[TriLUG] Shopping for new laptop...

Thu Jul 12 11:09:53 EDT 2007

Thanks to all for your suggestions and comments - I'm slowly  
digesting it all.  From what I can tell, the general thinking is that  
the proc doesn't really matter as long as it's fast enough for my  
purposes, that I should look for something other than Broadcom  
wireless if possible, that ATI is the least preferred graphics proc  
(although I'll admit it's been fine on my current Dell when running  
the "Radeon" driver), and that 2 gigs ram is the way to go.  Sadly,  
I've discovered that most machines sport 1 gig and they use both  
slots to achieve dual-channel.

The Inspiron 1505 is high on my list, although part of the  
justification of the purchase is to become acquainted with Vista.   
Hmmmm...  Maybe I could go with one of Dell's Ubuntu boxes to let  
them know that it was a great marketing decision on their part to  
offer that as an option, then install Vista separately.  I might even  
be able to get a copy of WinV via Chowan U's licensing agreement.

Not to hijack my own thread, but does anyone know how well Dell's  
Ubuntu offerings are selling?

Tom

On Jul 11, 2007, at 5:39 PM, Josh Vickery wrote:

> I think your best bet for support for wireless and graphics are Intel
> and Intel, see http://intellinuxwireless.org/ and
> http://intellinuxgraphics.org/ for more.  Everything else should not
> pose a problem.  I don't know what your budget is, but my friend's
> non-Linux-running sister just bought a Dell Inspiron E1505 N
> pre-installed with Ubuntu and he reports that she is quite happy with
> it.
>
> If you want to avoid Intel, I would go for Nvidia graphics-- though
> their drivers are binary only, the company seems quite dedicated to
> supporting them.  As for wireless, I'm afraid to say that the only
> modern wireless cards that I've found to be completely pain free in
> Linux are from Intel.  That said, Ubuntu has a fairly long list of
> supported wireless chipsets:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported
>
> Josh
>
>
>
> On 7/11/07, Steve Litt <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:
>> On Wednesday 11 July 2007 15:20, Tom Eisenmenger wrote:
>>
>>> 1) I'd prefer going AMD;  is there a problem or caveat if I go with
>>> one of their 64-bit X2 chips?  Better to stick with single core?   
>>> 32-
>>> bit?  Any reason why I should seriously consider Intel instead?
>>
>> I run Mandriva 2007 32bit on my Compaq with an AMD 64 bit chip. Works
>> perfectly. Mandriva 2007 64bit also works perfectly, but  
>> unfortunately the 64
>> bit version doesn't include several applications I need.
>>
>>> 3) Graphics chipsets:  if I go AMD it'll probably have ATI (which is
>>> what my Dell has now).  Is there a compelling reason to look for
>>> nVidia instead?  Does Linus handle the newer widescreen monitors
>>> reasonably well (1280 x 800)?
>>
>> Both my notebooks are widescreens. In one case I had to boot  
>> Knoppix and use
>> the xorg.conf it created. IIRC, both computers occasionally hang when
>> changing between CLI and GUI. I cured that by having them boot into
>> framebuffer video.
>>
>> My Acer notebook cannot correctly drive the projectors I've tried  
>> it on, no
>> matter what I did in xorg.conf. I haven't tried a projector with  
>> my Compaq
>> notebook.
>>
>>>
>>> 4) Wireless:  It  looks like most of today's offerings include
>>> Broadcom wireless;  how's its Linux support?  Should I opt for
>>> something else if it's out there?
>>
>> IMHO Broadcom really sux. My Compaq notebook has Broadcom, and I  
>> wasn't able
>> to get Linux to reliably work with it, either native or  
>> NDISWrapper. My Acer
>> notebook has Atheros wireless NIC, and getting it to work with  
>> Linux, using
>> the native driver that was packaged with Mandriva, was as easy as  
>> falling off
>> a log.
>>
>> Worst case do what I do and carry a Linksys WUSB54G USB wireless  
>> network card,
>> and plug that in. You can ndiswrapper that card fairly easily. See  
>> my content
>> at http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/200612/200612.htm.
>>
>>>
>>> 5) Anything else I should consider?  I'm looking most closely at
>>> 15.4" widescreen models as I actually do use mine as a laptop on
>>> occasion - 17" is more of a desktop replacement in my book...
>>>
>>> FWIW, there are some great deals out there.  Of particular interest
>>> is the Compaq Presario F572US (15.4" "Briteview" widescreen, Athlon
>>> 64 X2 TK-53, 1gig DDR2, 80g 5400RPM SATA (might have to upgrade  
>>> that)
>>> $479 at Staples after rebates.  Comparable Turions seem to up the
>>> price by about $200.  Comments?
>>
>> I never consider rebates in pricing anything. My experience is  
>> that getting
>> your rebate is either a full time job, or a game of chance. I  
>> don't have time
>> for the former, and can't count on the latter.
>>
>> SteveT
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Thanks all,
>>>
>>> Tom Eisenmenger
>>
>> Steve Litt
>> Author: Universal Troubleshooting Process books and courseware
>> http://www.troubleshooters.com/
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