Laptop Suggestion

[Trickyphillips]

I'm considering buying a new Laptop for school, and I'm really not sure about what to get. I've never purchased a laptop, so I thought that the best place to start looking for one would be at Ubuntuforums (I've also looked around Tomshardware a bit http://ubuntuforums.org/images/smilies/eusa_whistle.gif). Maybe I can get some good suggestions here.

What would be the best buy at a decent price? I don't want to spend much more than $800 if I don't have to, and would prefer 2+ GHz and 512 MB of RAM. I'd also like to run Ubuntu without having to go on driver hunts.

Thanks,
Ronald

[defkewl]

WHy don't you put a list of laptop that goes around your budget and then will give you a suggestion. DO your research first, then ask.

[somuchfortheafter]

ladies and gents I bring news from the goooood Loaaaaaaaaaard,... Can I get an amen for the greatness that which hath been put on this world called Toshibaaaaaaaaaaah... ehh sorry felt going overly southern weird alabama minister for a while....

[eskaypey]

Hey
Have a look at these, might find something interesting.

http://www.linux-laptop.net/
http://www.linux-laptop.org/

[Trickyphillips]

Toshiba does have the best prices. How do these look? :)

http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2497177
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1950249
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=671101
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion&series_name=zv6000_series&catLevel=2&tab_switch=true&tab=specs

[aamir]

I've had pretty good success with dell notebooks and ubuntu. toshibas notebooks are fairly linux friendly as well

[tread]

My laptop is Toshiba, and I have good experience with Linux running on it. One word of caution: the people who bought Toshibas after me have had problems .. and lately the company has been packaging 4 cell?!! batteries so you get 1.5 hours! Of course, I think this is true only for the lower end models.

[Trickyphillips]

I've noticed that almost all laptops come with Windows XP, whether you like it or not. It's quite upsetting.

[compmodder26]

I've noticed that almost all laptops come with Windows XP, whether you like it or not. It's quite upsetting.

I've never done it and I don't know about the quality of the notebooks but MWave.com sells barebones notebooks without Windows.

IMHO MWave is a quality site so I eventually plan to try one of those. Hopefully they will be as quality as the site.

[darkoptix]

I've noticed that almost all laptops come with Windows XP, whether you like it or not. It's quite upsetting.

No there is lot's of places that sell linux installed laptops... Walmart for example.

I would suggest a sticky or something involving experiances with different laptops and ubuntu... I see lot's of these posts started...

[TheRealEdwin]

I got myself a ASUS Z71V that can handle almost anything.

Pentium M Dothan 2mb cache 1.86 GHz
PCI Express Nvidia GeForce 6600
1 GB of DDR2 ram
SATA HDD support
RAID support included
Intel HD audio Azalia (sp)
15.4" widescreen (1680x1050 resolution)

This thing has it all. Either way check out www.notebookforums.com, www.coboc.com for BAREBONES laptops that you can build yourself. Other barebone places include www.rjtech.com, www.istnc.com and the rest are on notebook forums. Good luck!

[poofyhairguy]

Toshiba does have the best prices. How do these look? :)

http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=2497177
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1950249
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=671101
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion&series_name=zv6000_series&catLevel=2&tab_switch=true&tab=specs


Can you afford anything with a pentium M chip in it?

For the record, I've personally had a lot of problems with any laptop that uses intel integrated graphics (or as I call it "ram sharing crap.")

[costoa]

I'm considering buying a new Laptop for school, and I'm really not sure about what to get. I've never purchased a laptop, so I thought that the best place to start looking for one would be at Ubuntuforums (I've also looked around Tomshardware a bit). Maybe I can get some good suggestions here.


I just bought a Sharp Actius PC-MC24 for $900 (at my local BJ's) and like it quite a bit. It's smaller than most "standard" laptops, fast, has a beautiful screen (something Sharp is known for) and nice cosmetics (aka: looks). The smaller than normal size makes for a nice mix between usability and ease of carrying around. Everything considered I'd recommend it. It seems to be close to your spec requests.

Ubuntu installs just fine. Wireless setup went well with the help of the "Rt2500WirelessCardsHowTo" faq. I'm still trying to get standby and hibernate to work but IMO this is my fault and not Ubuntu's. Also, I haven't setup or tested the modem since I don't have access to a dialup account.


