Is Ubuntu good for laptops?

[ipatec]

I just switched to Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) and I ask you if this OS is good for laptops? I solved all my software related problems but the battery on Ubuntu keeps fewer than on Windows XP or Vista. Also it warms more than Windows and the last problem is that I heard about a bug which kills the HDD.
What's your opinion about this?
PS: I have an Dell Inspiron 6400
PPS: Sorry for my bad english!
Thanks!

[rubicon]

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...dy_power&num=1

[ipatec]

Thanks, other opinions? I want to switch 100% to Ubuntu and I want to be sure that this is a good OS for my laptop..

[Giradman]

I just switched to Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) and I ask you if this OS is good for laptops?...........

Well, I'm running Ubuntu 7.10 on an old IBM laptop (512 MB; upgraded from 256 MB - which helped w/ speed) without a problem - works fine; on laptops w/ lesser resources, such as RAM, other Linux distros could be used.

Not sure about 'battery life' for myself - did not do any comparison (plus, the laptop is 4+ yrs old and could use a new battery) - one link has already been given; might also want to check out this previous Ubuntu Thread.

[robalcorn]

I am running ubuntu 7.10 gutsy on a acer 5102 and everything works perfectly including wireless.Except the built in webcam. As far as battery life I would say its better as my wife has the same laptop running xp and she gets less life than I do.Plan to upgrade it to Hardy tonight!!!

[cmnorton]

I am running 7.10 on a Thinkpad T61 and an Acer Travelmate 630. I have found that Ubuntu installs well on ordinary non-laptop hardware. Installing on the Acer was not too bad, but installing on the Thinkpad took upwards of two weeks to fix sound and a few other things, but eventually I got instructions that allowed me to fix the outstanding problems. These were primarily sound and graphics.

My Acer won't run well without the restricted drivers running; the Thinkpad runs well without them.

I would stick with 7.10 for now if you can get it, or delay installing 8.04 until a few more fixes get ironed out. That worry is not anchored in fact as much as experience.

If your laptop is older, you might do well to check out this link:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...el+hot+patches

[BorisDBlade]

Hi.

I've been playing around with ubuntu since Feisty Fawn on my Toshiba Satellite laptop. Sound never worked right out of the box with any ubuntu I installed. I always ended up going back to XP for what I needed.

I know that in Gutsy Gibbon Toshiba laptops had horrendous problems with getting sound to work. I'm using the new Ubuntu that was just released, Hardy Heron, and I was suprised when the startup sound played! It actually startled me. So I would say that there is a good chance that your laptop will work. And you can always use the live CD feature before you do a full install to make sure that your hardware works like it should.

I'm now a full convert for this laptop to Linux, hope you join in the conquest!

[Sealbhach]

Thanks, other opinions? I want to switch 100% to Ubuntu and I want to be sure that this is a good OS for my laptop..

Why don't you try a dual boot setup for a while? I can choose between running Vista or Hardy Heron when I start my machine. Makes it all a little less scary.

If you want PC games, you might have to keep Windows.

Anyway, I find my laptop runs much quieter and cooler under Ubuntu - none of the huffing and puffing I have running Windows.

I recently installed Hardy Heron and there are two main problems:

1. struggling to get my wireless USB modem working (because of my lack of knowledge)

2. PC speakers don't work - the inbuilt laptop speaker does work.

I'd recommend you try the dual-boot facility until you're sure of what you want.


.

[upthelum]

I have Feisty on my Dell Latitude D620 running fine, wireless works (a few issues at first getting it to work) but there are no Dell drivers for Linux and that laptop model. Compiz works well with Intel graphics and cpu, media players a bit glitchy but i can live with it for the moment, once i look for a fix i'm sure the forums will answer any questions.
Pretty pleased with how well Ubuntu is going so far. I have Hardy setup in vmware and when i'm happy with it i'll upgrade to it on Latitude as well. I'm on desktop at the moment or would have put up a screenshot.

[shearn89]

I've run Ubuntu on an old Sony Vaio (pcg-fx201, if you care), and just recently on a new acer aspire 5520. The sony needed a RAM upgrade to run Ubuntu, if you have less than 512mb i'd recommend Xubuntu - slightly different, and will run quicker.
On my new Acer, it (nearly) just worked - i had some issues with the graphics, had to download and install the nvidia restricted drivers, but only because i couldn't find the menu option. "Restricted Drivers" menu option is now "hardware drivers", just for reference.
I also couldn't get my wireless working until i read a system error message telling me to download a specific firmware version - that was tricky, but then wireless in linux is nearly always tricky. There were lots of threads on here about it though, so no biggie.
However, now my wireless is installed properly, it is really good - i don't even have to put a password in on login, like i did with previous versions. Its quick to boot up, sound all works, suspend/resume works, all the buttons work (including obscure ones like disable touchpad), the volume wheel works, the sd card reader works. I'd say its pretty good!

As for battery life, i haven't noticed a huge difference - the screen wasn't dimming properly in battery mode, but a quick look on the forums here told me what to do.

PM me if you have any other questions (or post here).

EDIT: looking at posts above - dual boot is a good idea: i keep windows for ipod and gaming, and do most others in linux. Also compiz worked fine with the nvidia drivers installed.