[TriLUG] Macbook Curious

[John Brier]

On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 4:31 PM, Joseph S. Tate <dragonstrider at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 3:35 PM, Bill Farrow <bill at arrowsreach.com> wrote:
>
>> Every time I touch a Win 7 laptop I am disappointed at all the little
>> things, like boot times,  weekly updates and patches,  pre-installed
>> crap-ware, malware, anti-virus bog etc.  It leaves you feeling icky.
>> We know better than that !
>>
>>
> I read that Macs are going the way of their predecessors with
> non-upgradeable parts, proprietary connection standards, and similar vendor
> lock-in techniques[1].  We know better than that too.  Sure it's a matter of
> time before there's a workaround, or compatible third party replacements,
> but it leaves you feeling icky.
>
> I still like ThinkPads for Linux compatibility, and under Windows, top of
> the line power management, display management, and disk backup utilities in
> Windows.  Sure there are a couple of system apps of dubious usefulness, but
> they're easily uninstalled, or turned off.  Also, the wireless chips are
> usually Intel, and integrated with the kernel very quickly.  A ThinkPad may
> cost more than a Dell or HP, but they're better put together than a Mac,
> more serviceable, and can be docked.
>
> If you're going to run Linux though, Just make sure you get Intel video
> instead of any of the proprietary video card models, and run, don't walk
> away from the "Selectable Graphics" travesty.
>
> [1]
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/14/imac_hard_drive_replacement_woes/

+1

I don't have a thinkpad but I do have an Asus U3S with intel graphics
and wireless and it works great in Linux
It actually did come with selectable graphics (nvidia for
"performance") and while I can use it to play UT2004 and
Counter-Strike 1.6 I rarely use that feature.