[NTLUG:Discuss] Laptop choices

[Steve Litt]

On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 09:21:31 -0600
Bobby Wrenn <bobby at wrennest.com> wrote:

> I need to get a new laptop. Any suggestions on current models that
> are fully compatible with Ubuntu and derivatives?
> 
> I'd like to get one with Win 7 and dual boot since I still have a
> couple of M$ only applications. I will be doing some non-linear video
> editing so it needs to be powerful enough for that. But I am also on
> a tight budget.
> 
> Any suggestions are appreciated.
> Bobby


Hi Bobby,

I can't give you a model, but I can tell you what I've been doing the
last 6 years:

What I do is buy a laptop from Costco. I back up the first ten or so
megabytes of /dev/sda, and the restore partition, so if worst comes to
worst I can "put it back" to the way I bought it. Then I shrink the
Windows partion, make a swap and root partition with the freed space,
and install Linux. If Linux installed, I just got a great Linux laptop
without paying the system76 surcharge. If the install fails, I put back
Windows, bring it back, and say I didn't like it because it didn't run
Linux, and it's refunded cheerfully, without a "restocking charge". No
shipping, no RMA, just walk into the store and get your money back. I
think you have 90 days to make up your mind.

The one downside to my way is that, to obtain tech support, you need
some sort of Windows dual boot, because tech support depends on your
running various windows utilities, even if it's an obvious hardware
problem.

HTH,

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance