[CALUG] Linux Laptops

[Bryan J. Smith]

It's been years since I've had even minor issues with Linux, and
I have to go back before 2001 to see major issues.  Then again
I've always purchased notebooks with at least either a nVidia
chipset (work "out-of-the-box", full GPL drivers in the kernel) or
"established" (i.e., been around at least 6-12 months) Intel chipsets.
So I highly recommend a nVidia chipset if you go AMD (it's hard to
get anything but Intel for Intel).

For video, I'm biased, but I only do nVidia with the closed source
driver.  A lot of notebook vendors do all sorts of things to their features,
output, etc... with other vendors (including Intel) and it's really
embarrassing when you're at a client site and you can't get the VGA,
DVI or HDMI output to work.  Since 2001, nVidia changed that with
the "Go" video (both discrete and chipset-integrated) and they force
OEMs, contractually, to not muck around with the components or they
get dropped ... hard.  I hate my company-issues Levono T60 because
I reguarly have output issues with external devices (among other
things), and the 3rd party tools for Intel chipset only solve a few of
them.

My mainstay notebooks have been as follows ...
- [2001-2006] Toshiba Satellite 2805 (i845 + original GeForce Go)
- [2006-2008] HP Pavilion dv9z (nV MCP51 +  GeForce Go 7600)
- [2008+] Gateway P-7811 (iP45 + GeForce 9800M GTS)

Every since unit has worked, including wireless, suspend and resume.
In the case of the P-7811, hardware works better under Fedora than
Windows Vista (which has various issues, always has).


-- 
Bryan J  Smith           Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:         http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
Red Hat:  That 'other' American software company built on
open customer selection of options and value, instead of
controlled distribution channels of forced bundle and lock




________________________________
From: Ben W <bigmojo74 at gmail.com>
To: calug at unknownlamer.org
Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 11:42:05 PM
Subject: [CALUG] Linux Laptops

I'm looking to get a laptop setup running Linux without spending $500+ (netbooks aren't my thing.) Does anyone know any reliable places to check laptop compatability with Linux? I'll probably pick up an older full sized model and honestly my experience with Linux on laptops in the past has been less than productive what with lack of drivers in some cases. I'm looking to start a hardened build for Defcon 18 and walking with my current laptop running 7 is out of the question :-).