[Techtalk] Linux and Laptops

[Megan Payne]

> On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 06:01:50 -0700 (PDT), Mag Mu <maggmu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> > Does anyone have a good recommendation for a linux
> > compatible laptop?  I am getting a new system and I am
> > excited to put linux on a laptop but I am afraid I
> > might run into driver/compatibility issues.  I don't
> > want to do a dual boot either.
> >
> > thanks!!
> >
> > Mags
>
> Once you've narrowed it down to a few choices, if you know people who
> own the laptops you're interested in you might try booting them from
> one or more of the various Linux live CD's and see what works and what
> doesn't.  It's obviously not a foolproof method as it depends on the
> live CD to detect the hw and load the correct modules, but at least
> you'll know that the bits that do work from a live CD can be made to
> work with Linux.  A local store might let you do this too, but I don't
> know how they feel about random people coming in and booting their
> computers from random CDs...  If you go to a LUG, maybe you could
> check out some of the members' laptops also and ask what their
> experiences have been.
>

PC Club (in Seattle) allowed me to boot Knoppix on their systems when I was looking for a new laptop.  I did have to explain to them what Knoppix is and promise that I was not attempting to wipe their hard drive.

BTW, I ended up buying a Dell 5150 and have had a hard time with it. The nVidia drivers are closed source and I haven't been able to get the network card working to download them.

Megan