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linuxape
October 9th, 2009, 03:13 AM
Hi I have been an avid Ubuntu user for the last two years and frankly my best computing experience has been after I migrated to Ubuntu from XP and never looked back. Recently, my research institution has granted me a substantial ~$3500 sum to buy/upgrade my computer. So I was pondering a lot about what to get.

Currently I am using a IBM T43p 1.86GHz w/2GB RAM and two 250GB HDDs and a 9-cell battery. This set up has been serving me fine since mid 2005. Recently I suspect something came tad loose in the motherboard and I sometimes have to twist or press here and there to get rid of occasional freeze ups. This is getting annoying enough.

Anyways I am again in the market for a new machine and am looking for something that will serve me well for good 4-5yrs (just like this current machine did). I considered Dell E6400 w/ Nvidia graphics and the Lenovo T400 w/ATI graphics (I already have ATI on my current machine and it is not the best option for Ubuntu). Both seem to have good specs and both can be configured to 8GB RAM (since I use really resource intensive legacy windows applications for my research on VitrualBox). So I plan to install 64bit Ubuntu distro. But reading the various forums here and elsewhere I see none of these machines work perfectly with Ubuntu (unlike my current setup where everything is supported...hotkeys, function keys all ports except finger print reader which in my opninon is pretty lame thing anyways).

The other option would be to get a decked out 15" macbook pro w/8GB RAM, discrete 512MB NVidia graphics card running the current 64bit OS 10.6. That way I don't have to worry about any hardware not being properly supported, yet get a near Ubuntu like experience and peace of mind. Even I visited a mac store nearby to take a peek at the current machines. But I feel that by buying a macbook I will be selling my soul to the devil.

I really want to buy a non-apple machine with at least 2.3GHz dual core processor, 8GB RAM, discrete graphics (ideally Nvidia card), at least 500GB HDD, approx 4hrs battery life, and not weighing more than 4.5lbs. Apart from the Lenovo T400 and Dell E6400 can anyone recommend anything that is fully Ubuntu compatible. As mentioned before money is not a issue here.

I am feeling guilty that I am considering a macbook.

ibbers
October 9th, 2009, 03:16 AM
I can understand the shiny factor, but that's all you get for the extra price in a Mac.

Better off to put the money into hardware, then the shiny/glossy Mac factor.

starcannon
October 9th, 2009, 03:27 AM
The other option would be to get a decked out 15" macbook pro w/8GB RAM, discrete 512MB NVidia graphics card running the current 64bit OS 10.6. That way I don't have to worry about any hardware not being properly supported, yet get a near Ubuntu like experience and peace of mind. Even I visited a mac store nearby to take a peek at the current machines. But I feel that by buying a macbook I will be selling my soul to the devil.

I am feeling guilty that I am considering a macbook.

The Macbook Pro is an Excellent choice. You can triple boot it. OSX, Linux, and Windows, without having to hack or crack, if I had the opportunity I'd do it.

SomeGuyDude
October 9th, 2009, 03:38 AM
In terms of hardware power, Macs are FAR from ideal. If you want a real powerhouse for $3500, it's PC all the way.

Note: I've managed to put Linux on three HP laptops without so much as a hiccup.

starcannon
October 9th, 2009, 03:40 AM
In terms of hardware power, Macs are FAR from ideal. If you want a real powerhouse for $3500, it's PC all the way.

Note: I've managed to put Linux on three HP laptops without so much as a hiccup.
Yeah HP is easy, but watch the gpu's, they have some cheesey blue foam that they try to use for a thermal compound, I had a very nice $1500.00 hp laptop burn its gpu out because of it.

Regenweald
October 9th, 2009, 03:41 AM
3500 ? wait for an i5/i7 laptop.

Islington
October 9th, 2009, 03:48 AM
Go with a nice Thinkpad. Don't worry about it for the next 25 years or so.

sideaway
October 9th, 2009, 03:50 AM
thinkpad w700

schauerlich
October 9th, 2009, 03:55 AM
If you do go for the macbook, don't waste your money on buying Apple's RAM. Get the lowest amount, buy the right kind of RAM off of Newegg, and install it yourself. Look here (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1270) to find what kind of RAM to buy, and how to install it in whatever model you buy.

starcannon
October 9th, 2009, 03:59 AM
Woe to You Oh Earth and Sea
for Steve Jobs sends the Mac Book with OSX
because he knows the need is now
Let him who hath understanding
multiboot the hardware of the Mac Book
for it is a multi-booter
its operating systems are OSX, Linux, and Windows7.

dyous87
October 9th, 2009, 04:01 AM
Dell recently released its new line os studio xps 16 i7 based laptops!

