Recommend me a laptop for Linux

September 26, 2005 2:15 AM

LinuxLaptopFilter: Can you recommend me a laptop for Linux?

I originally had a ThinkPad 600E. Yeah, the one with the chipset/soundcard/modem problem (I tried SuSE 8.1, 8.2, 9.0 and Ubuntu). Now the battery is as dead as the dodo. And it weighs a tonne. And has only one USB port. Etc.

I was hoping that I would be able to find somewhere in the UK that sold laptops with Linux pre-installed (partly because I am a novice and partly to make sure everything was working right). I even telephoned Dell and HP to find out if they sold or knew of re-sellers. No joy.

I'm after a new laptop, around the £500-600 mark, that I will be able to install Ubuntu on. It should have a CD-writer, several USB ports, a soundcard that is Linux-compatible, etc. I'm not playing games on it or anything, just running Apache, mysql, PHP, emacs, Perl, etc. I don't mind getting one from PC World if it'll all install OK, and I don't mind buying one second hand (if someone here is selling) if the battery is OK.

Also: I noticed that some laptops on sale list "bright screens". Does this mean a backlit screen so you can see it daylight? (Using the ThinkPad outside was impossible as the screen was almost black!)

posted by xpermanentx to Technology (10 answers total)

Ubuntu seems to be supported on iBooks and PowerBooks. The 12" iBook seems to list at £699.00, which I realize is outside of your budget, but it is an amazing piece of hardware. I would also suggest using OS X in lieu of Linux, as you can concurrently run OS X and an X Windows session and run pretty much and Linux application you want.
posted by qwip at 5:02 AM on September 26, 2005

qwip, do you think OS X and an X windows session would work with processor intensive stuff like real-time audio?
posted by lunkfish at 6:04 AM on September 26, 2005

There are any number of resources for info on Linux Laptops. To approach this in an easy fashion, buy a laptop that is a little out of date - i.e., the manufacturer started selling it in January 2005 instead of October 2005, or something along those lines. And use the latest version of your chosen Linux distribution that you can. That way, you're not the pioneer trying to be the first to install on the Dell 9782XYZ, and you can google for "linux dell 9872XYZ" to find the OTHER guy who was the first one to do it and put up a webpage about doing it. Further, you can do this googling before you buy the machine and see if there is anything that truly isn't supported (which should be quite rare these days, if you use the newest distributions available).
posted by jellicle at 6:20 AM on September 26, 2005

Yes, I would imagine it would work just fine, as I don't think it is being "emulated" like running Virtual PC. Underneath all the eye candy, OS X is basically a form of BSD. If fact, you can run many "Linux" programs that have been ported directly in OS X. You have to use the command line, but it works great. Look into using Fink to manage and install most of these programs. The best thing about using Fink is that if you want to get rid of it, you can just delete the /sw directory and it is gone.
posted by qwip at 6:32 AM on September 26, 2005

Although it's down right now, ubuntuforums.org has a laptop area... there might be some good resources in there.

I've had good luck with my hp and ubuntu, but it's been something of an education into how linux works to get it all functioning properly. If you want something simple, the 12" ibook is pretty nice. Depending on your location, you might be able to try out your specific app at an apple store, if you ask nicely.

Once you sort it all out, though, linux on laptops can be pretty fun... For instance, you can do things, especially with the wireless cards, that you wouldn't normally be able to do.
posted by ph00dz at 6:35 AM on September 26, 2005

The Dell (ugh) Latitude C400 is getting long in the tooth (I have one, and it's still going like a champ) but can be had for pretty cheap and there are a lot of success stories and guides to getting it to run linux.

Only 1 USB port but I just stuck a mini USB hub on it. Only complaint is that the optical drive is external. Very light, very small, reasonably attractive.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 12:36 PM on September 26, 2005

The T series Thinkpads were designed with Linux in mind. I run Libranet (which is Debian based, like Ubuntu) on a T21 with no problems.

If you go that route, I'd suggest a T22 or later. Then you can boot from USB. Earlier models have a more limited bios.
posted by QIbHom at 1:35 PM on September 26, 2005

I have a C400 that's also going like a champ, and I've been dual-booting windows XP and linux on it for about a year now. The thing's really getting beat after a year of daily work use, and it badly needs more RAM, but it's perfect for linux. I did, however, have major problems getting the Intel 2200b/g internal wireless card to work well with it.

However, that being said, the IBM T-series laptops are the gold standard for having a penguin on your lap.
posted by SpecialK at 1:43 PM on September 26, 2005

I gave up in disgust at trying to get Linux stable on my old Dell; different distributions would fail to fully support the trackpad while others had trouble hibernating.

After many dead batteries and mush time wasted I got my first ibook and haven't looked back; command line, Cvs, Vi, and Apache all came installed out of the box. MySQL was a trivial install.

For my money, Mac Zealots are a bit quick to say "it just works" (wireless was more of a hassle than I'm used to and I still can't print to my Airport freaking Express) but if you want *nix on a laptop you're missing out if you don't have someone bring up the command line for you down at the Mac store.
posted by deanj at 2:23 PM on September 26, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for the feedback everyone. I shall certainly check out the post T21 ThinkPads and an iBook. I've just decided to go and do an MSc. so I'll be extra cautious in choosing my computer.
posted by xpermanentx at 3:49 AM on September 27, 2005