Laptops for linux

Thanks, not much sign of cost savings there.

Scandinavian keyboard! So I'd need to budget for a keyboard replacement at my local laptop shop - €100 maybe?

Windows costs bugger all to vendors these days and the effort in setting up Linux configuration is written off over less units, so you'll find it near impossible to find a cost saving on a consumer laptop

Business kit sold with FreeDOS installed (to justify that it has an OS and is a complete computer for some countries tax or tarrif rules; nothing else) can be cheaper; but you still need to install Linux yourself then.

If you are absolutely certain you can't install it yourself, that 100 you're budgeting to replace a keyboard (which may not be anywhere near enough on a new unibody laptop - you need to wait until there are second hand parts available) will pay someone to install it for you.

If you want something that's going to have good Linux hardware support, the best machine is always a two year old high end Lenovo. They're the default machine the developers of most non-Windows OSs use, and hence have good driver support - after a while anyway.

The only time I had a "problem" was 3 laptops ago - a Dell with a then fairly new Intel CPU - the hardware function keys didn't work with the "stable" kernel (kernel was too old) but installing the rolling release kernel fixed it.

Since then I got another new Dell - no problems - and a fairly high spec Asus Vivobook recently and again everything "just works".

You can get some great deals on ebay, or maybe I was lucky :)

I had to buy a new battery though, €40 euro.

Had Win/linux on it but now Win/Android!

The last new Laptop I bought yonks ago was a Samsung for €650. Garbage build quality.

This Dell Business lappy has excellent build quality, a great quality matt screen, very solid.

I've seen this model in some of the tech stores in the city but with much lower specs.

I love you can use a smartphone style charger with it via the PD port.

Can't see myself ever paying over €300 for a laptop ever again.

Greetings from Ubuntu-land! I got a cracking Lenovo Thinkpad from a German seller. It came with a Swedish keyboard, so I ordered a replacement UK keyboard from China. I got the lad in the local phone shop to swap the keyboard in today, and I'm left with a fairly cracking machine.

The power lead/connection is a bit different to what I've seen on previous Thinkpads - it looks like a USB-A shape.

The mains plug was European, so I used an adaptor socket. Can I just use any local Thinkpad laptop mains lead instead, or are they different specs at all?

I'm finding my way around Ubuntu. I tried OpenShot for video editing, but had a couple of inconsistencies. I'm trying Hotshot now, so we'll see how that goes. There one strange inconsistency, where the file manager shows a folder on my USB drive to be empty, but when I search for a particular file name, the actual files show up - which is a slight PITA.

Thanks all for the inputs that brought me along the road. It certainly seems like a relief to get away from intrusive MSFT environments.

Thanks, it's the mickey mouse plug at present. I think there's a few lying round in the graveyard in work, so I'll see if I can grab one.

Any advice on the whether antivirus is necessary for an Ubuntu home laptop please? I'm seeing conflicting messages online.

Ive run ClamAV on a number of systems over the years, never detected a virus. The architecture of Linux doesn't really lend itself to being vulnerable to viruses to begin with.

I suppose if we all went around with our linux boxes logged in as root, and used root as the main user it would be a different story.

or not crafty enough

Similar for me. I've been running GNU/Linux since 2008. Never any issue with viruses. No AV installed. :-)

I bought a laptop on adverts ie it s good enough for running the apps I use chrome browser YouTube media player vlc ,mp3 player cost 150 euro , I don't play games on it . Someday I,install Linux on it as it would give a longer battery life . You,ll need at least 500 euro of you want to use it for gaming or as your main device to access the internet .I read in pcpro an article about the ibm Thinkpad laptop eg it's easy to fix all the parts are designed to be replaced easily .you can buy a great laptop for 800 euro but in 3 years time it might be hard to get parts .Some company's are better than other .pcpro.co.uk has good articles on laptops detailed

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