Definitely go with one of these:

http://www1.ap.dell.com/au/en/home/notebooks/laptop-studio-xps-16/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-xps-16&cs=audhs1&s=dhs

David

linuxape
October 9th, 2009, 04:06 AM
Maybe I ought to research more on the System76 gazelle Ultra, they seem to have very good specs....if battery and build quality pans out then great.

I absolutely love thinkpads but I keep reading there are issue with Ubuntu and the newer t400 models. Sometimes I wonder why Canonical doesn't make it's own machines. I am sure there will be plenty of takers. One reason macbooks work smoothly because they only focus on the relatively small number of hardwares that apple uses and make sure the OS is 110% compatible with every single bit of it. For Linux we have to solve the impossible of making every single person with millions of hardware permutation/combinations a happy user.


@ sideaway...
W700 looks great but weighing at least 8.4lbs I will have to write a separate grant to have someone carry that for me; I am sure the institute will understand.

tubezninja
October 9th, 2009, 04:12 AM
I am feeling guilty that I am considering a macbook.

If you honestly think that buying a laptop with a picture of a piece of fruit on it - or a picture of anything else for that matter - is "selling your soul to the devil" or a reason to feel guilty, then I seriously think you need to re-evaluate your motives.

You buy hardware because it suits you. It's a collection of metal, glass, some silicon and plastics. It doesn't have a soul and won't steal yours. So, just relax.

If you want to buy a macbook, buy a macbook. If not, buy something else. There is no need to overdramatize things.

madjr
October 9th, 2009, 04:16 AM
Get a Dell latitude Z with latitude-on:)

http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/latit/laptop-latitude-z-thumb3.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id4WTJkg_Ag&feature=youtube_gdata


http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/dell-laptop-tries-to-impress-impression-makers/

way better than a macbook IMHO

linuxape
October 9th, 2009, 04:20 AM
@ sacredpoet
Actually it is not overdramatization....Working in Linux/Ubtuntu is an liberating experience (at least to me) but going back to Apple or M$ will in some philosophical way undo that.

But I kind of like your take on this subject.... reducing it to metal, glass, silicon and plastics and maybe software to a mere string of alphabets placed in a certain sequence.

tubezninja
October 9th, 2009, 04:24 AM
@ sacredpoet
Actually it is not overdramatization....Working in Linux/Ubtuntu is an liberating experience (at least to me) but going back to Apple or M$ will in some philosophical way undo that.

No entity I know of goes by the name of "M$," but whatever that is, I think you and I will have to respectfully agree to disagree on whether it and Apple can be called "The Devil" and whether you're selling your soul to either by merely buying a product.

But again, if that's truly what you believe, then you've already answered your own question. Why agonize?

Dimitriid
October 9th, 2009, 04:27 AM
I was considering an xbox 360 or a PS3 for a while because I felt guilty of going back to windows full time. I finally decided to go back to basics and put together a PC gaming rig instead. Nowadays I run vista 90% of the time and I couldn't be happier.

Get a mac if you can afford the luxury and their aesthetic is something you like.

Crunchy the Headcrab
October 9th, 2009, 04:53 AM
If you weren't a Linux user, I would suggest getting a Mac so you could experience the joy of Unix-like systems. Since you already use Linux, I don't think a Mac is worth the price. Having used both Macs and PC's, I prefer the PC because you can get better hardware for the price. If you want to spend a bunch of money JUST on the right to use the OS, then by all means get a Mac. Since you've got the money to buy an OS, I'd say get a sweet PC with Windows 7 and dual boot to Linux.

Also, if you are going to buy an expensive pc, make it a desktop and get a cheap netbook or laptop for portable use. I recently bought an expensive laptop, and I REALLY like it. However, if I had the same choice all over again, I would build my own desktop and get a netbook to use when I needed to be portable.

You could get a nice PC and a netbook for cheaper than you could get a Mac that would be comparable to the desktop PC alone.

