Another laptop ?

[smellyman]

Need to buy a laptop for the wife and she wants Windows :( However, I will dual boot it.

I am trying to steer clear of the Nvidia hybrid laptops, but it seems a lot have them now. Sometimes when I find one that looks good it turns out to be the hybrid/optimus ones. Is there a good way to tell if it does or not? Can anyone recomend a good nvidia non hybrid? or should I just go Intel

13" to 14" preferred
under $800usd

I haven't bought a laptop in quite a while and all brands seem to have a million options to choose from. Sometimes choice is good, but sheesh!

[LowSky]

what do you mean by hybrid? i dont get what your saying.

nvidia make graphics chips, thats all. and to have it in a laptop means better ability to watch video and play games.

[smellyman]

what do you mean by hybrid? i dont get what your saying.

nvidia make graphics chips, thats all. and to have it in a laptop means better ability to watch video and play games.

The system where it will use an integrated Intel chip, but when more video power is needed it switches to the Nvidia chip. X can't support that.

EDit: I think I am getting that right. Googling the issue it seems when Nvidia drivers are installed you can get no gui after reboot. Some laptops let you select one Video Chipset over the other, but some you can't force. Anyone feel free to correct me. Seems not worth the effort on trying to get it to work.

[LowSky]

The system where it will use an integrated Intel chip, but when more video power is needed it switches to the Nvidia chip. X can't support that.

EDit: I think I am getting that right. Googling the issue it seems when Nvidia drivers are installed you can get no gui after reboot. Some laptops let you select one Video Chipset over the other, but some you can't force. Anyone feel free to correct me. Seems not worth the effort on trying to get it to work.

can you provide a link to a laptop that has this feature. i have never heard of this

[Oxwivi]

Are Intel integrated VGU fine with you?

[smellyman]

can you provide a link to a laptop that has this feature. i have never heard of this


Here's one (http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/samsung-qx410-j01/4507-3121_7-34328124.html?tag=specs)

found this link from nvidia (http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html)with models listed. I guess I can just avoid those. I just don't want to buy one and find out it isn't what I wanted.

[treesurf]

If you're not doing anything graphically intensive then an integrated Intel video unit should be fine. I have one in my laptop (Lenovo Ideapad) and have no problem playing movies/videos etc, and even do a little bit of gaming without issue.

[smellyman]

If you're not doing anything graphically intensive then an integrated Intel video unit should be fine. I have one in my laptop (Lenovo Ideapad) and have no problem playing movies/videos etc, and even do a little bit of gaming without issue.

I am leaning towards just going Intel, would be cheaper and I am not a gamer. Not since Nintendo 64 anyway....

I looked at some Ideapads at a shop today. I will give them a look.

[TBABill]

I have a couple with Intel graphics. The Intel Core ix series has the GPU integrated into the unit with the CPU (not on the motherboard, but built into the same chip). I have the Core i3-330m but there are many to pick from. Ubuntu supports it very well and it is as fast as my nVidia graphics on my desktop, but I'm not a gamer so you'd really have to test it out if you decide to run anything that will really push a video card hard.

I can't say one is better than another. I have nVidia on one machine, ATi on two and Intel on two. They all work fine, but none are old enough to start losing support as they age like many others have posted about.

[3Miro]

Nvidia is the best option if you want GPU power under Linux. The issue with hybrid graphics is that it is not supported under Linux yet.

I have an Intel laptop and while it works great, Compiz chokes if I use too many effects. If I switch to Metacity or OpenBox it works fine, but Xfwm4 is surprisingly choppy. I cannot use KDE either, kwin runs like crap. Overall, my Intel card works, but I am not too happy about it. On the other hand I have seen people with Intel cards that work much better than mine (even thought they are supposed to be the same model), so the issue may be with the CPU, RAM and/or Motherboard (my laptop is overall cheap).

I have two Nvidia machines, a desktop and a laptop. They both work great.

[owiknowi]

Take a look at the ubuntu forum http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=332
and:
http://www.linux-laptop.net/
http://www.linux.org/hardware/laptop.html

As far as I know all exotic hardware works best -or only- with MS w.
Amazing how compatible that os must be...

[linuxforartists]

Not sure how you feel about Dell, but their new Vostro V130 laptop comes with Ubuntu built-in, for the base "Essential" version. All the higher-spec versions of that laptop come with Windows. Since your wife wants MS, I'd say get one of the better versions and put Ubuntu on it.

Vostro V130 laptops (http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/vostro-v130/fs)

Since Dell already has a version that works with Ubuntu, there shouldn't be any problems with compatibility. The main downsides are no Nvidia, no optical drive, and if you don't like Dell.

HP has a pretty good track record for Linux compatibility. But they tend to use ATI graphics cards, not Nvidia.

I just had a look around, and it's hard to find laptops with Nvidia, it's all Intel or ATI. When I do find an Nvidia, it's the Optimus technology with switchable graphics. I guess they're phasing out single Nvidia cards.

[Twitch6000]

Not sure how you feel about Dell, but their new Vostro V130 laptop comes with Ubuntu built-in, for the base "Essential" version. All the higher-spec versions of that laptop come with Windows. Since your wife wants MS, I'd say get one of the better versions and put Ubuntu on it.

Vostro V130 laptops (http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/vostro-v130/fs)

Since Dell already has a version that works with Ubuntu, there shouldn't be any problems with compatibility. The main downsides are no Nvidia, no optical drive, and if you don't like Dell.

HP has a pretty good track record for Linux compatibility. But they tend to use ATI graphics cards, not Nvidia.

I just had a look around, and it's hard to find laptops with Nvidia, it's all Intel or ATI. When I do find an Nvidia, it's the Optimus technology with switchable graphics. I guess they're phasing out single Nvidia cards.



HP makes alot of laptops with both ati and nvidia.

I know most of the g series uses nvidia.

Anyways at @OP this laptop looks fit for you -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214157

[smellyman]

HP makes alot of laptops with both ati and nvidia.

I know most of the g series uses nvidia.

Anyways at @OP this laptop looks fit for you -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214157

That looks pretty close to what I am looking at.

I've been looking at the Ideapads and they look like you get a lot for the money, A bit more than the Vostros.

What do you think of these two. I don't think the Nvidia card is optimus....I hope anyway.

IDEAPADS (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?action=init&current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=4E39B9900C26477E80D83D25C210B6FC)

[smellyman]

For those who care I went with the Lenovo G460: LINK (http://www.ideapadtoday.com/lenovo-g460-full-review-and-specifications.htm)


I actually loaded Arch on it, but all works well, the brightness buttons, volume, webcam etc. Just having some issue with the microphone now.

The Intel Graphics work great with compiz going. Glad I didn't go for the nvidia/intel optimus hybrid stuff....

[themarker0]

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_369&item_id=034191

;) Works great with Lucid minus some sound issues. None since using OSS.

Edit, ahaha, just read the last post, good luck with it