

Ask YC: Which notebook/laptop do you use (+ suggestions)? - rob

I currently have a MacBook Pro and love OS X and its architecture, but I was looking to purchase another notebook to run Linux (yes, I know I can do that with my MBP) and wanted to see if any of you had any recommendations.<p>I'm looking for something cheap (i.e., around $1,000) that looks decent, such as the Lenovo R, T, or X series. Obviously it'll have to be able to run Linux, too (probably Ubuntu).<p>Suggestions?
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lux
Is your MBP old? Why can't you just save that money and put a bit of it
towards VMWare Fusion? The extra savings could come in handy for something
else, especially if you're in the startup game :)

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chengmi
I couldn't agree more with this. You could also look into VirtualBox as a
virtualization solution.

You might not want to choose this route if you want to use X windows because
personally, switching back and forth between desktops is just plain annoying
(and last I checked, Seamless mode only works with Windows). Also, if you're
going to be testing hardware on linux, you'll probably be better off getting a
new machine. But for all other cases, virtualization is the way to go.

My current setup is a Macbook with an Ubuntu 7.10 server VM for development
(nothing beats apt).

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pivo
You could run the OSX X server instead and get seamless mode that way. It's
free too.

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omnipath
$1000 for a laptop is not cheap. $400 for a laptop is cheap. At that price,
you could literally buy a macbook and just install ubuntu on it if you wish.

I personally have a macbook pro, too, but just couldn't be bothered to add
ubuntu to it, so I bought an old compaq off of craigslist for $350. Duo Core,
2gb ram, and 80 harddrive.

Now I have a laptop just for os x programming and cross-platform programming,
and linux/(in the future)xp testing, minor programming as well.

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procrastitron
I would suggest one of the new sub notebooks that comes with Linux pre-
installed. The ultra mobility would make for a better companion to your
MacBook than having another full sized notebook. And, as an added bonus, you
don't have to worry about driver support.

Personally, I've been pretty pleased with my OLPC XO, but that's mostly
because I use it as an ebook reader all the time. If I just wanted a laptop,
then I would have gone with the EeePC.

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nostrademons
Acer. I've got a 3.5 year old Travelmate that was only $1600 when I bought it
(probably a lot less now). The headphone jack _just_ gave out (and it's still
good for mono, I just lost stereo) and I've had no other problems with it. By
contrast, the Sony Vaio I had before that had lost its headphone jack,
Ethernet jack, and CD-R by the time it reached 18 months. There are occasional
duds (the first unit I got was DOA), but I bought it on my former boss's
recommendation and he's owned a string of Acers with very good reliability.

It also ran Linux fine except for the wireless, and that was because the
Pentium-M chipset was too new at the time to have full-featured Linux drivers.
I'd imagine that that problem was corrected long ago. And I like how Acer
doesn't load you down with bundleware - my laptop came with just enough
software to use all the hardware features, and none of these applications that
I didn't want.

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dkokelley
I had a similar problem with my Toshiba Satellite M100. I could only get mono,
but I had to do some strange stuff to get that to work (it could only be
plugged in half way and held at a certain angle). As it turns out, it wasn't a
hardware thing at all, but a software thing. I reinstalled the audio drivers
and I got my headphone sound back. You might be able to do something similar.
Goodluck!

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jgrahamc
I use a MacBook Pro with the highdef screen as my only machine. For multiple
OSes I run VMWare currently with Windows 2000, Ubuntu 7.04 and the OLPC
operating system. I wouldn't waste my time with another machine, since the MBP
has two cores you can just use one for you Linux installation and have plenty
of horsepower left for the Mac.

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notauser
I have a MBP running Linux, following a PowerBook running Linux, and would now
recommend against Mac hardware.

Apple have a nasty habit of changing out parts in the middle of a production
run. That is fine if you are running OS X, but very bad if you end up with a
part with no Linux drivers. I ended up with a DVD drive that can't even read
data from out of region disks and a wireless card revision with flaky support
when other people who bought the same model at the same time have no problems.

