# most functional linux/gentoo laptop/netbook

## dirkfanick

Hi!

I'm thinking about buying a laptop or netbook to install gentoo?

Does anyone have suggestions for a well supported one? Btw. I think I'll try a one with nvidia-chipset.

Bye buy,

dirk

----------

## Pearlseattle

Netbook:

With my EeePC 1005HA everything practically worked out of the box. It's small, light, the keyboard is good and the battery lasts forever, so it's great if you have to travel a lot.

On the other side the screen resolution is quite low and the GPU + CPUs are reaaaally sloooow... . And I really hate the touchpad (so stupid - it has no edges + the buttons are really hard to press).

So, mixed feelings here.

Notebook/laptop:

I use since many years a HP 8710p with a Nvidia Quadro NVS 320M + T7500 2.2Ghz and I am very very happy with it. My colleagues are as well mainly using HPs and I never heard any complains. This model is outdated, but if I would change notebook now I would buy again a HP.

I had a Toshiba a few years back and the GPU was continuously overheating and the fan was doing a lot of noise. Then the fan of the GPU broke down, I ordered a new one, installed it, but the GPU (still nVidia) was still continuously throttled back (super-slow graphics) and then I threw it away.

And yeah, I prefer nVidias GPUs too as their driver support (closed source) in Linux has always been perfect - had a lot of problems with ATI and Intel stuff is just too slow.

And before you buy the notebook check especially if the WLAN is supported - that's always been for me the major problem.

Bye!

----------

## Ion Silverbolt

If you can wait, I'd get a dual core AMD based netbook with the C350 APU.  You'll have better compile times with it compared to an atom based netbook. The Nvidia graphics have a slight performance advantage in games. Otherwise, both systems will handle 1080p playback on hdmi out just fine.

The HP model is out already. Other models from Asus, MSI, Acer, and Toshiba are coming out soon.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Mini&series_name=dm1z_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/Mini/dm1z_series

Engadget Review: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/17/hp-pavilion-dm1z-with-amd-fusion-review/

PC Mag review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375736,00.asp#

----------

## Pearlseattle

Wow Silverbolt - that HP Pavilion dm1z looks fantastic!

And the Passmark CPU score for the AMD E-350 CPU is 822 vs. the 303 points of my old Atom N270! And the screen res. is 1366x768 - that's great!

Thx a lot - will keep as well an eye on the netbooks using the E350 CPU.

----------

## Ion Silverbolt

I would be sold on the dm1z if not for the touch pad. It has great sound which is rare for a netbook too. 

I'm leaning towards the MSI U270 when it comes out, but I might go with the Asus model if it has some decent overclocking options.

U270 Video Preview: http://bestnetbookreviewz.com/2011/01/msi-announces-u270-amd-fusion-powered-mini-laptop/

Asus 1215B Pic: http://bestnetbookreviewz.com/2011/01/asus-eee-pc-1215b-is-an-amd-fusion-powered-netbook/

----------

## Pearlseattle

Thx! I like the PgUp/pgDn keys that the MSI (and the Asus?) have on the side of the keyboard. I'll probably discard the asus if the buttons are as hard as my current eeepc (they look identical).

----------

## ssteinberg

Probably not what you are looking for:

I bought a new Asus G73JW. Core i7 740, nVidia M460, 12GB RAM, C300 128GB SSD + 0.5TB 7200 HDD. Replaced the Atheros Wifi crap with Intel 6200.

A few pm-util scripts later and power managment, suspend and hibernate all work splendid. 

All the laptop function keys work, including adjustable keyboard backlight (requires custom ACPI handling scripts), and I turn it off automatically with screensaver or battery power.

Nearly everything works out the box with 2.6.37 kernel, sound with the subwoofer, bluetooth, WiFi, ethernet, USB2. Only trouble so far is the USB3 port which gets recognized but doesn't detect my USB3 external HDD. Should be better with a later kernel.

Depending on your needs, somewhat pricey, but very powerful, superb full HD HannStar display, great looking machine. Surprisingly good USB laser mouse and excellent Targus backpack included, makes carrying around this quite large and heavy laptop much easier, and saves me from buying a backpack for University.

----------

## orvtech

I just pulled the trigger for a dm1z, any recommendations about replacing the wifi card? how is the OEM wifi card support under linux?

----------

## Drasica

I have always had good experiences with Thinkpads. They are quite durable as well!

