Are any of you running Ubuntu on a laptop? What laptop is best supported by Ubuntu? Do they all pretty much have to use the ndiswrapper?
I am.
jk2addict on 2006-02-05T04:52:54
I'm running Ubuntu on my Sager NP5660 without much issue. As for wireless cards, I've have the most luck under linux with Cisco cards or Oronco GOld cards.
Ubuntu works on my laptop
grantm on 2006-02-05T05:02:29
I'm running Ubuntu on an Acer Aspire 1350. It doesn't have built-in wireless, but my Level One WPC0301 card works fine without having to mess with NDIS wrappers. Any card that uses the RALINK RT2500 chipset should be fine with the
GPL kernel driver.
Ubuntu on Laptops
n1vux on 2006-02-05T06:02:23
This comment is composed via a laptop running Gentoo.
I tried running Ubuntu on previous laptop, a used IBM T23 from a dubious source. It didn't work out so well. I think the problem was the installer didn't suggest Mobile kernel, an d I didn't know to switch to it. Possibly the laptop had defects in fan-airway or heatsink, but a major problem was the thermal=>clock feedback wasn't properly enabled, APCI problems?. CPU fried. :-(
My new ThinkPad came from a reliable source with Gentoo pre-installed, working very nicely.
One of the major upgrades scheduled for Ubuntu "Dapper Drake" 6.4 release of Ubuntu is to handle current-model major brand laptops correctly simply "out of box". Final release due 2006-04-20, iirc. "major brands" should include IBM, HP, Dell, maybe others. A ALpha/Beta release is currently available, I haven't tried it on a laptop yet. I expect this Thinkpad to be switched to Ubuntu sometime in April, maybe on final Release Candidate, maybe not until final. I'm waiting for a little more stability than an Alpha release to try it, but I intend to do Ubuntu on this laptop as soon as Dapper Drake is firmed up.
-- Bill
Ubuntu laptops
tirwhan on 2006-02-05T07:00:53
IME you can get Ubuntu to run on pretty much any modern laptop. IBM Thinkpads work really well, I'd stay away from Vaios (that's just general experience, I've yet to come across a well-made Vaio).
As for wireless, the following will work without NDiswrapper:
- Pretty much any 802.11b chipset
- Intel Centrino (Pro Wireless 2100/2200)
- Ralink RT2400/2500
- Older versions of the prism54 chipset(though there seems to be some support for newer versions as well now, check http://prism54.org/
Re:Ubuntu laptops
Qiang on 2006-02-05T15:45:06
I am using vaio PCG-R505GL, a 3 years old sony laptop. Ubuntu works right out of the box. I have also tried debian on it before. fine.
the only complain i have is that the dvd/cd combo on docking station doesn't work when i tried it with debian. haven't tried it with ubuntu yet.
overall, this vaio is a nice laptop.
kubuntu on t43
I have kubuntu running on my IBM/Lenovo T43.
It has the Intel 2915abg radio and it runs fine without the NDIS wrappers.
Of course, it's dual booted.
I see that there are a bunch of t40's for sell on ubid.com for about $615+shipping. If you're looking for a laptop that is.
I have a VAIO SR7K but I don't think I will ever by Sony again (for many, many reasons).
Then again, I think the best feature of the Thinkpad is the keyboard.
HP DV1000 series
osfameron on 2006-02-05T18:27:42
I'm running it on an HP DV1049 series, still on Hoary, and the wireless works out of the box (though the display light doesn't show anything). Various annoyances, but largely to do with my lack of linux foo I guess (I still don't think it's quite ready for "human beings", despite the marketing, though Breezy looks good on desktop and may work better on laptop too).
HP Pavilion ze5170
jmcada on 2006-02-06T02:14:52
I'm running the latest ubuntu on my HP Pavilion laptop. The laptop itself is a piece of crap. It sounds a lot like a truck and has baked my lap to a nice medium-well. Still, ubuntu isn't half bad. The only real issues that I've seen are that USB support is getting worse instead of better and that password protection on the screen saver rotation is quite flakey.