Warpnow
October 9th, 2009, 05:30 AM
In that price range, if it isn't an i7 you're getting screwed.

oldsoundguy
October 9th, 2009, 05:35 AM
http://www.system76.com/

Worth a look-see

mamamia88
October 9th, 2009, 05:39 AM
If you weren't a Linux user, I would suggest getting a Mac so you could experience the joy of Unix-like systems. Since you already use Linux, I don't think a Mac is worth the price. Having used both Macs and PC's, I prefer the PC because you can get better hardware for the price. If you want to spend a bunch of money JUST on the right to use the OS, then by all means get a Mac. Since you've got the money to buy an OS, I'd say get a sweet PC with Windows 7 and dual boot to Linux.

Also, if you are going to buy an expensive pc, make it a desktop and get a cheap netbook or laptop for portable use. I recently bought an expensive laptop, and I REALLY like it. However, if I had the same choice all over again, I would build my own desktop and get a netbook to use when I needed to be portable.

You could get a nice PC and a netbook for cheaper than you could get a Mac that would be comparable to the desktop PC alone.


what he said but maybe not a netbook

jespdj
October 9th, 2009, 10:01 AM
Am I selling my soul to the devil?
I already did, sold my Dell laptop and bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro with OS X 10.6 and I LOVE it. It works great, it's familiar because it's a Unix-like OS just like Ubuntu, it looks great, the battery lasts three times as long as on my Dell, and the computer doesn't get as hot as my Dell.

I also have Ubuntu running on it, in a VirtualBox virtual machine.

Exodist
October 9th, 2009, 10:06 AM
3500 BUCKS.. New egg would love me..

Id build a bad arsh PC that would Einstein envious!
Then install Ubuntu!

jperez
October 9th, 2009, 11:04 AM
3500 BUCKS.. New egg would love me..

Id build a bad arsh PC that would Einstein envious!
Then install Ubuntu!

+1, but I'd go with TigerDirect. They've always taken care of me. :mrgreen:

Caution! Other results may vary! See online retailer for details. Limit one per customer.

Jesse~

koleoptero
October 9th, 2009, 11:11 AM
If I had that kind of budget I'd go for an alienware laptop. You get the power and the looks :D

EDIT: Clicky! (http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/alienware-m15x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m15x&s=dhs&cs=19)

suitedaces
October 9th, 2009, 11:18 AM
Selling? No.

Paying him a fortune to take it? Possibly....

Eisenwinter
October 9th, 2009, 11:25 AM
I am feeling guilty that I am considering a macbook.

I think that this goes beyond operating systems and computers.

Why are you feeling guilty? Only you, of course, can truly answer that.

I'd say that you're afraid of what other people will think of you, and that you're afraid that all of a sudden you'll find something that suits your needs far better than Linux.

So you feel guilty. You feel guilty considering the option that "hey, it is possible that there IS something better than Linux out there for me".

I dual boot. I have been dual booting Windows and Linux for nearly 2 years now.

I use Linux as my main system, because it gives me things that Windows can't give me in that area, such as a deeper sense of control over my system, and ultimate choice regarding the way I want my system to work.

In Windows, though, I have far better applications for music production.

I make electronic music. Linux simply can't match Windows in that area, so I use Windows.

I don't feel guilty about using Windows, nor should I have any feelings of guilt regarding this issue.

I think you should look at yourself, and find out why you feel guilty, I mean, it's just an operating system after all.

Sashin
October 9th, 2009, 11:33 AM
I didn't even read your post, but yes, yes you are selling your soul to the devil. Now stop whatever it is your doing.

pmlxuser
October 9th, 2009, 11:36 AM
it depends, "To be on Not to Be that is the question"

if you want to be my guest if you don't may be you should sell it to Jesus (he buys you for free) buy a cheaper but good machine and donate half your money to tsunam or mudslide victims..

Bachstelze
October 9th, 2009, 11:52 AM
If I had that kind of budget I'd go for an alienware laptop. You get the power and the looks :D

EDIT: Clicky! (http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/alienware-m15x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m15x&s=dhs&cs=19)

Haha. "Looks"? Looks like a toy, yeah...

koleoptero
October 9th, 2009, 12:26 PM
Haha. "Looks"? Looks like a toy, yeah...

And that's a bad thing?:confused:

Mornedhel
October 9th, 2009, 01:03 PM
Am I correct in assuming that when you say your funds come from your "research institution", you're a researcher in a lab ? If so you could get a workstation to leave in the lab, with an SSH server so you can use it from your laptop, and keep the laptop for classes and other light tasks (presentations, etc.).

With $3500 you can probably get something in the range of 8 cores and more for all your number crunching needs, with a nice big screen. Not to mention that workstations generally have fewer hardware support problems.

t0p
October 9th, 2009, 01:03 PM
Don't get a Mac.