Pros:
- Small size and fairly lightweight
- Fast system for it's price
- Low price
- Cool looks
- Very usable keyboard
- Comes with 512M RAM and 60G HD
- Works great with Ubuntu

Cons:
- Low battery life (only about two hours and in line with Sharp's claims)
- Wireless status light not functional under GNU/Linux (very minor issue)
- fairly poor speakers (very minor issue)
- No FireWire (IEEE 1394) (very minor issue and correctable with a PC Card)
- I wish could get a refund for the copy of MS Windows XP Home that came with it and I never used =)

Specs:
- CPU: AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M Processor 2400+ (1.8GHz)
- Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (PC2100) standard (expandable to 768MB)
- Display: 12.1" XGA TFT LCD (1024 x 768), 16 million colors
- Hard Drive: Approx. 60GB
- Optical Drive: CD-R/RW & DVD-ROM drive with buffer underrun protection (Max. 24x CD-R writing speed, Max. 24x CD-RW writing speed, Max. 24x CD reading speed, Max. 8x DVD reading speed)
- PCMCIA Type II x 1, CardBus Port Supported
- I/O Ports: USB 2.0 port x 4, Audio output jack (stereo), External microphone jack, External Display connector
- Modem 56kbps fax modem (V.90)
- LAN Wireless (IEEE802.11b/g, 11 channels), 100BASE-TX/10BASE-T
- Battery Life Approx. 2.0hrs
- Weight 5.07 lbs (2.3 kg)


Links:
Main web page from Sharp about the PC-MC24 (http://www.sharpsystems.com/products/pc_notebooks/actius/mc/24/)
Picture of the MC24 (http://www.sharpsystems.com/images/product_images/pop_up/actiusmc24_large.jpg)
Datasheet for MC24 (pdf) (http://www.sharpsystems.com/products/datasheets/PC-MC24.pdf)
Rt2500WirelessCardsHowTo (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Rt2500WirelessCardsHowTo)

[bobgreen5s]

IBM laptops are usually quite compatible with linux.

[costoa]

IBM laptops are usually quite compatible with linux.

IMO you can't go wrong with any new thinkpad. IMO the best laptops ever made. You pay for it but again, IMO, worth it.

[Trickyphillips]

IBM laptops are usually quite compatible with linux.
This thread is really just confusing me. I think something is good, then someone suggests something else that looks good, then someone suggests something that looks better. :razz:

I think I'm leaning towards Toshiba, as they really seem to have bang for their buck. 2.6 GHz and 512 MB of RAM for $800 sounds like a good deal, when Dell's $800 notebook has a 1.6 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. Is there something that I'm missing, or is Dell just ridiculously over-priced? While I've never bought from them (I build my own desktop computers) I always thought Dell had great deals.

[benplaut]

i hate to go against what everyone else is saying, but keep away from a cheap toshiba. their high end models are awesome, but alot of people at my school have the cheaper ones, and endless problems...

with hardware, not software...

i would look on ebay for a top-of-the-line IBM Thinkpad T30... great machine that will last a few years past forever (and very upgradable, without breaking your warrenty)

the Sharp mentioned above looks pretty sweet, but i've never had any personal experience with Sharp laptops, so i can't give any opinion on it

[costoa]

Is anyone here using a laptop with Intel's Centrino chipset? I remember there were some compatibilty issues but that was awhile ago. Just curious if this would be a factor in a purchasing decision.

[somuchfortheafter]

This thread is really just confusing me. I think something is good, then someone suggests something else that looks good, then someone suggests something that looks better. :razz:

I think I'm leaning towards Toshiba, as they really seem to have bang for their buck. 2.6 GHz and 512 MB of RAM for $800 sounds like a good deal, when Dell's $800 notebook has a 1.6 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. Is there something that I'm missing, or is Dell just ridiculously over-priced? While I've never bought from them (I build my own desktop computers) I always thought Dell had great deals.


ummm that different is because the toshiba uses a pentium 4 or a celeron both of which imo are not good processors, the dell is probably using a pentium m, much better choice for laptops even at the slower clock speed. a pentium m will perform about 800mhz-1ghz above its clock level interms of its p4 counterpart.


also the centrino processor is the pentium m and well it works extremely well and i can say that i have never had once hitch of trouble with mine, with anything from gentoo to ubuntu so meh someone elses milage may vary. if you have the cash for it though go with a toshiba or ibm with an nvidia graphics card if you want a machine to run linux on.

[Trickyphillips]

I asked the same question on notebookforums (http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=90331), and I've decided to go above my initial limit, and purchase the Sager 3880. I didn't realize the pentium M was so much better than the P4 and Celeron. I'm glad I asked, though.

Thanks, all. :)

[somuchfortheafter]

for laptops the pentium m indeed kicks vast amounts of ass far and wide.

[TheRealEdwin]

Is anyone here using a laptop with Intel's Centrino chipset? I remember there were some compatibilty issues but that was awhile ago. Just curious if this would be a factor in a purchasing decision.
The ASUS Z71V I mentioned is Centrino.