.

[L815]

In the end on my part OpenSUSE felt a bit too weird for me, although the polish is excellent. Fonts are still not great though comparing to ubuntu or arch.

Arch kept my laptop warm as well, so now I know for a FACT the newest kernel is the reason for laptop temps dropping, also because Ubuntu alpha 3 is the same in dropping temp.

[tommcd]

Perhaps have a look at Slackware or Zenwalk, which is based on Slackware. Zenwalk has laptop kernel modules to enable cpu freq scaling to extend battery life. Also Zenwalk is pretty lean to begin with.

[spencercarran]

Arch kept my laptop warm as well, so now I know for a FACT the newest kernel is the reason for laptop temps dropping, also because Ubuntu alpha 3 is the same in dropping temp.
Odd, I would have thought Arch would have the newer kernel. Don't they normally try to be pretty bleeding edge? But if Intrepid is going to have the newer kernel, then I just have to hold out until October, which shouldn't be too bad.

[mips]

OpenSUSE dropped the temp so much for my laptop. On par with Vista.

I think it's because it uses a newer kernel than ubuntu.

Could you please specify which kernel version you are referring too. Just sating a newer kernel does not clear up any of the confusion.

At least then we can draw some comparisons ;)

[CCBalla10]

openSUSE 11 hands down....works flawlessly on my laptop :) which i'm typing from right now :)

[Vadi]

Ubuntu works great on my laptop.

[67GTA]

Opensuse 11 on my laptop, but mileage may vary. It seems to run quieter/cooler than the other distros I've tried on it. If you use KDE, you will probably want to get the DVD and install 3.5.9 instead of KDE4.

[imagecko]

I use openSUSE 11.0 with KDE4.1
Its working better then any other distro I have ever had installed on my Acer laptop.

[Arthur Archnix]

I think the question is wrong. Some distro's do worse than others. Some are easier than others. But really, the question should be "Best linux laptop?"

Your issues are all hardware related, and that's kernel stuff, and there's just one kernel, though distro's modify it to varying degrees before shipping it with their distro.

So in that regard, get a laptop that's been out for a year, and has intel components. If you need a graphics card, get ATI.

Also, buy from a company that supports linux. IBM, HP, Dell, System 76. Just off the top of my head.

[mikazo]

I thought Nvidia had the best Linux driver support?

I suppose I should have considered the fact that I would be running Linux on my laptop when I bought it. The only thing with buying a laptop is though, I prefer to buy the newest hardware possible, or as close to newest as possible. Laptops aren't nearly as upgradeable as desktops, so I usually try to make them last by getting the newest hardware.

[cespinal]

ubuntu is doing quite good on my laptop

temperature keeps the same as it was when running vista
battery life actually improved

Im so loving ubuntu at this moment I wounld like to try suse...

[magikx21]

I've got three laptops running Linux.

Dell Inspiron 1000 running LinuxMint 4 KDE, works great most PCMCIA wireless cards work.

Dell Latitude D520 running Debian Etch, this one was the best out of box experience. I installed Debian and wireless and everythings was working right away.

HP dv6809wm running Kubuntu 8.04.1 x64, everything runs quite well except I had to jump a few hurdles to get wireless working and each time the kernel updates I have to run a few commands to fix the wireless but I can live with that.

I have also had good luck with Mandriva in the past. I had Mandrake 10 on the Insprion for awhile and Mandriva 2008 on the Latitude but I like the Debian based systems alot more.

[motang]

In the end on my part OpenSUSE felt a bit too weird for me, although the polish is excellent. Fonts are still not great though comparing to ubuntu or arch.

Arch kept my laptop warm as well, so now I know for a FACT the newest kernel is the reason for laptop temps dropping, also because Ubuntu alpha 3 is the same in dropping temp.

Wow that is good to know, going to try out Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 3 and see if I get better battery life. Thanks.

As of right now I don't really see too much difference in the temperature wise. Everything on my laptop works so I wouldn't trade Ubuntu of anything not even Windows XP. Sleep works, hibernate works, all the media and special function keys work, I am really digging 8.04.1 and looking forward to what 8.10 will bring to the plate. :-D

[mikazo]

Sleep works, hibernate works, all the media and special function keys work, I am really digging 8.04.1 and looking forward to what 8.10 will bring to the plate. :-D

Yeah, I do agree with that much. I was surprised and pleased to see that when I installed Ubuntu on my laptop that all the specialty keys and such worked.

[jbrown96]

I thought Nvidia had the best Linux driver support?