The M1330 laptops from Dell look pretty nice, are compact (13" screen) and are
very good value. I tried one out a few weeks ago and liked the screen. Plus
they come with vendor support for Ubuntu and it's not a bad idea to vote with
your wallet to encourage that kind of thing :)

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statikpulse
The M1330 is the one I'm leaning towards. You can get them with Ubuntu
installed direct from Dell (<http://www.dell.com/ubuntu> or
<http://www.dell.ca/open> in Canada).

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dag
For some reason I've had to say this a lot recently:

If the machine is important for work then don't get a consumer model.

The XPS and Inspirons are consumer models. If something needs to be replaced
the tech support people (soon Philippines based, if you haven't read the news)
will tell you that they'll send a tech in 3 to 5 business days. There's no
international service and depot service takes longer still. Before you buy an
XPS or Inspiron ask yourself if you can live without it for a week.

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justindz
Lenovo Thinkpad T61 widescreen.

Pros: biometric scanner is cool. Good performance. Not too heavy for being a
large, wide machine (certainly no Air). Good for mobile coding and design work
when coupled with a widescreen monitor as a secondary display.

Cons: was unable to get mine with non-integrated graphics = suck. Vista device
support was good, but had to update driver on wireless which was totally non-
operational as shipped. Vista itself might be considered a con.

I installed Wubi at one point and everything worked with Ubuntu from the get
go.

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dkokelley
I have a Toshiba Satellite M100 that runs Ubuntu just fine. This machine is
about 2 years old (ancient in laptop years, I know) but still runs fine. I got
it new for around $1300. A similar model purchased today will run you easily
under $1,000. I have a 14.1" screen, 1.25G Ram, Core Duo @ 1.66GHz, ATi x1400
graphics card, and it runs Ubuntu just fine. It also runs Vista though it was
made for XP.

The media buttons also work in Ubuntu, but the fingerprint reader and remote
control don't, unfortunately. I can live with that though.

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dangoldin
I use the Lenovo X tablet for Ubuntu 7.10 and it works great - installation
was a breeze and the wireless worked right off the bat.

Not sure why I got the table functionality though.

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Zak
Thinkpads are great. I'd avoid the R series unless you're looking to include
your laptop in a weight lifting routine, but the T and the X are nice machines
- and you can get certain versions preloaded with SuSE instead of Windows
(unfortunately only with integrated graphics) for a little less money.
Thinkpads aren't what they used to be, but they're still tougher than average,
with magnesium frames and waterproof keyboards.

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misterbwong
I'm partial to the X-series. I have an old IBM (pre-Lenovo) Thinkpad x31 and
it has served me well for several years. I can't speak to the quality of
Lenovos but I've been hearing good things about the X-series.

That said, I don't see why you would need a new laptop just for Linux.

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mixmax
Second that - I have an x21 that has served me 8 hours a day for 5 years. It
just keeps on ticking.

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sanswork
I had a Thinkpad X series before I got my MBP and I loved it. It was light but
powerful enough and installing Linux was a breeze.

That said given the choice I'd stick with my MBP and just tripleboot(already
have vista installed for testing)

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brlewis
My Lenovo T42 runs Ubuntu great, but the 40s often have motherboard issues, so
only get one of these if you are also getting warranty service. I hear the 60s
are better, but don't know what current prices are on that series.

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blender
A little more than $1,000 (at least in Canada) but we use Toshiba A200-AH9
laptops running Ubuntu. Intel wifi just works. 9-cell battery. Only downside
is the resolution if you don't use an external monitor.

Cheers

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bct
I'm very happy with my Thinkpad T60. I got a big discount for buying it with
Visa: <http://www.visaperks.ca/visaperks/>

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inovica
You're crazy :) Buy a second hand MacBook and run it on that. If you love OS X
its the way forward. I run VMWare and various OS on my MacBook Air

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aykall
If you want something around $1,000 why not a macbook with a student discount?
You can buy the white one for $890 if I'm not wrong.

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white
What is the sense to run Linux on Unix platform? What tasks are you doing that
make you want Linux also?

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ucdaz
Thinkpad T42 and R51 both with OpenSuSE

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PStamatiou
macbook refurbs starting at $799..

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rob
I don't like them. I had one.

