What is the Best Laptop to run 8.10 Ibex?

[clappr]

I want something with approx. 100 gb drive, USB 2, min. 1gb ram, decent processor, mini usb connection for panasonic dv camera, smaller size, 12~14 in display, dvd+/-rw, 10/100 ethernet, pcmia card slot, integrated wireless, but most importantly... ubuntu linux compatibility. Please list your favorites so I can review them. I hear very good things re: the lenovo thinkpad. Suggestions?

Need to stay around $500, not opposed to a used laptop

[Keith_Beef]

I don't know about currently-produced portables, but you say you would consider a used computer...

I recently got a secondhand Sony Vaio VGN-TX770P:

1.3GHz CPU
1 GB Ram
80 GB hard disc drive
DVD drive
WiFi
Bluetooth
SD Card reader
Sony Memory stick reader ( not yet working)
Connectors:
two USB
one FireWire
one Ethernet
one VGA
one phone (DSL)


My model came without the external WiFi antenna, but I get good signal strength in the living room, with the router away in the cellar. I even get good signal strength from the house across the street!

Battery life in normal usage seems to be around five hours, but I think that would be extended if I turned off Bluetooth and WiFi and lowered the screen brightness.

You don't mention why you need a PCMCIA slot, so I'll not attempt to suggest what you coud do to overcome the lack on one on a TX770P.

This ran Ubuntu 8.04 for about a week, while I was waiting for my 8.10 DVDs to arrive... Installing and configuring was the easiest I have ever seen!

K.

[Vitoriung]

Maybe there is a better way how to think about new notebook,
find one which suits you, and check for example http://www.linux-laptop.net or google "your laptop model" "linux support"
And maybe there is no need to rush for version 8.10 as you will definitely have some problems as well in version 8.04 and on Internet there is a lots of hints how to sort them out and there is no guarantee to aplly them for newest version of Ubuntu Linux.
I wanted to buy a laptop, for the very long time I was thinking which one would be the best for me. Although impressed from 17" inch ones with huge hardisks and memory I realized that something very SMALL instead of really big and powerful will be perfect for me.
So that happened and I am very happy owner of netbook Asus EEE 1000, which doesn't gives me any huge performance, but even bigger ability to last working long on battery and nice comfort of portability.

Depends just on you, but I can hardly imagine notebook with smaller screen like 12" around $500,

Think twice! ;)

[Airfoot]

An asus EEE pc or a Dell Mini are best if you want great portability and a great price, but if looking for something with more power i recommend going to dell's website and customizing a laptop, they will let you scimp on things you don't need to save money and you can have it ship with Ubuntu(free) instead of windows(extra 100 or so dollars pre-installed). And their shipping rates aren't too bad. I <3 Dell. Good Luck!

[bwhite82]

You're not going to have a problem with most late-model laptops, as essentially, they all run the same components (with some exceptions). If you're looking for laptops that have been thoroughly tested with Linux, I would suggest either Dell's Linux models or Thinkpads.

[crashtest]

My Thinkpad T61 with Intel 4961 wireless drops its connection constantly. When I was first using Ibex beta this was not a problem, but one of the updates prior to release seems to have broken something. (Other threads have mentioned this as well.) I had hoped this would be fixed after the full release, but so far it does not appear to have been.

I also experience the same thing using a D-Link DWL-AG660 PCMCIA wireless card in the same notebook. I'm sitting about 4 feet away from the wireless access point this morning, and the connection has dropped 4 times in the first 10 minutes. I am currently connected using cat5 cable. VERY annoying...

[giga_user_66]

As soldierboy said you should not expect Ubuntu to work with the latest laptops with their extra functionalities for media players and such.
A friend of mine wanted to install Ubuntu 8.10 on his Toshiba Satellite latest model. However he quickly found out that all the fancy sensor buttons he had next to his startbutton did not work under linux anymore. And I bet more stuff did not work. Hopefully thats a little bit of a help for you

[Don Heard]

HP Compaq nc6120 (PN936AV) (version F.0C)
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 2.00GHz
1 Gb RAM
NetXtreme BCM5705M_2 Gigabit Ethernet
Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller
Intel ICH6 with AD1981B Sound Card
ST9808210A 80Gb SCSI hard drive
TSSTcorp CDW/DVD TS-L462C SCSI CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-ROM

Ubuntu 8.10
Kernel Linux 2.6.27-11-generic
GNOME 2.24.1

Wiped Windows XP off the hard drive and installed Intrepid Ibex with no problems. Everything worked fine right out of the box. Later on, I discovered that 3D stuff like Google Earth and some games just crawl. That problem did not exist under XP so I am still searching for tweaks to the video driver to get the card to use it's full potential. Intel is no help at all. I don't do much gaming so it is not a real problem for most of my activity but when I need it, it is annoying to be so slow. I rarely use my Windows machine anymore. I am sold on Ubuntu.

Lately, I have seen this model selling for around $300 on ebay.