----------

## Suicidal

Dells are ok if you stay away from the broadcom wireless.

My favorite combination is nvidia:video broadcom:Ethernet Intel:wireless.

I would say pay less attention to brands and more attention to the hardware and whether it USA decent Linux drivers.

----------

## MrFluffy

 *Pearlseattle wrote:*   

> Netbook:
> 
> With my EeePC 1005HA everything practically worked out of the box. It's small, light, the keyboard is good and the battery lasts forever, so it's great if you have to travel a lot.
> 
> On the other side the screen resolution is quite low and the GPU + CPUs are reaaaally sloooow... . And I really hate the touchpad (so stupid - it has no edges + the buttons are really hard to press).
> ...

 

I have a wind u130 which as far as I can tell shares a lot of similarity with hardware with the eeePc's. I had the same oversensitive touchpad with no edges, in fact you could touch the outer case NEAR the touchpad area and move the pointer. However, Ive managed to get rid of that with setting my INPUT_DEVICES="evdev synaptics" and recompiling X, and now it seems that the synaptics edge detection is working well and it feels a lot more linear in operation. The touchpad itself is nice, however the buttons are mechanically awkward to click but I assume they will wear in with a few thousands clicks on them, Ill just keep using screen and let my wife use the gui to run it in  :Wink: 

I made a page in the gentoo wiki for the MSI Wind U130. I have the 3 and 6 cell batteries, and battery life is pretty good 3 hrs on the 3 cell and about 6 on the bigger one. I like the way the suspend works nicely after some tweakery for encrypted filesystems and swap, and the fact that almost all the hardware works as is with a bit of messing round with enabling staging drivers for the card reader and wifi (which seems really sensitive for weak signals), even the buttons work, although I haven't got accelerated intel gma graphics working yet, still using the vesa display and the sound seems a little quiet to me but Ill fix that and document it. Its a great little mythfrontend for watching stuff in odd places too  :Smile: 

I have a acer aspire 9600 portable (its not really a laptop, it has a full size keyboard) and I had to get into the buttons and setting keycode behavior, and the remote control on that was a hardware device which presented as a keyboard and couldnt easily be reprogrammed or remapped.

For the choosing a laptop on innards, Id go with choosing one on build quality also, Ill never buy another acer after my 9600 no matter what chipsets they stuck inside, thinkpads are great, hp business laptops are well bit although Ive had a couple of the home ones die a premature death.

Quality extends past the chipset in use right the way to the quality of the hinge design, how well the screen is 

suppported, the design of the antenna for the wifi and bluetooth (it makes a huge difference) and other such things which matter equally well. Having a great chipset and spending one day a month replacing the power jack because its in a prime location for damage is a very dull experience. But I'm sure this will enter into your choice strongly and when you go reading about laptops thats generally the thing people discuss on the more mainstream generic websites so I'll leave it to them.

----------

## Suicidal

As far laptop/netbook batteries, they only last ~2 years regardless of whether you use them or not. So don't waste the money on extra batteries unless you are going to be frequently using both.

----------

## Satoshi

If I may take advantage of an already existing thread...

What do you guys think of the Asus EeePC 1215N: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=HrglRhH8D60Rmlv3

It's meant to be very portable and have a great battery life, plus the Nvidia Ion is a welcome plus.

Does Nvidia Optimus work under linux?

This is, for various reasons (like processing power, casing, colors, battery life, etc) my favorite pick so far. It has, as far as I've seen, almost everything I need:

Very portable (small, light, good battery life, etc)

Matte case that won't be full of fingerprints when you use it

FullHD-ready

Good screen resolution

Somewhat powerful processor (for a netbook)

This is a netbook I'll be using for the entire day at college (won't be on all the time, but still, I want it to be on from 8AM to 6PM, but since there are power outlets at my college, this isn't such an issue). 

I'm seriously thinking of buying it.

How do you guys think this will perform under Linux? (probably will have to give up Gentoo on this one, though, not sure Atom would handle it nicely).

EDIT: Apparently (https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-847504-highlight-ion2.html) the nvidia ION2 support on Linux is seriously lacking, so that's a real showstopper for me. Pack that with the glossy screen and the -- according to reviews -- lousy and loud keyboard, and that netbook doesn't look like such a good choice anymore.

Do you guys have any suggestions for netbooks that fullfill my needs or opinions about the 1215N?

----------

