Best combination of Linux and Laptop?

Hi,

What's the best combination of Laptop and Linux -- i.e. which distro works best on laptops generally speaking, and which kind of laptop model to buy to be sure it will be 100% Linux functional?

Asking that because I can't get any Linux distro to get 100% benefit of the Intel/NVidia combo I currently have on my laptop. The NVidia has its own CPU/RAM, and although the laptop runs pretty well without making the most of the NVidia component, had I known I would have bought another laptop with more Intel power and no NVidia dedicated card.

Thanks for advices.

 

You should look at the list of certified laptops for Ubuntu. If it runs Ubuntu you will probably have no problem with distributions based on UBUNTU or Debian like Linux Mint or Netrunner. Good luck.

http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/

 

I agree I have switchable Nvidia Graphics. And it's difficult to find a Distro that will work on the Nvidia graphics. They all work on the integrated Intel card.

 

OTOH, you could search for "Linux laptops" which come with Linux installed.

-- Tom

 

I really like Thinkpads. Other than that, if I want a discrete card, I will go for Nvidia, despite the fiasco they did with their drivers. I don't see value in a hybrid combo.
Mrk

 

I can second that by a long shot. When I first put 12.04 on an i5 ThinkPad it was shocking how fast and slick it worked. Right out of the box with ZERO tweaking after install, things worked so much slicker than the factory windows OS. Things you wouldn't think of like the touchpad, sound, display, etc... were amazing.

Also, I don't know if its BSD or pfsense itself, but I have a VM with them loaded to a ThinkPad, and it fires up slick too.

 

Trackpoint doesn't work out of the box. But I agree, you can't go wrong with Thinkpad + Intel graphics for Linux. And in general Thinkpads are the most durable work horses out there.

 

hi

I've mostly used the couple AMD/ATI, then i could not help a lot.
There is this site http://www.linlap.com
Regarding distros, i've experimented Arch, Manjaro, Mint and Mageia with no major problems.
An overview http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2013/10/12-great-linux-operating-systems-for.html

I think Linpus lite is quite underrated http://www.linpus.com/products_linpuslite.html

Another solution is to get a laptop/netbook with linux inside, generally Ubuntu,
and as an example http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/
http://www.linux-netbook.com/asus-1015e/

rgds