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Best Ultrabook for Linux?

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Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#111

Post by Sayter »

gcb wrote: post #84
bergie wrote: post #4

MacBook Air (I have an early 2011 11" with Ubuntu and GNOME3) works pretty well, though sometimes I have issues connecting to WiFi access points that work fine on my other Linux devices. Some notes about the setup: http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/11-macbook_air-the_best_computer_i...

He mention price. Didn't he? No matter how much you downvote me, it still will cost 3x more than another model for the informed consumer. I know because all notebooks i have costs at least 1/3 of the apple equivalent.

The cheapest ultrabook on Newegg is the Acer Aspire S3 at $799. That's nowhere near 1/3rd of the price of a MacBook Air.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&#3...

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#112

Post by halostatue »

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.

You must be on a non-US English keyboard; on the US English keyboard, | is between Return and Delete, with \. alt-shift-L produces Ò for me.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#113

Post by jjcm »

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 is an interesting feature when it comes to ultra-portables. It's curious that we've come to a point where the rj45 port is actually thicker than the body of some computers (the air included). If you absolutely need it, there are some USB->rj45 adapters out there.

I have both a thinkpad netbook and a macbook air. I've found that 98% of the time, I'll grab the macbook air. Runs windows and linux just fine, and the hardware feels a lot more solid.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#114

Post by excuse-me »

jjcm wrote: post #113
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 is an interesting feature when it comes to ultra-portables. It's curious that we've come to a point where the rj45 port is actually thicker than the body of some computers (the air included). If you absolutely need it, there are some USB->rj45 adapters out there. I have both a thinkpad netbook and a macbook air. I've found that 98% of the time, I'll grab the macbook air. Runs windows and linux just fine, and…

So no chance of a Token Ring making a comeback on Thinkpads then?

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#115

Post by nkurz »

glesica wrote: post #73
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…

We're talking about Ultrabooks here. Which is a "new" form factor with, probably, weird hardware to get the size/weight down. You can't install OS X on a Thinkpad, either, the hardware wasn't meant for it. So yes, as long as OEMs don't provide Linux drivers, you won't be able to install Linux on any random device without worrying about hardware issues (and I'm not trying to say that they should provide Linux drivers,…

Just like the OS X experience is trouble-free if you use a fully supported device (a Mac).

You obviously haven't tried using Bluetooth audio with a recent Macbook: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3200456

It's hard to believe, but I can honestly say that this is a case where Linux audio handling is much easier to deal with.

(I understand the general argument you're making, and agree with it, but "trouble-free" felt overly generous.)

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#116

Post by Gravityloss »

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 have the complete opposite experience, but I tried Ubuntu in 2008 (and stayed with it). I think the 8 series Ubuntu was really already a good Linux for the desktop and they kept getting better after that.

Installing for example was much easier than anything windows.

Linux was a mess in 2002 with nothing working out of the box in Red Hat, the UI was super slow (browsing the net was about half the speed compared to windows on the very same computer).

So maybe we can surmise that it got really good around 2007-2008?

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#117

Post by edtechdev »

It's not an ultrabook, but the dell 14z is only 4 lbs and thinner than any laptop I've owned before. I got it for around $400. It was the only black friday sale laptop that had an i5 but not a dual graphics card (such as nvidia optimus, which you can get working in linux, but sometimes is a pain). Everything worked flawlessly with ubuntu, and when I dual boot to windows, plenty of games work fine, too, including the new microsoft flight simulator.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#118

Post by stormbeta »

HackR wrote: post #72
tdoggette wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could never own a laptop without 3 hardware buttons, ideally set up like a thinkpad: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nVGyx975u38/SkzCHnkMbAI/AAAAAAAAGg...

You realize Macbook touchpads are buttons right? They have left click and right click with button action. It's just as intuitive as having 2 separate buttons, and even more so because of how customizable it is.

But no middle click, which is something that the ThinkPads have and something I use every day. I also prefer the track point nub, as it lets me keep my fingers on home row.

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#119

Post by msutherl »

fendrak wrote: post #104
jetsnoc wrote: post #103

I've been interested in purchasing a Macbook air for some time. The hard edge of my Macbook Pro is really uncomfortable and it looks like the Air may have this same comfort flaw. Does it?

I don't think it's as bad. I use a Pro at work, and have used friends' Airs at times. Since the Air is much thinner, I don't recall the hard edge being a problem. As always, best to just walk into a store and try it out!

My experience is that the 11" is unusable and the 13" is fine. Definitely something to test in the store!

Re: Best Ultrabook for Linux?

#120

Post by kooshball »

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.

This is just plain wrong.

http://images.apple.com/macbookair/images/design_multitouch....

The | character is under the delete key above return.

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