Comment by eric_bullington | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eric_bullington | Hacker News Reader

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eric_bullington

I've used multiple laptops with Linux and they've invariably run much better than on Windows. If you've not used Linux before, you'll be surprised how much faster your laptop will run on any flavor of Linux. If you want to really fly, try any distro that runs on xfce or lxde, like certain versions of Linux Mint, or Peppermint Linux.

I'm running a sub-200 USD Acer Aspire One laptop right now on the latest version of Ubuntu. This laptop has a single-core Atom 450 -- not a fast processor. In spite of this, it runs Ubuntu very fast. I did put in an extra GB of RAM (it came with 1 GB), but I think that it would have even run well with 1 GB of RAM. The only time I even notice the operating a delay is when I load up a bloated web site, like AT&T. This computer runs faster on Linux than my other computer, a multicore machine with much faster processors and 8 GB of RAM, runs on Windows 7 (I have to dual-boot that one for work-related reasons).

Honestly, you can't go wrong. Even the cheapest modern laptops run well on Linux. But I've been very happy with my Acer Aspire One. If you're OK with netbooks, you can get the Acer Aspire One with the dual-core Atom n550, or else the new AMD C-50 with a nice on-die GPU, for around $300 direct from Acer, I think. A comparable Asus would be another good choice. Otherwise, Dell makes some "full-size" Inspiron laptops that run well on Linux in the $400-500 range.

I agree about Acer, I have a Quad core Acer of some sort (8GB memory), not even sure what model it is, it was bought about 6 months ago for around $600 and I run Ubuntu on it. It is great for developing, the only issue I have is that I've noticed its slow after you boot it up, like it takes at longer than it seems it should to open a web browser for the first time or open an IDE but after the first 1-2 min of booting up everything goes fine.

Most laptops run Linux fine, but I still think the OP raised a good question because there are some that don't. I have an Alienware m17x r3 and there are a lot of compatibility issues due to the audio chipset and the hybrid graphics. While most laptops might not have any problems, it really sucks when you find one that does.

I agree with you - how many times in the past has software that is not main stream just croaks out because of hardware and CMOS complications, especially from a licensing perspective. Going to be interesting to see how Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) for Windows changes some of the market

Reminds me of Richard Stallman talking about a 100% Open Source laptop (hardware and Bios) that he says he uses (used).

http://liliputing.com/2010/01/open-source-champion-richard-s...

product page: http://www.lemote.com/en/products/Notebook/2010/0310/112.htm...

You can also pick up a small, 64GB-ish SSD. These can be had on Newegg for around $100 right now. The overall improvement in responsiveness and boot time is impressive.

I've been considering that; built-in CF SSD, and maybe a large capacity external USB drive (5400rpm laptop HDD in a "icydock" screwless holder). The internal would be fast, hold my OS, be enough for everday tasks, and the external could be for my media storage. This would probably improve battery life as well. I seem to recall that Linux gets significantly worse battery life than OS X on Mac hardware, not quite sure why, probably keeping more things active on average due to lower hw/sw coupling.

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