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Advice for Linux on a Laptop?
Trillian_1138 is seeking your advice on the following: "So I'm looking at replacing my aging laptop. I have a desktop running Ubuntu, which I use as a primary, and it is more than adequate for my needs. However, I'd love a small, portable laptop to use in class and on trips. I've been looking at the MacBook Pros and, more recently, the MacBooks, and was almost ready to buy the low-end MacBook and be done with it. I liked its ability to dual-book to Windows for a couple of school-related programs, but the more I thought about it the more I like using Ubuntu at home and the less reason I saw to buy a Mac if I could use Ubuntu on a laptop. This brought me to the idea of buying a laptop to use as a dual-boot Linux/Window machine, either with Linux or Windows pre-installed, and setting up a dual-boot with the other OS. Might any of you have advice, anecdotes, success stories, horror stories, or general input?"
"Please note I am not looking for a discussion on whether Linux is 'Ready for the Desktop'. I switched over to Ubuntu earlier this year and haven't looked back. As far as I'm concerned, Linux is ready for *my* desktop, which is all I really care about. This laptop is for me, not my mom. I'm not a command-line guru by any means and likes having a nice GUI, but am comfortable Googling when my DVDs stop playing after an update or poking around in configuration files to get things working. What I'm now curious about is what to expect - positive and negative - with Linux on a laptop.
I know a quick Google search yields lots of information on laptops running Linux, and I am continuing to use Google to look at information on running Linux on laptops which came with Windows, buying OS-less laptops, and buying laptops with Linux pre-installed, but I'm curious what the Slashdot crowd thinks. Is it even worth the bother? Would I be better off buying a Dell and installing Linux or buying a laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed from somewhere like system76.com or Linuxcertified.com?"
I know a quick Google search yields lots of information on laptops running Linux, and I am continuing to use Google to look at information on running Linux on laptops which came with Windows, buying OS-less laptops, and buying laptops with Linux pre-installed, but I'm curious what the Slashdot crowd thinks. Is it even worth the bother? Would I be better off buying a Dell and installing Linux or buying a laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed from somewhere like system76.com or Linuxcertified.com?"
I've done many dual boot laptops, but the last laptop I bought I wasn't in the mood for jumping through all of the hoops (especially wireless drivers).
On a whim I downloaded the vmware virtual machine software, and in less than an hour had a fully functional full color, wireless working, all peripherals working, full Xserver resolution laptop. It was WONDERFUL. And worth every penny!
What started out as an experiment for another way yielded other unexpected benefits. Suddenly I could run a fully loaded linux in the vmware server, and communicate with it from XP! Suddenly what used to require two machines I was able to do on the one.
Some of the configuration required some good indepth linux knowledge and a few google visits. If you can tweak, it's worth the investment.
Good luck. (And feel free to send e-mail if you have specific questions, I'll gladly fill you in on some of the tweaks)
Buying a laptop with Linux installed on it is like buying a car with the engine already.... no wait. Buying a laptop pre-installed is like buying a house with the furniture already.... damn.
What I'm trying to say is, there's something about linux that just lends itself to a self-initiated install. You'll have an easier time of it if you have to go through the grunt work on your own. You'll know where things are, what you changed, and you get a better pick of distros than you will probably find pre-installed.
This coming from a Debian-addict. I haven't looked at Ubuntu yet. I go vanilla Debian and add what I need for the machine I am using. I also still use windows on the desktop, but all the servers I operate run Linux. I go for flexibility. Yeah, you could use Wine or VMware as someone already mentioned, but what else am I going to do with that Windows license that came with my laptop?
-- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
Weird you should say that.
My Dell Latitude D600 is perfectly happy dual booting XP and Linux. Currently SuSE 10 and everything just works. Have had Ubuntu, Debian (Sarge and Etch), and Fedora on it at some point. Fedora works fine, but I didn't care for it. Ubuntu worked well but had issues with the Intel a/b/g card. Debian was great when it was great, a lot of work when it wasn't depending where I was in the sarge/sid the etch/sid cycle. Debian always hated my docking station as well. The current SuSE 10 install is pretty much flawless. The only thing not working is my Sony Erricson GPRS/EDGE/WiFi card and that is due entirely to my being to lazy to go look it up, and therefore haven't even plugged it in booted to Linux.
My laptop is my primary computer, for work and personal so it has to be stable and useful. I currently run about 60/40 booted to XP/Linux. For dev work both are needed and for network audits linux is a requirement. Gaming, Visio, and our ground system require windows. Between OO and picking up a copy of crossover everything else works fine whichever way I happen to boot.
Some things to watch out for that bit me here and there. Remember that with the Dell utility partition and XP installed you only have two primary partitions left and plan accordingly. What several people have said about a FAT32 partition is critical if you want to actually use you data. Watch which WiFI card you get. The Intels are the best bet. If you don't need triband, then the b/g units seem to work on more setups.
Sig? What if I prefer Glock?
Look for something 2 years old and then research that laptop. It's rare to find a new machine that will run Linux seamlessly. At the 1 year mark a lot of major issues have often been solved by early adopters and at the 2 year mark it's as fully functional as it will get for that machine.