Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Best Ultrabook for Linux?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 174 posts

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#121

Post by chadillac »

not technically an Ultra book but I've been a huge fan of the Thinkpad X series for sometime.

Currently have an X220, works great, the X1 is also nice and some of the Ideapads are more "consumer grade" but would fit nicely into the "Ultra Book" territory. With Thinkpads you never really (or I haven't ever) run into issues with *nix due to the amount of love they seem to garnish from the tech community in general.

Between the cozy keyboard and the overall durability of the Thinkpad line I keep coming back to them year after year.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#122

Post by rbanffy »

icebraining wrote: post #64
btipling wrote: post #55

The various warnings about drivers, touchpad and wifi in these answers is almost amusing if not a little depressing. Remember the promise of the Linux Desktop? I remember giving ubuntu a good try in 2006, but after nightmares with xorg configs, flash, audio drivers and a clipboard that couldn't copy and paste across different applications I eventually switched to mac. It doesn't look like things have changed much in…

If you're willing to restrict yourself to a couple of models like you have to with the Mac, then you can get a laptop that comes with Linux, like those from System76[1]. The only reason you have warning is because people want to use Linux on machines not supported by the manufacturer, but guess what: the same thing would happen with OS X. [1]: https://www.system76.com/

I just got myself a Dell v131. Very happy with it. Small, slim and fast enough, with easy access to expansion. Not a Macbook, of course, and not an ultrabook, but half the price.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#123

Post by hack_edu »

eof wrote: post #19

Not an ultra; but I was looking for something similar, I think to what you were looking for. Small, but still useable, light, fast, good build quality and hopefully cheap. I did a alot of research and watched slickdeals.com regularly for deals and ended up with an Asus 1215b with an E-350 processor. It comes with 2gb of ram, but I put another 4gb stick (22$) to bring it to 6; and replaced the hard drive with an ssd (…

Just so you know, the Asus 1225b is out and has the E-450 at (I think) the same price.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#124

Post by hbien »

chadillac wrote: post #121

not technically an Ultra book but I've been a huge fan of the Thinkpad X series for sometime. Currently have an X220, works great, the X1 is also nice and some of the Ideapads are more "consumer grade" but would fit nicely into the "Ultra Book" territory. With Thinkpads you never really (or I haven't ever) run into issues with *nix due to the amount of love they seem to garnish from the tech community in general. Bet…

I'll second this. I'm currently using the X220 with Gentoo and it works perfectly except for the trackpad (which shakes the cursor in some areas). I have to use the keyboard mouse pointer. I was also concerned about price and managed to get mine used on Craigslist.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#125

Post by maxs »

aeeeee wrote: post #15

Last December I bought a ASUS U31 (U31SD-A1 Intel Core i3 2310M 2.10GHz 13.3" 4GB Memory 640GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M) and I absolutely love it. I don't know if the same model is available but I would definitely look into it if you can find it. For Linux I use Mint and you although it uses the Optimus stuff for video bumblebee works great. You don't need to run in NVidia mode to get 3D effects either I only use b…

Another vote for ASUS U31SD!!! (I am also excited like a teenage girl about this laptop!)

I bought it for $650 from Amazon almost a year ago. It is not really an Ultrabook. But, I think it is perfect. The screen size is a 13", it is incredibly light, yet still has a full-size keyboard, all ports you will ever need, and quite A LOT of power (4Gb RAM expandable to 8Gb, 2 cores, 4 hardware threads). I use Ubuntu with Unity, with a lot of browser windows, a heavyweight IDE (NetBeans), lots of terminal windows and it works very snappy. It also never gets hot. The battery life is terrific.. 7-8 hours!

I didn't buy an SSD yet, but I intend to, in a few years when they get cheaper.

I dual boot Windows for gaming, and I've even played some relatively recent video games (like Just Cause 2, Mass Effect 3), with maxed-out resolution on an external monitor. Works like a charm.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#126

Post by rbanffy »

btipling wrote: post #55

The various warnings about drivers, touchpad and wifi in these answers is almost amusing if not a little depressing. Remember the promise of the Linux Desktop? I remember giving ubuntu a good try in 2006, but after nightmares with xorg configs, flash, audio drivers and a clipboard that couldn't copy and paste across different applications I eventually switched to mac. It doesn't look like things have changed much in…

I've been running Linux on laptops since 2004 or so. Used Debian, then Ubuntu and never had any bad hardware issues. The worst issues would require connecting the ethernet cable and downloading missing modules (that couldn't be distributed on the CD).

I just got myself a Dell Vostro v131 n-series that came with Linux preinstalled. I updated it to the latest Ubuntu and everything works flawlessly. Just about any average notebook will run Linux well, unless it's specifically designed not to. My second option was an HP netbook, but HP insisted I'd have to buy it with Windows if I wanted the 768x1366 screen.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#127

Post by pudquick »

lordlarm wrote: post #95

I see a lot of comments here recommending a Macbook Air and I wanted to inform you, just so you are perfectly aware, that this computer does not even have an ethernet input. Perhaps not a game changer, but it gives a picture of what kind of features Apple has scraped away in order to reduce it's size. Personally I would choose a Thinkpad, were I you.

In addition, most non-OS X operating systems boot on Intel Macs using their EFI BIOS emulation layer, which doesn't quite give you the native hardware control that booting straight EFI does.

I work with enterprise deployed Macs and I'll tell you that most Linux distributions, when booting Macs via EFI BIOS emulation, do not properly control CPU and GPU power and tend to run them at full tilt. Apple's Bootcamp drivers for Windows address this issue but Apple hasn't released equivalent drivers for Linux.

The end result is that, if you intend to use Linux multiple hours a day, nonstop, on a device as space-constricted as an Air, with CPU and GPU running full tilt - yes I know when running in BIOS mode a Mac's fans stay permanently at max speed - you are going to COOK that little unit.

I've seen it more times than I care for.

I'd -really- suggest looking at a different machine if this is your use model.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#128

Post by lamnk »

raphinou wrote: post #94
whalesalad wrote: post #61

One thing that has always killed me in regards to non-Apple laptops is the touchpad. Everyone does it wrong. By this I mean that they're small and not very sensitive, the attempts to integrate scrolling are janky. Anyone care to comment on the current status of that? A lot of people dislike Apple but the subtle things like this are what keep me here. It's so simple to scroll and click and right click with just light…

But then the keyboard on Mac laptops is a hell to work with. The | character is not even represented on the keyboard, and requires the combination alt-shift-L. Edit: this is on a non-US keyboard, belgian or french azerty layout.

Completely agree, I had a MBP and a MBA with German (qwertz) keyboard and Apple's layout sucks big time.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#129

Post by gcb »

4ad wrote: post #11
orlandu63 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary I suggest either Intel or ATI graphics because unlike nVidia, Intel and ATI actually contribute to their open source drivers.

On the other hand, NVidia proprietary drivers actually work better than ATI drivers. I suggest Intel because of the lower power consumption.

Read the ati support list before buying an still closed source driver board.

Nvidia may seem better because they only have close source drivers. Compare it with catalyst, and they are pretty much the same (except you will not get dual monitor easily with Nividia)

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#130

Post by gcb »

lordlarm wrote: post #95

I see a lot of comments here recommending a Macbook Air and I wanted to inform you, just so you are perfectly aware, that this computer does not even have an ethernet input. Perhaps not a game changer, but it gives a picture of what kind of features Apple has scraped away in order to reduce it's size. Personally I would choose a Thinkpad, were I you.

Ethernet? I can live without. But page down key? Backspace and delete? F keys? Mouse buttons? Price?

And that's the superficial stuff.

Post reply on HN