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Best brand of NEW laptop to install Fedora 20 on

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  • 02-01-2014 6:37pm
    #1
    gugleguy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,959 ✭✭✭


    So, after clambering out of the shock realisation that there is currently no brand like DELL in years on by, who offer laptops for sale with Linux on them. With Fedora experts in mind, what is the best laptop to choose, to install a fresh Fedora image - Dell / Asus /
    Second question : Is there any crap brand I should steer clear of?
    Answers please, thanks in advance!


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    #2
    FSL
    Registered Users Posts: 1,456 ✭✭✭FSL


    Have a look at PCSpecialist.co.uk they supply custom laptops without an OS. I've had two from them and they are both fine.


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    #3
    hooplah
    Registered Users Posts: 570 ✭✭✭hooplah


    Stay away from any laptop that comes with an Nvidia Optimus video card or don't bother to pay the extra to get the card.
    It's not very well supported and whether you want to use an external monitor, play games or just increase your battery life you'll be searching through lots of forums figuring out what to do.


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    #4
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 13,999 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    I have read of difficulties with some HP implementations of UEFI.


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    #5
    Dermot Illogical
    Registered Users Posts: 3,131 ✭✭✭Dermot Illogical


    I have an Acer desktop which came with what I eventually found out was a Windows-only UEFI implementation.
    I had to do a BIOS upgrade before I could get my OS upgrade to work.

    I'd be staying away from Acer laptops on the assumption that they may have repeated their stupidity across their product range.


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    #6
    hooplah
    Registered Users Posts: 570 ✭✭✭hooplah


    There's a post here on the Guardian's webpage that might be interesting for you. The short version is that he reckons Thinkpads are reliable for linux support.
    http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2013/dec/13/linux-laptops-should-you-avoid-buying-windows

    Dell sell a laptop with Ubuntu installed. If you went for similiar components the you could be fairly certain you would be ok: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?~srd=true&sk=ubuntu&scat=prod


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    #7
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,334 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    hooplah wrote: »
    There's a post here on the Guardian's webpage that might be interesting for you. The short version is that he reckons Thinkpads are reliable for linux support.
    http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2013/dec/13/linux-laptops-should-you-avoid-buying-windows

    Dell sell a laptop with Ubuntu installed. If you went for similiar components the you could be fairly certain you would be ok: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?~srd=true&sk=ubuntu&scat=prod
    Some thinkpads have nvidia's optimus which, as was mentioned already, you can make work but it's messy especially when you try using multiple monitors. It's certainly not an install & play option.
    I've had a number of thinkpads since they came out in the 90s and I currently have a w520. I think this is the last thinkpad I'll get - for the first time ever I've had a lot of problems with a thinkpad. I think since ibm sold them quality has suffered. That, or I was just unlucky this time.

    If I had to choose now I'm not sure wat I'd buy - with uefi & optimus the industry is making it much harder than it used to be to run linux. I had a dell (inspiron e6500 I think it was) prior to this thinkpad and was pleasantly surprised by the quality & more importantly the ease by which linux installed - everything was recognised and worked out of the box. If dell are selling a version with ubuntu support I think I'd look closely at it.


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    #8
    syklops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,966 ✭✭✭✭syklops


    hooplah wrote: »
    There's a post here on the Guardian's webpage that might be interesting for you. The short version is that he reckons Thinkpads are reliable for linux support.
    http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2013/dec/13/linux-laptops-should-you-avoid-buying-windows

    Dell sell a laptop with Ubuntu installed. If you went for similiar components the you could be fairly certain you would be ok: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?~srd=true&sk=ubuntu&scat=prod

    It may have something to do with the fact Red Hats QA department are all issued Thinkpads. Even then they don't always work, but the T400/500 series should be ok.

    Edit: Im writing this on Fedora 20 on a thinkpad.

    Edit2: My work laptop is an Alienware M17x and it's UEFI implementation and Fedora are not good friends. Very embarrassing the first day of work, they have hired me for my Linux-foo and I can't get the damn laptop to boot.


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    #9
    dalta5billion
    Registered Users Posts: 1,034 ✭✭✭dalta5billion


    I have a Dell with Optimus graphics - generally it's not a big deal, except for external monitors. Intel HD graphics are great, and I don't game, so it's fine.


