Best ultrabook for linux? [April 2013 edition]

Post by loxs » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:05 PM UTC

w1ntermute wrote: post #52

loxs wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in European stores, I can't find one with more than 1600x900 pixels. That's too old nowadays.

Have you actually used a 14" laptop with a 1600x900 screen? When I got the X1 Carbon, I was worried that I was giving up a higher resolution screen in order to get a ThinkPad ultrabook. But I've found that even 1600x900 is actually too high a resolution for me, without scaling. For example, I've got HN scaled right now to 125%. A friend of mine has an ASUS ultrabook (the Zenbook Prime UX31A) with a 1080p screen and i…

Post by taude » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:27 PM UTC

jonnydover wrote: post #57

cjbprime wrote: post #9

I'm considering getting the Pixel and running Linux on it, but am extremely annoyed by the lack of upgradable storage. The $250 Samsung ARM Chromebook has USB3 (~100MB/s) and a fast (~50MB/s) SD card controller. The $1300 Pixel only has USB2 and a slow (USB2) SD card controller and no real PCIe slots, which means that you can never get more than ~17MB/s when trying to increase the tiny internal storage.

Honestly, the $250 ARM Chromebook is among the very best things you could do for development (in my opinion). I can use ChromeOS for when I'm not doing anything hardcore and then just open a chroot jail (via crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton ) with a full xubuntu/xmonad install when I really want to get cracking. Both open so quickly it's almost disorienting, either from start or from sleep. It's the same…

Post by jsnell » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:34 PM UTC

iisbum wrote: post #62

I've been really happy with my laptop from System76 ( https://www.system76.com/laptops/ ). Although I got the Gazelle for more horse power, the Lemur seems like it would fit your needs: https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/lemu4

Post by thelittlelisper » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:46 PM UTC

octo_t wrote: post #48

jamespo wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the sounds of your battery usage, you don't run linux on your macbook air, so recommending it is rather strange.

I run both Linux and OSX, but yes, my battery usage isn't as good under linux, but it still sits at around 5+ hours

Post by thelittlelisper » Sun, Apr 07, 2013, 3:51 PM UTC

ne0phyte wrote: post #49

thelittlelisper wrote: post #36

My favorite options are the Air (11 / 13) and Thinkpad x220. Other options include Thinkpad x230 (newer than the x220) but worse keyboard, x1 Carbon, Dell XPS, Chromebook Pixel, Asus and Samsung. I ended up buying both an Air 11 (my own money) and a x220 (my employer). Both machines are really well supported under Linux (most hardware is Intel). The only drawback is their low resolution screen, which IMHO is not a de…

Why would you use a touchpad if you have a trackpoint? Get used to the trackpoint: less fatigue, faster and more exact control of the cursor and more ergonomic since your fingers pretty much stay on the homerow = less wrist movement (unless you use your thumb).