With the budget you've been given, you can build yourself a most monstrous desktop machine. Every spec will be what you want. Every component will be Linux-compatible. Get a laptop with the change, if mobile computing is necessary.

You can get a great "Unix-like" experience by installing Linux. You will be guaranteed 100% hardware compatibility because you'll have chosen all the hardware. You could dual (or triple) boot multiple flavours of Linux. And this will be infinitely cheaper than Apple's OS.

Giving money to Apple isn't "selling your soul to the devil". Just like breaking the boycott in the 1980s and buying Cape fruit from apartheid South Africa wasn't "selling your soul to the devil". Morality is a very personal thing. Only you can decide that kind of thing. But on a practical level, I wouldn't buy a Mac. Not when all that Free/open source stuff is available. (Remember: using open source software is not a moral decision. There's a lot of practical advantages to using stuff that's not locked-in. Using Free software is a moral issue. But I'm talking practical here.)

Most importantly: Apple computers smell bad.

Tristam Green
October 9th, 2009, 01:04 PM
Haha. "Looks"? Looks like a toy, yeah...

I like your angle, Bachstelze.


@OP: Did you sign a long scroll-like document in your own blood? Then I am fairly certain that your soul is protected.

pookiebear
October 9th, 2009, 01:57 PM
$3500 bones....

1. decent desktop rig $1200 (dual boot linux, windows or linux with vbox windows)
2. Netbook $300 (linux)
3. refurb macbook pro $1100 (linux, osx, windows, freebsd)

with the leftover money get some good monitors for the desktop.


the thing that always gets me about the $2k computers is that they are not $1k faster than a $1k computer.

MasterNetra
October 9th, 2009, 05:26 PM
+1 System76, the Serval Professional customized with 8GB of ram, the fastest Intel Core 2 Duo, and a 500GB HD at 7200rpm doesn't only kick some ***, its about $100 less then that dell that was linked earlier and is more powerful then it too! (AT least in ram, though tossing the 8GB for the dell boosts its price to over 3K) When it comes to Power per buck System76 > Dell additionally with system76 it comes with Ubuntu installed already!

oldsoundguy
October 9th, 2009, 06:21 PM
Noticed several misguided suggestions for Alienware laptops.

Fine, IF you want to pay profit to 3 companies for selling and marketing the thing.

Alienware makes LAPTOP CASES and then stuffs them!
They DO NOT make laptops as far as the guts inside the case.

First off .. they are owned by Dell!
But, Clevo makes the Sager NP5670 and the Alienware Area 51-M, the Voodoo MClass M550, the Hypersonic Sonic Aviator, and they are all the same computer.
Clevo also makes the Sager NP8882 and NP8887 and the Voodoo MClass M600 and they are also the same computer. Of course, the Sager models have a much sweeter price tag!
(a LOT of money for a heavy duty case with an eyeball on it!)

Plus the Alienware is stuffed with Windows and a lot of games that have "the clock running" that you have to pay for eventually or let die.

The thing is intended for gamers that have to have the hot item at any cost and don't have the patience or the smarts to do their research!

pelle.k
October 9th, 2009, 07:50 PM
But I feel that by buying a macbook I will be selling my soul to the devil.
If using a mac pleases you, buy one. One could of course also argue that there's is nothing evil about buying a mac (O'RLY!?). And if it's evil (TM), then you could certainly do much worse, couldn't you? (killing ponies, buying britneys newest single, etc).

BrokenKingpin
October 9th, 2009, 08:55 PM
In my opinion, you would be selling you soul to the devil. I hate Apple with a passion.

That is my personally opinion thought... buy whatever you think will work best for you.

ElSlunko
October 9th, 2009, 09:02 PM
They're pretty machines, but do they allow you to do something you can't already do on Ubuntu? Perhaps you can use the opportunity to vote with your dollars and support manufacturers of Ubuntu compatible machines.

cprofitt
October 9th, 2009, 09:55 PM
Hi I have been an avid Ubuntu user for the last two years and frankly my best computing experience has been after I migrated to Ubuntu from XP and never looked back. Recently, my research institution has granted me a substantial ~$3500 sum to buy/upgrade my computer. So I was pondering a lot about what to get.

Currently I am using a IBM T43p 1.86GHz w/2GB RAM and two 250GB HDDs and a 9-cell battery. This set up has been serving me fine since mid 2005. Recently I suspect something came tad loose in the motherboard and I sometimes have to twist or press here and there to get rid of occasional freeze ups. This is getting annoying enough.

