Best Laptop for Linux?

[llanitedave]

I just bought the latest G4 iBook and set it up to dual boot on OS X 10.4 AND Ubuntu linux.

The trackpad doesn't work on linux (new driver for this model, apparently) and Mac's vaunted "Internet Ready" networking can't pick up my internet connection. (Ubuntu on the same machine had no trouble at all.) In addition, Apple has removed Appleworks in favor of the less capable -- and must purchase -- iWork. I'll be returning it to the store this weekend.

My question is this: What is the best model laptop in the $1000 range for running with Linux? If it's not an Apple, there's no need to dual boot.

I'm leaning towards an HP Pavilion. Any suggestions?

[AlexK]

my suggestion would be to go for anything other than a compaq. I have installed linux on toshiba based laptops with pretty much all hardware working with exception of card reader and winmodem.

Have a look at linux on laptops to see other people's experiences with installing linux on various laptops.

[onlinebacon]

Another vote for toshiba here Although, you could always try to get an Ultra Sparc 64 bit lappy

[truoc444]

i work with a lot of used laptops and i'll just say avoid the pavilion like the plague. i've worked on more of those than any other machine desktop or laptop. oh and the presario is junk too. what you want is a business class laptop not a consumer grade one. consumer grade ones are for grannies that use their computer to make the bulletin for church on sunday.

[davebardsley]

My compaq armada 1750 installed/runs GNU/Linux just great with the peripherals operating well. I am compelled to admit however that my sample size is statistically insignificant and thus your results may vary.

[truoc444]

i've successfully installed linux on the compaq EVO N600c (my current laptop) a dell latitude C400 an ibm thinkpad T23 a compaq evo N400c and even got wifi working wit many distros but i have a generic atheros a/b/g mini pci wifi card that i've moved from laptop to laptop. i bought the card on ebay for $20 and it works great. i will say i've liked the N600c the best.

[Roxoff]

i work with a lot of used laptops and i'll just say avoid the pavilion like the plague. i've worked on more of those than any other machine desktop or laptop. oh and the presario is junk too. what you want is a business class laptop not a consumer grade one. consumer grade ones are for grannies that use their computer to make the bulletin for church on sunday.

Yet I've got an HP pavillion, AMD64 3200+, 1Gb RAM, 60GB HDD, cost me £800 (about $1200) and the only think on it that wont work in Linux is the Broadcom wireless network, and that's only because Broadcom are too introverted to release proper drivers.

Personally, if I were looking for a laptop today specifially for linux, I'd just make damn sure it has an nVidia graphics chip rather than an ATI one, because the drivers work better, and I'd select one with a linux-compatible wireless network.

[sdrey]

For those who are looking for a laptop to run linux.....

I have tried numerous laptops with numerous distro's, and I can tell you the
best combination for painless install is to run Ubuntu on a Dell Latop.

DELL seems to have quite a close relationship to the guys from Ubuntu, and the load is virtually painless....

High-res video worked right out of the box... no modification required. This is big since most other combinations give low-res video, and it can be painful, if not impossible, to get high-res working.

Wireless modem can be made to work relatively easily by Ndiswrapper. If you just want the modem to work, and don't care how you get there...this is the simplest way.

[techieMoe]

Thank you for your interest in helping, sdrey, but we discourage answering threads that are very old. This on is running on 3 years. It's doubtful the original poster is still looking for a laptop at this point.