[clug] Ubuntu compatible laptop

Ivan Lazar Miljenovic ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com
Thu Sep 23 20:29:59 MDT 2010


On 24 September 2010 12:14, Warren Gardner <warrenjgardner at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am having a lot of trouble choosing a laptop.
>
> I want to run Ubuntu (poss. Medibuntu). I will probably have a partition for
> the Windows that ship with the computer, at least until I am more
> experienced with linux.
>
> I intend to be using GIMP, video editing, and would like to try Blender.  So
> something that can comfortably handle that kind of work would be good.
>
> I took a liking to the TOSHIBA Satellite A500/031 in the Civic Lapyking
> store.
> https://www.lapyking.com.au/online-shop/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a500-031.html
> Priced at $1,200 down from $1,600, plus $165 for extended warranty (whatever
> that covers me for). That is right on my limit.
>
> Researching Toshiba-Ubuntu combinations turns up many complaints about
> overheating, suspend problems, and f-key issues. It appears to be an on
> going issue. Perhaps Toshiba are not interested in anything but Microsoft. I
> cannot find much on this particular model (Satellite A500/031).
>
> Lapyking are happy for me to boot a LiveCD in the store but can give me no
> information about Linux on their computers. I am not confident of finding
> potential problems during an in-store live boot.
>
> If anyone has some information on this computer, or something else that will
> meet my needs (and not die in 1yr and 1day) I would love to hear about it.

My 2c:

I don't  have a Toshiba, but both of my brothers do (one of whom uses
Fedora on a Satellite; the laptop my other brother had had the BIOS
configured to only allow Vista).  Both of them had several problems
with their graphics cards overheating, dying, etc. (NVidia mobile; not
sure if it's a Toshiba-specific problem though).  The one who uses
Fedora has had numerous Linux compatability problems with parts of it.

However, I've found that my Dell Vostro laptop (found under the small
business section) seems to work quite nicely: the only *nix problems
I've had with it are not realising bluetooth was a soft switch and
having disabled it in Windows before wiping it, and that despite being
a 64bit processor 64bit *nix kept dying.  I've had no problems finding
drivers, etc. for any part of the laptop.

Other people I've talked to in the past have also agreed that
business-oriented laptops typically have better *nix support than
consumer-oriented laptops.

-- 
Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com
IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com


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