I think that ATI and Nvidia are on par now. Check out this article (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_evolution&num=1) The main benefit of using ATI is that they have a configurable power saving feature that the user can turn on. This would seem to be a very important feature on a laptop.

[spencercarran]

I think the question is wrong. Some distro's do worse than others. Some are easier than others. But really, the question should be "Best linux laptop?"

Your issues are all hardware related, and that's kernel stuff, and there's just one kernel, though distro's modify it to varying degrees before shipping it with their distro.
Hardware support is one thing to consider, but only if you're looking into a new laptop. People who bought a computer and then later decided to switch to Linux need to find ways to get it to work with their hardware.


Also, not all distros use the same kernel- OpenSUSE uses 2.6.25.5, Ubuntu Hardy uses 2.6.24, and Debian uses 2.6.18. The newer kernel might be part of why OpenSUSE seems to run cooler on several people's laptops. Yes, they're all Linux, but not all the same Linux.

[mips]

In the end on my part OpenSUSE felt a bit too weird for me, although the polish is excellent. Fonts are still not great though comparing to ubuntu or arch.

Arch kept my laptop warm as well, so now I know for a FACT the newest kernel is the reason for laptop temps dropping, also because Ubuntu alpha 3 is the same in dropping temp.


Also, not all distros use the same kernel- OpenSUSE uses 2.6.25.5, Ubuntu Hardy uses 2.6.24, and Debian uses 2.6.18. The newer kernel might be part of why OpenSUSE seems to run cooler on several people's laptops. Yes, they're all Linux, but not all the same Linux.

Now this does not make any sense, Arch uses 2.6.25.11-1 so how does it have anything to do with the newness of the kernel seeing there were issues with arch?

[Arthur Archnix]

Now this does not make any sense, Arch uses 2.6.25.11-1 so how does it have anything to do with the newness of the kernel seeing there were issues with arch?

There is one Linux kernel. You can go get the latest version from kernel.org if you like. Linus is in charge. He invented it and called it Linux. There is also one linux distribution called Ubuntu, and Opensuse, and Arch, etc. Generally speaking it is always best to get the latest versions of these distros because the newer versions will have newer kernel versions.

Since hardware is all handled by the kernel, generally speaking, the latest versions of the kernel will have the best support for your hardware. Not always, but generally. Some things to keep in mind are that sometimes the kernel itself will regress in certain ways on certain hardware, and that when each distro takes a version of the kernel they modify it in various ways to fit into their distribution.

So, you might have Opensuse, Fedora and Ubuntu all using a 2.6.22 kernel, and yet find that one works better than another on your hardware. Or that arch works better than all three with an older 2.6.13 kernel. Which is why I say the distribution doesn't really matter.

[pelle.k]

Yeah. I remeber when i bought a core2 mobo last year, things were really broken until at least kernel 2.6.20. Arch was the first distro to work *well* back for me then.
Also, with my new lappy i got a couple of months back this has really been an issue. 2.6.18; forget it, 2.6.20; it works but i can't really suspend or anything, 2.6.22; sound begins to work on most distros, 2.6.24; works pretty good, 2.6.25; now we're talking.
Still, some distros work better than others depending on what patches they use, and what xorg + alsa + gnome power manager they use etc as well.

BTW, i find mandriva to work well on exotic hardware, and arch on new hardware. If you can't stand arch do-it-yourself, there's always fedora/foresight. Still, the best thing is to actually *try* some distros, because there are nothing like "the best" distro for laptops really.

[sw1995]

I've been running Linux Mint on my laptop (just a bottom-of-the-barrel Dell Inspiron) and it is by the far the distribution I have stuck with the longest. There was a part of me that felt using Mint ran counter to my allegiance with Ubuntu so I was always hesitant, but I tried it on a whim and haven't looked back since. Why do I like it better than straight-up Ubuntu? Couldn't tell you but everything is running beautifully and this is the first distro that has made me think, "if it's not broke, don't fix it". I'll be back for Intrepid Ibex however (maybe?!)

[enlightenment now]

Thanks for all the suggestions... I think I'll give OpenSUSE and OzOS a try in VirtualBox and see which one I like best. I may or may not report back on findings, depending how lazy I am.

Just curious about how things went with OpenSUSE and OzOS?

[L815]

Now this does not make any sense, Arch uses 2.6.25.11-1 so how does it have anything to do with the newness of the kernel seeing there were issues with arch?

I think it was a typo when I wrote it. Basically, any kernel from 2.6.25 and up keep my laptop cooler than Ubuntu Hardy which is using 2.6.24.