On 11/13/06, Jonathon Conte <thesicktwist@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >From: Donald E Haselwood <dhaselwood@verizon.net>
> >Reply-To: slug@nks.net
> >To: slug@nks.net
> >Subject: [SLUG] Cheap'n good laptops for Linux
> >Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:31:40 -0500
> >
> >What is a good used, cheap laptop that will run Linux? I vaguely
> remember
> >that there were some laptops that gave all sorts of problems getting
> Linux
> >up
> >and running (was it Dell because they were cutting corners on hardware to
> >keep costs down?). So, more importantly than what is the best, what
> should
> >be avoided.
> >
> >Don
>
> If you are seeking a laptop with a built-in wireless adapter, try to find
> out which wireless chipset is used before you make the purchase. The
> Atheros
> chipsets have good support and will work out of the box with many distros.
> I
> believe that the Intel wireless chipsets also works well with Linux.
>
> Broadcom chips (which are *widely* used) do not have decent Linux support
> yet and you may end up pulling your hair out trying to get one to work.
> Yes,
> there is a reverse-engineering project underway (bcm43xx) but it is still
> far from mature. While it certainly may be possible for you to get this
> chipset working, at this point in time it is in your best interest to go
> with something else that has better Linux support.
I happen to use the a broadcom in my hp. mainly because it was a simply a
better card than the intel pro b/g card that I got from the same model
hp. Broadcom worked the best for me. But anyway I been using the driver
since its inception when it was really buggy but not it stable and kismet
works great.
There is no reason to turn down a laptop just because it has a broadcom
chipet for the wifi.
If Free Software is important to you and/or you don't want to have to deal
> with proprietary video drivers then get a laptop with Intel, VIA, or ATI
> (Radeon drivers for models up to 92xx work well, newer Radeon models have
> experimental 3D support so avoiding cutting edge ATI) video. _Avoid
> NVIDIA_.
>
> I'm using an IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop here with Ubuntu and everything
> (sound,
> video, wired adapter, wireless adapter, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, special laptop
> keys,
> suspend-to-HDD, suspend-to-RAM, lid close) works beautifully. I have never
> tried to use the modem so that's the only part I'm not sure about.
>
> Jonathon
>
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