Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#71

Post by neverminder » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:02 PM UTC

daveguy wrote: post #38

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #29

Chromebook Pixel has been an awesome sometimes-Linux laptop for me. I'm still spending most of my time in ChromeOS, but the crouton project/extension allows me to have another linux chroot running for when I need to do work. There's a number of supported distros, although I've stuck with Ubuntu and XFCE, mostly because it stays out of my way. The fact that you can have the entire chroot or an individual app run in a…

Can anyone comment on how difficult it is to put Linux on a chromebook? Is it locked down with a need to "root"/jailbreak or is it just a matter of some startup keys? I have avoided chromebooks because ChromeOS always seemed like a limiting factor and potential privacy issue. Can someone summarize the ChromeOS -> Linux process and pain factor?

I'm running vanilla Ubuntu on it (wiped out Chrome OS) with linux-samus kernel (https://github.com/raphael/linux-samus) since the day I bought it - everything is perfect. The fact that AdmiralAsshat already mentioned, that it's the choice of laptop of Linus Torvalds himself should say a lot already.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#72

Post by b01t » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:06 PM UTC

scalesolved wrote: post #4

The 4th Gen X1 Carbon looks pretty awesome http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-ca... $1857 gets you: i7 6600U processor 16gb ram 512gb SSD 2560x1440 WQHD Screen WiGig OneLink+ Mini DisplayPort™ HDMI™ 3 x USB 3.0 microSD™ Weight Starting at 2.6 lbs (1209 g) Damn I think I might have just convinced myself here!

I really want to get this one but have a few concerns -

> Malware in BIOS preinstalled by Lenovo > Is dual core processor sufficient?

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#73

Post by neverminder » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

precision wrote: post #37

krakensden wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the pixel do the thing where your linux partition gets wiped out if you ever run down the battery? Because that scares me.

The Pixel 1 did, but not the Pixel 2.

I can confirm that. Saw the comment of google rep last year on pixel's forum answering exactly this question.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#74

Post by ckrailo » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

acabal wrote: post #51

I've been using the Razer Blade 2015 and I highly recommend it. It's expensive, but the machine itself has Macbook-level build quality and internals. The screen is great and everything works out of the box with Ubuntu. While I do have dual-boot set up, I run Ubuntu 95% of the time and it's been basically flawless. (Caveat: I haven't tried the webcam or hibernate, and I don't use the Nvidia card.) It's by far the best…

Just in case others are looking at Blades...

My 2012 blade went in for repairs several times and has the worst keyboard I've ever used on a laptop.

I don't know if they've improved their quality control any, but AFAIK they're still using terrible keyboards. Be careful and try one out before you commit!

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#75

Post by great_kraken » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:54 PM UTC

jpgvm wrote: post #7

I'm running Debian Unstable on a Macbook Pro Retina 13. Easily the best Linux box since the Thinkpad era.

How are your touchpad drivers doing? On every Macbook I've used with Linux, the touchpad was terrible, because it was missing palm detection and had awkwardness when using more than one finger.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#76

Post by jpgvm » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:54 PM UTC

lxfontes wrote: post #47

jpgvm wrote: post #7

I'm running Debian Unstable on a Macbook Pro Retina 13. Easily the best Linux box since the Thinkpad era.

curious to know the 'what works / what doesn't work' here. I truly believe this battle to be between xps13 / retina 13.

Everything I use works, hardware media keys, brightness controls etc. The only thing I am not sure about is bluetooth as I don't use it.

I am not the biggest fan of the XPS 13, the few I have encountered all seem to have hardware issues of some sort. I bought one for my partner about 2 years ago (the developer edition with Ubuntu) and it had horrible screen whine that Dell wasn't interested in fixing.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#77

Post by jpgvm » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

great_kraken wrote: post #75

jpgvm wrote: post #7

I'm running Debian Unstable on a Macbook Pro Retina 13. Easily the best Linux box since the Thinkpad era.

How are your touchpad drivers doing? On every Macbook I've used with Linux, the touchpad was terrible, because it was missing palm detection and had awkwardness when using more than one finger.

Seems fine to me but I don't really use the touchpad much, just occasional web surfing etc. I did remember it being a pain to setup customised acceleration etc for it in X.org but apart from that not too bad.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#78

Post by scalesolved » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 6:26 PM UTC

b01t wrote: post #72

scalesolved wrote: post #4

The 4th Gen X1 Carbon looks pretty awesome http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-ca... $1857 gets you: i7 6600U processor 16gb ram 512gb SSD 2560x1440 WQHD Screen WiGig OneLink+ Mini DisplayPort™ HDMI™ 3 x USB 3.0 microSD™ Weight Starting at 2.6 lbs (1209 g) Damn I think I might have just convinced myself here!

I really want to get this one but have a few concerns - > Malware in BIOS preinstalled by Lenovo > Is dual core processor sufficient?

I'm running a Lenovo S540 (the line has been discontinued but it is an ultrabook). It's processor isn't as good as the 4th gen X1 carbon you can check the comparison here: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=2608&cmp%...

My S540 has an SSD,16gb ram and the slower processor and it churns through work fine, I mainly do Java development and on top of that I use the Play Framework which compiles to both Java and Scala so it's more CPU intensive.

I can easily run one or two IDE instances alongside 10+ chrome tabs,several terminals and mongo/mysql db GUIs.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#79

Post by colsandurz » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 6:44 PM UTC

scalesolved wrote: post #4

The 4th Gen X1 Carbon looks pretty awesome http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-ca... $1857 gets you: i7 6600U processor 16gb ram 512gb SSD 2560x1440 WQHD Screen WiGig OneLink+ Mini DisplayPort™ HDMI™ 3 x USB 3.0 microSD™ Weight Starting at 2.6 lbs (1209 g) Damn I think I might have just convinced myself here!

I've got a 3rd gen and I like except for button-less mouse, the weird touch-strip for the function key. They fixed both of these with the 4th gen though.

I use Arch and pretty much everything "just works," the camera, sound, wireless, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Best ultrabook for Linux?

#80

Post by talideon » Thu, Mar 24, 2016, 7:25 PM UTC

luxpir wrote: post #68

talideon wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one problem I've had with the 9333 is with the fan, which has started acting erratically lately, causing the machine to come close to overheating. Other than that, I've had the machine for quite a while, and have been very happy with it up till the fan issues began. If/when the developer edition of the 9350 comes out over here in Rightpondia, I'll certainly be getting it.

This is partly why I'm interested in fanless models now, such as the Asus Zenbook (CA/FA line afaik). Do we need moving parts in laptops any more?

For higher performance machines where heat issues are unavoidable, we do, but the vast majority of laptops really ought to be fanless at this point, not least because moving parts are a recipe for failure.