Anyways I am again in the market for a new machine and am looking for something that will serve me well for good 4-5yrs (just like this current machine did). I considered Dell E6400 w/ Nvidia graphics and the Lenovo T400 w/ATI graphics (I already have ATI on my current machine and it is not the best option for Ubuntu). Both seem to have good specs and both can be configured to 8GB RAM (since I use really resource intensive legacy windows applications for my research on VitrualBox). So I plan to install 64bit Ubuntu distro. But reading the various forums here and elsewhere I see none of these machines work perfectly with Ubuntu (unlike my current setup where everything is supported...hotkeys, function keys all ports except finger print reader which in my opninon is pretty lame thing anyways).

The other option would be to get a decked out 15" macbook pro w/8GB RAM, discrete 512MB NVidia graphics card running the current 64bit OS 10.6. That way I don't have to worry about any hardware not being properly supported, yet get a near Ubuntu like experience and peace of mind. Even I visited a mac store nearby to take a peek at the current machines. But I feel that by buying a macbook I will be selling my soul to the devil.

I really want to buy a non-apple machine with at least 2.3GHz dual core processor, 8GB RAM, discrete graphics (ideally Nvidia card), at least 500GB HDD, approx 4hrs battery life, and not weighing more than 4.5lbs. Apart from the Lenovo T400 and Dell E6400 can anyone recommend anything that is fully Ubuntu compatible. As mentioned before money is not a issue here.

I am feeling guilty that I am considering a macbook.

Simple Answer: Your soul would be the Devil's if you bought a Mac.

As an FYI -- my T500 works fine with 9.04 with the exception of having to down the wireless when I shutdown or reboot -- that is a kernel issue that is supposed to be resolved in 9.10.

shadylookin
October 9th, 2009, 10:36 PM
It's more like paying the devil a ludicrous amount for the privilege of letting him own your soul.

Apple makes a nice $800 laptop it's just a shame they charge $1700 for it:P

Shibblet
October 9th, 2009, 10:41 PM
"I think pickles, are cucumbers that sold out. They sold their soul to the devil. And the devil was dill."

- Mitch Hedberg

sloggerkhan
October 9th, 2009, 10:43 PM
With $3500 you should:
*Get a netbook
*Build a massively powerful dekstop/server for $3000 and use it remotely for your hi-power stuff.

Expensive laptops are asking for trouble. 1 failure and you're screwed.
With netbook-deskserver combo, if the notebook goes, it's only a few hundred bucks, plus you can have its automated backups on your big box, which has RAID, and if you really need computing power, you've got more than you'd have on a notebook available remotely anyway.

starcannon
October 9th, 2009, 11:00 PM
it's more like paying the devil a ludicrous amount for the privilege of letting him own your soul.

Apple makes a nice $800 laptop it's just a shame they charge $1700 for it:p
+1

sgosnell
October 9th, 2009, 11:07 PM
I agree with this. I'll never buy a full-size laptop again. They're too big, too heavy, too power-hungry. I got really tired of lugging all that weight around. My netbook fits in a small DVD-player case and I can easily carry it anywhere. I've quit bothering with my PDA, because I almost always have my EEE-PC with me, and I'm no longer tied to my desktop. My netbook is more powerful than the HP laptop I have now given away, only in a smaller package. If you need serious number-crunching, do it on an easily-upgradable desktop, and get a $200 netbook for carrying around.

linuxape
October 13th, 2009, 07:37 PM
I would like to thank everyone for their views and opinions...I have also come across this article about Mac snow leopard..http://www.betanews.com/article/Why-is-John-Hodgman-smiling-Data-loss-isnt-the-only-Snow-Leopard-problem/1255449896 ........scary.

Cope57
October 13th, 2009, 08:09 PM
Buy a Mac, install Linux.

stefangr1
October 13th, 2009, 08:47 PM
I have just bought a Macbook Pro one month ago. I have been using Ubuntu on my desktop since 3 years, and will continue to use it. At work we have an all-windows environment.

