Linux Laptop recomendations

[TWljaGFlbA]

In a few weeks I hope to buy a laptop.

Shockingly, I am not interested in a laptop for gaming (as I have plenty of other computers to game on) but rather simply typing up some documents, surfing the Internet, maybe watching some movies, and coding (just some light PHP/XML/other web design scripting and some C++).

As I am not interested in gaming, the graphics card doesn't matter for me soo much. Also, I am only looking at about ~ $1000 as the demands for what I need this laptop for aren't so demanding, with the most demanding being compiling code that I just typed. As for laptop brands, the brand I support the most is Acer. As my LCds from them are reliable, they've been around for quite a while, more likely to support linux, etc....

A quick search on NewEgg revealed this laptop - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115173

Heres my opinion on each of the different parts, so you can see what I'm after

CPU (Athlon 64 3000+ Mobile) - good, shouldn't have any problems with that for my uses.

Chipset (VIA K8N800) - VIA open sourciezed their drivers and have good Linux support so I shouldnt have any problems throwing away the included XP pro to throw on Linux.

Screen Size (15.0) - I suppose its good enough, would be nice if I could find a similar 15.4, but 15 should do fine and save a bit on battery consumption.

Graphics (S3 Unichrome) - Not for gaming but should be fine for just doing general stuff like what I mentioned above.

HDD (80GB) - should be plenty of space

Memory (512MB) - It should be sufficent for the time being considering how well Linux scales on all types of hardware, including memory. I'll prolly throw in a GB at a later time

DVD±R/RW - Nice for reading my DVD distros, the burner is nice but I probably wont use it a whole lot as I simply network most of my stuff on my server if I need to get it to somebody

Acer InviLink 802.11b/g wireless LAN - Nice wireless LAN but knowing myself I'll prolly end up throwing in a second 802.11g wireless adapter, to help me out in some situations on the road.

And of course ill keep it up to date with fedora

I think thats about it for that information regarding that specific laptop. It looks really good to me for only $900 for my uses, the only downsides is the graphics adapter and the screen could be marginally larger.

If anyone has any suggestions at all regarding good laptops, etc.... I'd love to hear them. Thanks. If you choose a laptop I prefer it be from newegg.com simply because its easy and I purchase all my hardware from there.

[snoze]

go for IBM for stability

[imdeemvp]

Compaqs since to go great with fedora.....

[csfalcon]

check here for laptops that works with linux.

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Dell worked for me, see my signature for spec.

[moonpup]

I'd recommend on older IBM Thnkpad. I'm currently using a T30 and it works great! You can get them on ebay for a few hundred bucks. Only needed minimal tweaking. The above link is a great place to look at what people ran into when installing linux on the various laptop brands.

[TWljaGFlbA]

Unfortunately the price : hardware ratio for IBM laptops aren't the best.... and with this whole new Lenovo thing for now Im going to probably decline an IBM/Lenovo laptop.

After hours of looking around, I think I narrowed it down to two laptops.....

ACER TravelMate 4652LMi NoteBook Pentium M 740(1.73GHz) 15.0" XGA 512MB DDR2 333 80GB DVD±R/RW Intel GMA900 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115306

OR

ACER Aspire AS1522LMi-XPP NoteBook Mobile Athlon 64 AMD3000+ 15.0" XGA 512MB DDR333 80GB DVD±R/RW S3 UniChrome - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115173


These laptops are pretty much identical except for the CPU.... 1.73GHz Pentium M with DDR2 or Athlon 64 3000+ Mobile.... I havent seen any definitive results as to this 32bit - 64bit comparison.

What do you all think would be the better choice for just doing general work, coding, etc... ? Or if anyone knows of any performance comparison articles between Pentium M and Athlon 64 it would be much appreciated.

Also, I just came across this laptop - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834147100
But im not quite sure how ATI 200 Chipsets work with Linux.

So of these three laptops, what would all of you recommend and why? Thanks.

[LBmtb]

I just got an IBM thinkpad a21m. I'll let you know in a couple days how it goes :-).

