Since this is a notebook-thread, I would be interested in 15" thin and beauty notebooks for linux. They are not ultrabooks because of 15" screen, but I really can't stand Thank you.
Best Ultrabook for Linux?
141–150 of 174 posts
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
The X220 is the nicest non-Apple small laptop I've seen in a while. It can also take an mSATA SSD, so you can load it up with a big spinning disk for media storage, and a small boot SSD for the OS/apps/etc.
Every notebook in the planet can. You don't have to a) wait the manufacturer to offer you b) pay the amount they ask
This isn't true. There are notebooks that have the slot inside but not the mSATA support.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#143See if you can find a special on a thinkpad x220 if you don't want to go the air route. Unlike the air, you can max it out at 8GB of RAM and it comes with full voltage processors rather than ULV processors like in the MBA.
I was running gentoo on my x220 (have since gone to a T420 on mostly for the higher resolution screen) and getting 11 hours battery from the 9-cell. Also would recommend the IPS option, though they've had some quality control issues with those screens. I had problems with mine and Lenovo replaced it, no questions asked. One of the best screens I have seen on a laptop. For the wireless, I found the intel 6205 to work best with gentoo. The hardware on the thinkpads is generally really Linux friendly.
It's worth noting that there's an impending ivy bridge refresh. I'm thinking an x230 might come out in the next few months.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#144One 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…
Panasonic's Let's Note line of laptops (sold as "business rugged" Toughbooks in the U.S.) has what I'd call a great trackpad, preferable to anything I've ever used, including the Apple trackpads (except for the things you can't do with it because you're running Windows).
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#145See if you can find a special on a thinkpad x220 if you don't want to go the air route. Unlike the air, you can max it out at 8GB of RAM and it comes with full voltage processors rather than ULV processors like in the MBA. I was running gentoo on my x220 (have since gone to a T420 on mostly for the higher resolution screen) and getting 11 hours battery from the 9-cell. Also would recommend the IPS option, though they…
Speaking of X230, it's worth noting that you might be able to get 1600x900 in the next version. Other laptops are offering higher resolutions, including 1080p in 11-12" in one ASUS ultrabook, and there's at least one 12.1" 1600x900 panel floating around. So that's another reason to wait.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#146See if you can find a special on a thinkpad x220 if you don't want to go the air route. Unlike the air, you can max it out at 8GB of RAM and it comes with full voltage processors rather than ULV processors like in the MBA. I was running gentoo on my x220 (have since gone to a T420 on mostly for the higher resolution screen) and getting 11 hours battery from the 9-cell. Also would recommend the IPS option, though they…
Speaking of X230, it's worth noting that you might be able to get 1600x900 in the next version. Other laptops are offering higher resolutions, including 1080p in 11-12" in one ASUS ultrabook, and there's at least one 12.1" 1600x900 panel floating around. So that's another reason to wait.
Exactly what I'm hoping for, actually. X220 was perfect, except 1366x768 a bit harder for me to be productive on.
For most programming I do it's fine as I use vim and don't need a lot of real estate...but for large projects for which I use eclipse, it was a bit painful.
Also on the way is the T430U, the 14" ultraportable version of the T420. Might be nice too. Would take a 1600x900 x230 over it any day though.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#147The 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 avera…
I've been running a T420s with LMDE for 4 months now, and the one issue that's been bugging me is battery life. Boot up the windows partition: 6.5 hours. Linux partition: 1.5 hours.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#148See if you can find a special on a thinkpad x220 if you don't want to go the air route. Unlike the air, you can max it out at 8GB of RAM and it comes with full voltage processors rather than ULV processors like in the MBA. I was running gentoo on my x220 (have since gone to a T420 on mostly for the higher resolution screen) and getting 11 hours battery from the 9-cell. Also would recommend the IPS option, though they…
I've been running a T420s with LMDE for 4 months now, and the one issue that's been bugging me is battery life. Boot up the windows partition: 6.5 hours. Linux partition: 1.5 hours.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you deal with absence of PgUp/PgDn and Home/End? I've honestly tried for 2 weeks to get comfortable with MacBook, but feel that the keyboard is simply bad.
Me too until I found that Fn+Up/Down,Left/Right do what you want. Also Fn+Backspace to delete.
Tip: You can use KeyRemap4Macbook [1] to map the stupid eject button on MBP to delete. And if you use vim, you can map Escape to Delete and vice versa. Very useful.
Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not quite the same. For example, what happens when you run out of room on a drag-and-drop operation? You're holding down the whole track pad so you have two options: add a second hand to hold the button, which can make the cursor do weird things, or start over giving yourself more room. With a hardware button this isn't an issue. That said, the Apple track pads are incredibly high-quality and I generally like them. I…
I lay my thumb on the bottom of the trackpad and hold it down, then my pointer is free to drag, lift away, reposition, and drag more. It's extremely convenient and certainly one-handed. The trackpads are also multitouch, so they handle multiple hands as sensibly as you might expect.
> I lay my thumb on the bottom of the trackpad and hold it down
That's an awesome tip. I didn't know that the Apple trackpads would do that. They're less reliable if you just try to throw a second finger into the mix, which seems to generally lose the drag and turn it into a secondary click scenario. The bottom of the pad seems to be special-cased to avoid this.