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    #10
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,334 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    dalta5billion wrote: »
    I have a Dell with Optimus graphics - generally it's not a big deal, except for external monitors. Intel HD graphics are great, and I don't game, so it's fine.
    Yeah, the integrated graphics on the modern intel chips are all you need for the modern desktop... assuming you don't game.

    Are you using the nvidia card too dalta5bilion?
    I've used ironhide & bumblebee (at different times) on the thinkpad to manage optimus.
    If you only plan to use the intel graphics it's still worthwhile installing one of these just to powerdown the nvidia graphics and save battery - although the w520 model of the thinkpad I have will allow you to disable the nvidia card in the BIOS which is very handy.

    Anyway I guess the point is,if you don' use the nvidia card why pay for it!
    It would be better to get something without.

    Is your Dell, dalta5billion, one of those that comes with linux installed?
    Just curious if Dell just install a bog standard ubuntu or do they specificially configure it for the hardware purchased.


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    #11
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 13,999 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    I thought Dell had stopped providing devices with Linux pre-loaded ...... not that they provided anything locally anyway.


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    #12
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,334 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    Johnboy1951 wrote: »
    I thought Dell had stopped providing devices with Linux pre-loaded ...... not that they provided anything locally anyway.
    I've no idea to be honest I was talking about dell pre-installed systems purely because someone else suggested it and added a link.

    Following that link leads to a US offering ok - but it seems to be available on the Irish version of the site too. I haven't tried ordering mind!

    13" Touchscreen - not sure how valuable that would be in development.
    256GB SSD
    Haswell based i7-4500U processor

    Seems pretty basic beyond that for a €1,200 +vat&shipping price tag though


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    #13
    gugleguy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,959 ✭✭✭gugleguy


    I'll post a final outcome with a pic here, in 3 weeks. might'nt use Fedora as preinstall os at all. Expect update before February.


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    #14
    Stuxnet
    Registered Users Posts: 3,735 ✭✭✭Stuxnet


    Im ordering one of these System76 laptops
    https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1

    built for linux, so everything will work out of the box no matter the distro

    LAS reviewed 2 of them recently



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    #15
    dalta5billion
    Registered Users Posts: 1,034 ✭✭✭dalta5billion


    croo wrote: »
    Yeah, the integrated graphics on the modern intel chips are all you need for the modern desktop... assuming you don't game.

    Are you using the nvidia card too dalta5bilion?
    I've used ironhide & bumblebee (at different times) on the thinkpad to manage optimus.
    If you only plan to use the intel graphics it's still worthwhile installing one of these just to powerdown the nvidia graphics and save battery - although the w520 model of the thinkpad I have will allow you to disable the nvidia card in the BIOS which is very handy.

    Anyway I guess the point is,if you don' use the nvidia card why pay for it!
    It would be better to get something without.

    Is your Dell, dalta5billion, one of those that comes with linux installed?
    Just curious if Dell just install a bog standard ubuntu or do they specificially configure it for the hardware purchased.

    Came with Windows 8. Using bumblebee. I haven't used the nvidia card at all (nothing I do, films etc look bad on Intel graphics, so why waste battery?). 'Tis great. I don't have it, but Dell's Sputnik project seemed to just make Ubuntu run nicely on that particular hardware.


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    #16
    croo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 1,334 Mod ✭✭✭✭croo


    I guess my point is - nvidia hardware is rarely cheap so why spend on it when you won't use it.
    Plus, you only have to read these forums to know that beginners find the whole bumblebee thing complicated and even I, a 20 year user of linux, am left wondering sometimes... has the nvia card be switched off? Because it is possibile to misconfigure it such that you use in intel graphics but the nvidia gpu is still running away in the backgound wasting the battery needlessly.

    I find when you start plugging in external monitors (I have two) that the built in gpu cannot handle it. Now to make things work it gets tricky and means creating your own custom xorg files. For sure,you can make it work but it's hardly plug & play and after 20 years I simply couln't be arsed any more... in the early days you'd hand configure every X setup but now I just want to get on and use linux to do my work without spending weeks configuring every bit of hardware. And until recently it was mostly there, then came optimus and it was followed by uefi both steps backward for linux from my perspective.

    The dell ubuntu machines i linked above look pricey to me.


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