I must say that I'm very satisfied with the Mac until now. The hardware and software are aesthetically at a very high standard - that's of no importance to productivity, but it definitely adds to the user experience - and in use OS-X seems to combine the advantages of linux and windows. The whole command line functioning is pretty much the same, but on top of it there's a simple and well thought out GUI. Reliability and virus-proofness are parity with Ubuntu I think. Depending on your specific software needs (if things you need aren't available for OS-X, it's just not an option), I think OS-X might be a better choice as an os on a laptop than Ubuntu. Your battery, for example, will give you a few hours more on OS-X, but also the integration of the OS with the trackpad makes it possible to switch trough programs fast. The fact that MS-Office is available might also be important, in a professional environment. It consumes almost no power when in low energy mode (when you close the screen), while resuming in only a second or so. These are all things that are important on a mobile system.

A specific disadvantage of the Macbook when you want 8GB of RAM is that it uses DDR3-RAM, which is very expensive. At Apple it costs $800 or so, but in a regular store it will still be $600. DDR2 would make a lot of difference in price.

Even though I haven't tried out any other laptops in the higher price ranges, such that I can only compare to systems of $1000 or less, I must say that the Macbook pro scored better on usability than those (all windows-vista) systems that were available in the stores in my city. The trackpad is notably better. Also, the systems are very lightweight and thin, and the battery's life time of the Macbook Pro's was recently tested as one of the best.

stefangr1
October 13th, 2009, 08:54 PM
I would like to thank everyone for their views and opinions...I have also come across this article about Mac snow leopard..http://www.betanews.com/article/Why-is-John-Hodgman-smiling-Data-loss-isnt-the-only-Snow-Leopard-problem/1255449896 ........scary.

Only avery tiny fraction of the users has experienced data loss. I think the chance of running into this kind of trouble is actually much smaller with OS-X than on the noncommercial Ubuntu. I think things should be put in perspective, single episodes don't give a good overall impression of a platform.

linuxape
October 14th, 2009, 04:46 PM
Only avery tiny fraction of the users has experienced data loss. I think the chance of running into this kind of trouble is actually much smaller with OS-X than on the noncommercial Ubuntu. I think things should be put in perspective, single episodes don't give a good overall impression of a platform.

Thanks I agree with both the post you made. Ubuntu still has to sort out the power management issue it has on laptops. On my T43p w/ 9cell battery I was getting close to 5&1/2 to 6hrs with display at half brightness but on Ubuntu8.10 approx 4hrs using similar settings. But my point was people pay a lot for the OS-X experience and to run into fatal errors as reported is unexpected from Apple engineers.

Someone has also pointed me towards this phenomenal (premium) HP laptop called Envy which will be launched soon in 13" and 15" version and the specs look pretty good specially with the 15" where you can have Intel Corei7 w/ 16GB of RAM. I can only imagine the performance boost w/ Ubuntu9.10 or forthcoming 10.4LTS with that hardware spec on a laptop! But we still can't say much about the battery life (if power management of laptops will be significantly enhanced in the 9.10 or 10.4). If addressed it will certainly be a killer combo. Beauty and brains and sleek Ubuntu. This alone has led me to hold off any purchase till 9.10 is released and Envy15" reviews hit the web. http://www.gadgetarena.com/hp-envy-13-and-envy-15-dressed-in-beautiful-beasts-equipment.html

kpholmes
October 14th, 2009, 05:01 PM
i dont recommend the macbook, when i installed ubuntu on mine the fans didnt spin properly, the trackpad doesnt feel right, and battery life suffered a bit, even with tweaking config files and everything, i couldnt stand it and reinstalled os x. if you want a computer or laptop thats for sure to runs linux then buy from system76 or im pretty sure dell has a line thats pre installed with ubuntu.

or you could make one :)


if you dont believe me with the macbook, take a live cd over to a bestbuy or frys and pop the sucker in and test it out, i dont know if the apple store will let you do that but i imagine you could pull it off at best buy or frys.

or if you have a friend with a macbook thats even better.

ZarathustraDK
October 14th, 2009, 05:21 PM
For purely speculative reasons my order would be : Linux-pc > Mac > Windows.

- Linux because it's a Good thing(tm).
- Mac because then you're not buying Windows.

Though Mac is relatively more evil than Windows, it has less marketshare = it works to unseat Windows from its monopoly-position. Plus it's unix-like, so adherents who gets burned are likely to choose Linux over Windows in regards to familiarity. So, to some extent, it is in Linux-people's favor to have an equillibrium of sorts between Mac and Windows.

But to answer the question: See my sig.

ukripper
October 14th, 2009, 05:35 PM
$3500 for how many laptops?

muteXe
October 14th, 2009, 05:51 PM
If you have more money than sense, then go for the mac option :)

madhi19
October 14th, 2009, 06:08 PM
$3500!!! Is build your own and pocket the rest an option?

