Recommend laptop

[Liam Proven]

On 31 May 2017 at 12:56, Gilles Gravier <ggravier at fsfe.org> wrote:
> Actually, any laptop that is full Intel chipsets works usually very
> well. I've run Ubuntu 14.xx to 17.04 on old and new machines. WiFi
> works, BT works, Ethernet works, Suspend/resume works, graphics
> acceleration works... you name it. :) And no exotic things like NVIDIA's
> Optimus chipsets to manage/ignore.

Agreed.

The main reasons I like Thinkpads are build quality -- e.g. solid
metal hinges, as hinges are a very weak point on all laptops -- and
good-quality keyboards.

I am not a big fan of trackpads so I also like the "nipple" pointing
devices. :-)

Plus they have a middle pointing-device button, which works great on
Linux without special configuration.

There are Linux tools for things like the Thinklight keyboard light,
on-screen status indicators, stuff like that.

> That said, the NVIDIA graphics drivers (Nouveau or proprietary) work
> really well for 3D accelerated graphics... :)

True. But as you suggest, avoid Optimus for a Linux machine.

> I'd stay away from anything RADEON (but that's maybe just old time bias,
> I haven't tried on newer ATI chipsets / drivers).

Works OK for me but you may need to install special drivers and tweak
the config. I have had to do this on Zoostorm (Clevo) machines.

ATI also discontinue legacy drivers -- e.g. my Toshiba can no longer
run ATI drivers on any current distro. They are unsupported on any
X.org newer than the one that came with 12.04 -- even 12.04-2 didn't
work any longer. The FOSS driver works fine, and as a non-gamer I
don't care.

But I recently reinstalled an old Toshiba Tecra M9 for a friend (also
about 10Y old) and its nVidia chip still has a current working driver.

> Again... Intel works usually 100%... Thinkpads are often pure Intel
> inside... that's why they all work. Some nice Dell Lattitude laptops (I
> have aLattitude E7240 for work, running Ubuntu 17.04 which boots in less
> than 5 seconds on an SSD, and works exceedingly well).

I am not a big fan of Dells but the enterprise-grade Latitudes can be
all right. I have had difficulty getting spares and some of them are
IMHO ugly though. For comparison, I was able to get a brand new
extended battery for my Thinkpad X200 locally, here in Brno, Czech
Republic, from a high-street store, just 2Y ago -- for a 6YO machine.

The X200 shares the same PSU connector as the X220 which replaced it,
so I can still use my spare power brick, too.

-- 
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