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Linux Laptop
What’s the best laptop for running Linux? I want the Wi-Fi to work, the thing to sleep reliably, and so on. In the past I’ve favored Thinkpads, but would willingly shift to something else if it had better behavior with Linux.
Posted by windley on December 28, 2006 9:44 AM
Comment from real matt at December 28, 2006 10:42 AM
What issues have you had with a thinkpad? Everytime I see someone asking for a recommendation for linux laptops, thinkpads top the list. If you go with all intel (including graphics card) you shouldn't have a problem. There is also a mailing list dedicated to supporting linux on thinkpads, as well as a wiki [1].
The only drawback to a thinkpad, might be the higher price they demand (and the newly acquired windows button (thanks lenovo)).
-matt
ps - I've heard that linux works on those macbooks pretty well too...
1 - http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
Comment from Jeremy Zawodny at December 28, 2006 10:55 AM
I've had great luck so far with my T43P running Ubuntu.
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/007148.html
I've seen good reports from others on many thinkpads as well. Of course, this is the 5th Thinkpad I've owned in my life, so it's hard to imagine using a non-Thinkpad when I pay for it with my own money.
Comment from Phil Windey at December 28, 2006 11:30 AM
Sorry if I was unclear, Matt. I'm not dogging Thinkpads at all. I haven't had any issues with them. It's just that it's been 4 years since I bought a laptop to run Linux on, so I'm wondering what's the current recommendation.
Comment from john taber at December 28, 2006 12:47 PM
I've run several types. Dells are fairly compatible but suspend never worked for me and I've had quality issues. My latest is a cheap Lenovo 3000 N100 that has perfect compatibility with Ubuntu Dapper. I bought it as a quick temp replacement, but keep using it since everything just works. So my next will be a Thinkpad - want a 15" 1400x1050 without the glossy screen - but they don't seem to offer it.
Comment from Richard K Miller at December 28, 2006 12:57 PM
I haven't tried these, but I recently heard of a company called System76 that sells only Linux-powered hardware:
http://www.system76.com/
Comment from Dion Dennis at December 28, 2006 6:09 PM
Given the steep depreciation of notebooks/laptops, I've acquired the occasional habit of buying (and then tweaking) off corporate lease equipment. Right now, I have Ubuntu Dapper 6.06 running on a Dell Latitude C400, and the subsequent release, Edgy Eft 6.10, running on a Dell Latitude D400. Everything works (the on screen fonts needed a bit of fiddling with), but I've found Ubuntu to be easier to work with than either Fedora or SuSe.
For running Windows programs, you can use either Wine or CrossOver Office (Codeweavers). In my experience, both major interfaces, KDE and Gnome, are fairly resource intensive. At least one gigabyte of RAM is a reasonable assumption, for optimal performance.
As for the hardware, I've found the Dells easy to work with because they are so "standard" and modular. It's easy to upgrade or replace parts (hard drives, memory, screens, keyboards) and these replacements, via Ebay, are relatively reasonable, in terms of supply and cost.
Over the summer, I learned enough about Linux to leave XP and Vista, far behind. Six months on, my sentiment has only deepened, about MS products: With pleasure I say, "Hasta La Vista."
Comment from Ubuntu Utah at December 28, 2006 9:35 PM
I'm happy to see so many people are using Ubuntu. You might want to check out the Ubuntu Laptop Testing section (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam) to see what is / isn't supported well. It has a long list of notebooks so you're sure to know what you're getting into.
And, as always, if you have trouble with Ubuntu here just let me or my team know. We're officially recognized and we'll do whatever we can for you.
Comment from Phil Windey at December 30, 2006 8:32 PM
Just a test ma'am
Comment from Mark at January 3, 2007 1:49 PM
The biggest problem with Linux on older laptops (Thinkpads included) is the issue of wireless access. The internal WiFi (if there is one) often isn't supported by Linux and few external (USB or PCMCIA) WiFi LAN cards work well with Linux without a lot of fiddling (especially 802.11g) - many simply don't work period. I frankly haven't found the perfect card.
In the past IBM has been pretty good about ensuring that Thinkpads worked under Linux. I have several with good experiences for each. I am not so sure about Lenovo ...
Comment from Gary at January 3, 2007 9:02 PM
In the last year, I've run both Linux and FreeBSD on three different recent-model laptops: a Thinkpad T-42, a Toshiba Satellite and an Acer Aspire. The Thinkpad worked very well in both systems, and the Toshiba and the Acer worked badly in both systems (the Acer didn't have working wireless drivers, and the Toshiba didn't have working drivers even for the wired network card, and it crashed frequently).
My personal laptop is a Mac, and that's not likely to change anytime soon, but if I were buying a second laptop to run either Linux or FreeBSD, I doubt I'd even look past the Thinkpad.
Comment from bitratchet at January 4, 2007 1:12 AM
I'm very happy with my System76 Gazelle, Pentium-M, 1GB ram, wifi.
Comment from mrgigabyte at January 31, 2007 10:13 PM
There are a few. The easiest install I have played with is ubuntu 6.10 desktop (or Kubuntu) . The Sony Vaios work nice but the function keys and memory stick adapters arent usually working out of the box. Emperor Linux( www.emperorlinux.com ) sells linux based laptops fully working but they are a little pricey.(around 500.00 over budget. And they also have convertibles. I prefer thinkpads. As I know they work 100%. (<-- the newer ones)I also read that the Asus L-150 works 100% but it isnt the fastest on the market.rcubed sells it in the linux version (www.shoprcubed.com ). I would stick to the AMD 64 bit variances if you want an up to date speedy laptop . And get one with Nvidia drivers. Try to stay away from toshiba though their nvidia drivers are a bit dated and they take their time updating them. Also toshibas nvidia cards arent usually the same as the baseline nvidia cards for some reason. But to be fair that was a satellite pro I bought 3 yrs ago. The drivers are still goofy (even for a windows box). Hope this helps.
Comment from marinasanchez at February 25, 2007 4:27 PM
Linuxcertified laptop would be also worth considering - http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html
Comment from Linux Laptop Guy at March 4, 2007 11:21 PM
At TuxMobil you can find more than 6,000 Linux installation guides for laptop and notebooks ( http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html ).
Comment from Simran at March 13, 2007 12:05 PM
Visit Linux-on-laptops for guides.
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/
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