CharlesA
October 14th, 2009, 06:14 PM
You could go totally insane and get something like this: http://www.factorgaming.com/sager_np9280.php#1

But it weighs like 11 lbs. (which is totally worth it considering how much of a powerhouse that is)

sgosnell
October 14th, 2009, 07:20 PM
I remember well when the average new desktop cost $5,000, and those dollars were worth a lot more than they are now. Prices have dropped steeply over the past decade or so, and indeed $3500 is a lot for a computer these days. But you might need a netbook and a pocket computer such as a Nokia internet tablet for what you're going to do.

MoebusNet
October 14th, 2009, 07:50 PM
If you're really in the market to sell your soul, I suppose you could try:

http://ubuntusatanic.org/

I don't think the market for souls is what it used to be though; Wall Street & Washington, D.C. haave flooded the market.

avilella
October 15th, 2009, 01:51 PM
The HP Envy series promises to be a big hit. It is the best laptop so far with "hybrid graphics": an integrated graphics card and a dedicated one that can be turned off. People has successfully been able to turn of ATI cards under Linux in two independent cases before: a Lenovo laptop and the Acer Timeline "G" models. See for example:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=7933876&postcount=11

The ATI graphics card in the HP Envy models is also OpenCL-capable, and ATI has just recently released OpenCL Linux drivers:

http://developer.amd.com/GPU/ATISTREAMSDKBETAPROGRAM/Pages/default.aspx

This puts the HP Envy series in the perfect spot for Linux users that want the same level of hardware functionality that MacBooks restrict to OSX.


Thanks I agree with both the post you made. Ubuntu still has to sort out the power management issue it has on laptops. On my T43p w/ 9cell battery I was getting close to 5&1/2 to 6hrs with display at half brightness but on Ubuntu8.10 approx 4hrs using similar settings. But my point was people pay a lot for the OS-X experience and to run into fatal errors as reported is unexpected from Apple engineers.

Someone has also pointed me towards this phenomenal (premium) HP laptop called Envy which will be launched soon in 13" and 15" version and the specs look pretty good specially with the 15" where you can have Intel Corei7 w/ 16GB of RAM. I can only imagine the performance boost w/ Ubuntu9.10 or forthcoming 10.4LTS with that hardware spec on a laptop! But we still can't say much about the battery life (if power management of laptops will be significantly enhanced in the 9.10 or 10.4). If addressed it will certainly be a killer combo. Beauty and brains and sleek Ubuntu. This alone has led me to hold off any purchase till 9.10 is released and Envy15" reviews hit the web. http://www.gadgetarena.com/hp-envy-13-and-envy-15-dressed-in-beautiful-beasts-equipment.html

HNS-I
October 15th, 2009, 01:56 PM
If you want the macbook, get the macbook. If you do not want to support apple, don't get it.

forrestcupp
October 15th, 2009, 03:40 PM
You're not selling your soul to the devil unless you use FreeBSD. ;)


http://www.freebsd.org/layout/images/beastie.png

LowSky
October 15th, 2009, 03:59 PM
Lenovo Thinkpad W700, they have nvidia graphics

iheartubuntu
October 16th, 2009, 07:29 AM
If I was in your situation, Id pick one of the new System76 systems. Everything just works. My sister bought a high end laptop from them a year ago and it just works for her, no probs. She loves the thing. You could probably get a 64 bit laptop, 8gb ram, 300gb HD, 2.5ghtz+ dual core for around $2000. nVidia is standard on their systems....I wouldnt get ATI if you are sticking with Ubuntu.

http://www.system76.com/

If you want the flair of a new OS, try installing the new KDE 4.3, its awesome. Looks like Windows7 copied KDE!

Mornedhel
October 16th, 2009, 10:11 AM
If I was in your situation, Id pick one of the new System76 systems. Everything just works. My sister bought a high end laptop from them a year ago and it just works for her, no probs. She loves the thing. You could probably get a 64 bit laptop, 8gb ram, 300gb HD, 2.5ghtz+ dual core for around $2000. nVidia is standard on their systems....I wouldnt get ATI if you are sticking with Ubuntu.

Y'know, there is little point in getting a high-powered laptop. Those things have little battery life if you use all of their capabilities, and if you keep it plugged, better buy a desktop that will be half the price for the same specs. I have a fairly high-end laptop (was high end when I bought it). It runs everything fine, until you decide to run something that pushes it a little (3D rendering, for instance), and then it overheats and shuts down after about one hour, even with the fans blasting. I have to keep it on a cooling pad to do any heavy work with it.