[n3twrkm4n]

I have an IBM ThinkPad T43 with the Sonoma chipset and it's a wonderful machine. You can push the back of the display and there are no 'swirling' effects. It's a sturdy and light piece of machinery. And as far as the Lenovo merger, I can applaud any company who feels that they have grown too big and are willing to let someone else take over to put even more pride and consistency in their products.

And it runs FC great but I have been fighting to get the Intel Pro Wireless drivers working :-) I'm going to install FC4 tonight on it actually!

Also my laptop would have cost me about $2200 but I was able to receive an educational discount through IBM's program so it only ended up being $1600... I'd strongly suggest doing that if possible!

[TWljaGFlbA]

Where do you find more infromation on this program thru IBM.com I might be able to afford a IBM laptop if educational discounts bring down the price a few hundred or so.... Im a college student.

Anyhow, I'm looking to spend about $1200 for a good laptop.

[n3twrkm4n]

http://www-1.ibm.com/gold/portal/ser...l&page=Welcome

That should get ya going, from their main page you can navigate to the Educational sector then Higher Education and Research. But that link will bring you right there.

Select your state and hopefully your institution will be on their 'list' of places... mine was a State college so they definately had a contract. But I did not even have to show proof of attendance and there was no real verification that I'm aware of...

If you have other questions feel free to contact me, the educational site is a lot less 'user-friendly' than the regular IBM ordering pages. It's mostly 'your on your own' kinda deal when browsing laptops. So ya gotta know your models and stuff =)

::EDIT:: and on the right hand side after you select your state and institution you select the PC's for Home for Students... It's easy to miss it's a pretty small link.

[TWljaGFlbA]

Has anyone had any experience with Acer lately? I know back in the day Acer sucks but I havent had any problems with them in like the past year, but no experience with their laptops. Is it all good quality construction, etc... ? The laptop I'm looking at for FC4 now is this ACER TravelMate 4652LMi http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115306 Although I would prefer an Athlon 64, I havent found any in my $1200 price range that I liked except for that HP laptop but unfortunately due to the ATI chipset, it doesnt work well under Linux. This Acer laptop looks like it can handle my needs and I havent found any comments about it on Linux except for some guy on different forums sayign hes running RedHat 7.3 (because thats what his company uses) and he hasnt had any problems with it other than getting the Gigabit NIC working. So does anyone have any experience with Acer and/or its laptops lately? Or any comments about the Acer TravelMate 4652LMi laptop? Thanks.

[sailor]

I have a Acer Aspire 3000 running FC4...the only thing that I havn't tried is wireless (I don't use it myself).
I also didn't get a fancy video card so I can't say anything about that...all seems to be working well so far...touchpad is always a little sensitive with any distro, I have found (i mainly use a usb optical mouse, which works flawlessly)

ACER Aspire 3002WLCi $800.00
# Processor: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+
# Screen Size: 15" TFT active matrix XGA (1024 x 768)
# Memory: 512 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max)
# Hard Drive: 60 GB
# Integrated Features: CDRW / DVD ROM combo, 56 Kbps Fax/Modem
# Networking: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
# Weight: 6.2 lbs
more specs here: http://www.superwarehouse.com/Acer_A....005/ps/602558

[TWljaGFlbA]

What about the build quality of the actual ACER laptop? is it reliable, good screen, etc...

[lokeey]

I went with Gateway. LINUX works like a champ on it with no problems. Check out my specs.

[sailor]

my Acer Aspire has the wide screen (1280x800) 15.4 ...I am very happy with it..bright and good color....I think they need to work on the touchpad, when typing I can't rest my palms near it or it causes the pointer to move or click...
The battery life is only 1.5 hours(an extra battery would be a good idea)
The overalll construction looks good, it is mainly plastic and certainly won't do well in a rough environment.
I have only had it for a couple months, so I can't really comment on reliability (I have heard they are decent machines)
I thought it was pretty inexpensive at 799.00 plus tax

My desktop is a Gateway, and it does run linux well...so I would definetly take a look at Gateway too...their laptops are just a bit more expensive than Acer(at least when I bought mine)