Linux and Laptops

[CoolioG]

This is my first post on this forum

I posted this on the linux.com forum but got no reply so here we go.

Anyways, I currently duel-boot Ubuntu and Windows Vista on my HP G50 Laptop (Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo 2.0ghz and 4gb of ram). Are there any distros that run better than Ubuntu for laptops? If so, are they easy to install so I can duel boot (easiness ranging from partitioning a drive and installing to a graphical interface inside Windows much like Wubu). Are they good for connecting to Wi-Fi networks? Do they come with a 64-bit version (If my laptop needs it)?

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Ubuntu is one of the best distro for new user and it should run very fine on your Laptop.
Most of Distrowatch.com top ten distro will run fine on your machine but could you tell us what problems are you facing in Ubuntu?

[CoolioG]

Hi and Welcome !

Ubuntu is one of the best distro for new user and it should run very fine on your Laptop.
Most of Distrowatch.com top ten distro will run fine on your machine but could you tell us what problems are you facing in Ubuntu?

There are no things I really dislike about Ubuntu. I was just wondering if there were any Distros better than Ubuntu for laptop users. Thanks for you help.

[devils casper]

Check this Poll on Fav distro for New Users.

[reed9]

Better is a relative term.

Most distros have comparable hardware support, with a few differences here and there and most distros have a 64 bit release.

Beyond that, whether your run Fedora, OpenSuse, or Ubuntu, GNOME is GNOME, KDE is KDE, and so on. The large things are mostly similar, the small things make the distro.

The only way to tell what you will like to is try a bunch of different distros and see.

[bigvoo]

I hate to be such a cheerleader..BUT linux mint 7 is so good right out of the box. I've installed it on 7 different machines of all makes and model, and wireless has worked right away, with no hassle.

[nujinini]

I hate to be such a cheerleader..BUT linux mint 7 is so good right out of the box. I've installed it on 7 different machines of all makes and model, and wireless has worked right away, with no hassle.

Hello!

Had some good experiences with Mint 7 too!

[CoolioG]

Your such a great cheerleader lol

[PRM2643]

I'm big on Ubuntu (or Kubuntu if you prefer KDE) It is very adaptable and I have not had any issues installing it. I have it as sole o/s on three comps and run a dual boot windows/ubuntu as well.
I just "inherited" a Hp dv5 pavillion laptop. It's original owner had decided it was useless, as it had picked up some bug which was crashing Vista every few minutes.
I has a bit of trouble getting Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) into it initially, because the pc kept crashing, the unerlying dos was corrupted. Fast forward: once Ubuntu 9.10 was loaded the pc immediately found and hooked up to the wireless network. This was new to me with 9.10. Prior distros required me to load ndiswrapper and wifi radar first. Nice. Of course with any Linux distro you will, depending on where you live, have to go and fetch things like codes and libraries to play cd's, dvd's listen MP3, watch flash video etc. Ubuntu makes this fairly easy. 99% of what you need is found on the Medibuntu homepage, including instructions for setting up and using repositories. As a matter of fact trying to get macromedia's flashplayer going without the Medibuntu repositories approaches impossible. Do NOT go to macromedia's site unless you like compiling tarballs yourself, and doing a lot of debugging.

another plus for Ubuntu.. the support. Community developers know that many Ubuntu users just learned to say Linux last week, they are very helpful and not condescending as some of the more advanced user groups can be.

at any rate the laptop runs like a racecar now. all it really needed was a good blowing out and a non-microsoft o/s I can see only a few very limited areas where dual boot is needed. Most users will do fine with just Linux. If you really want to keep windows in the machine you can also simply run Ubuntu from a live cd, with out installing it at all.