I still say get a cheap laptop and a powerful desktop.

forrestcupp
October 16th, 2009, 11:53 AM
Y'know, there is little point in getting a high-powered laptop. Those things have little battery life if you use all of their capabilities, and if you keep it plugged, better buy a desktop that will be half the price for the same specs. I have a fairly high-end laptop (was high end when I bought it). It runs everything fine, until you decide to run something that pushes it a little (3D rendering, for instance), and then it overheats and shuts down after about one hour, even with the fans blasting. I have to keep it on a cooling pad to do any heavy work with it.

I still say get a cheap laptop and a powerful desktop.
But you can't use your powerful desktop while sitting in your recliner watching TV.

Not all laptops are like that. I have a powerful laptop that does just fine. It does good with battery life. It does get pretty warm when I use 3D, but it doesn't overheat to the point of shutting down. I have one of those cooling pads with a built in USB fan, and I don't have any problem at all when I use that.

I've always been a souped up desktop guy, but I'm loving my laptop. I don't even have a desktop anymore, except one hidden behind my furnace running as a file/print server.

Mornedhel
October 16th, 2009, 12:26 PM
But you can't use your powerful desktop while sitting in your recliner watching TV.

Which is the point of the cheap laptop. Current low-end laptops will do fine for any task except heavy computing, which is why you keep your SSH connection to the (possibly headless) octocore server sitting in the lab or living room.


Not all laptops are like that. I have a powerful laptop that does just fine. It does good with battery life. It does get pretty warm when I use 3D, but it doesn't overheat to the point of shutting down. I have one of those cooling pads with a built in USB fan, and I don't have any problem at all when I use that.

Are you "using 3D", or "rendering a 3D scene" ? The OP sounds more like a computer scientist. If he'll do heavy-duty usage, I don't recommend he do it on a laptop. When they don't overheat, it's because they're dynamically underclocking CPU and GPU. (My laptop does that, and then it doesn't overheat, but the heavy tasks take twice as long to complete -- remember, this is a setting where you could be using 100% of all your cores, for extended periods of time, typically a week.)

forrestcupp
October 16th, 2009, 02:46 PM
Are you "using 3D", or "rendering a 3D scene" ? The OP sounds more like a computer scientist.
Well, I'm talking about both. My laptop seems to get the hottest when I'm programming with OpenGL and I have to keep building my project over and over to work the bugs out. It gets hot enough to be very uncomfortable on my lap without the fanned cooling pad. But it has never bogged down or shut down. I've been pleasantly surprised.


remember, this is a setting where you could be using 100% of all your cores, for extended periods of time, typically a week.)That is definitely a scenario where you would want to be on a desktop or even a rendering farm. I do a lot of programming, and I've used Blender and Cinelerra, but I've never done anything like make a 3D movie that requires days to render. I don't think I'd attempt that on any laptop.

Wee_Guy
October 16th, 2009, 03:21 PM
One thing to be wary of if you're considering buying a Mac is hardware quality.
I used to have an iMac, which was really pretty and crashed only about 3 times in the 3 years I had it. Then one morning it grew some pretty coloured lines on the display, I nagged Apple and got them to fix it for free (and the DVD drive which developed a fault shortly beforehand) but others haven't been so fortunate. The thing about Macs is that when they work, they are fantastic, but if anything breaks when its out of warranty, you could end up shelling out massive dough to send it to one of their certified repair centers. These repair centers can charge substantial amounts of cash just to diagnose the problem, and parts can be incredibly expensive (the faulty cable for my DVD drive was less than an inch long, yet cost £20 to replace).
As you might imagine, having paid more than twice much as an equivelant PC would have cost, I was not dangerously happy when both the display and the incredibly expensive DVD drive cable both died on me, which is why I am now happily running Ubuntu on a homemade PC which is nowhere near as sexy, quiet or expensive, but if anything in it packs in, I only have to wait until a replacement is delivered to my home and I can slot it in and go merrily on my way (as opposed to waiting for weeks on end for a repair centre to prise it apart).
I would reccomend Macs for their usability, OSX is a very nice operating system to use, but I would advise anyone wanting a Mac to get a desktop (Mac Pro) or a hackintosh (as although its not quite as legal, its a heck of a lot cheaper) so that when something fails you can replace it yourself.