Turion 64 X2 or Core 2 Duo for a Linux Laptop?
Dear Interweb (really Linux on Laptop people),
Do you recommend a Turion 64 X2 or an Intel Core 2 Duo in a laptop?
My main aim is to make it run Fedora with all its bells and whistles (and hope it lasts longer than 2 years; the older IBM can’t do Xen in FC-6).
Are Dell’s a good buy? Are their three years comprehensive warranty worth buying (much like its a necessity for the Apple stuff)? Is the Inspiron or Latitude the more affordable versions of the Dell? Why can’t I see Firewire in their specs? Whatever happened to good ‘ole PCMCIA slots?
Size isn’t really a factor, I’ve become used to lugging 15″ wide screens for a while now, even during travel.
One thing I’ve found funny with the Dell website – I can’t untick MS Windows or even MS Works. I apparently need to have them. Can I return them without hassle?
One thing I have noticed is that HP does allow you to get laptops without having windows installed (at least their business laptops). They have freeDos as an option which allows you to save $75. (assuming you are in the states, Canadians don’t have the option to customize laptops on hp.ca :( which is stopping me from buying one)
As for graphics cards, I would recommend intel 950 as they have fully open source drivers for them and should handle aiglx fine (but probably not any hardcore games)
Go mugshot :)
Friends don’t let friends buy Dell. At least in my experience, those closest to me have bought Dell in the past and have had troubles – broken this, that and the other… even if the service is good, why do you want something that breaks?
The Core 2 Duo will have more battery life, and is pretty wicked fast.
also, the intel chips get free software drivers, go intel. nothing like that for AMD chips atm… which makes them rather unsuitable for linux workstations.
I would definitely go for a Core 2 Duo, it’s honestly a great chip and if I was in for a new machine it would be my choice. Like Matt I would go for something with an Intel graphics chip on it as well, they are well supported and Intel actually works with the community to provide good drivers.
get an R-cubed computer
it was recently on the cover of and written about extensively in Linux Journal, January 2007 edition for being one of the first laptops to be 100% linux compatible, and I believe they mentioned it working very well w/ the mainstream distros they tested, FC6, Suse, Ubuntu, etc.
here:
http://www.shoprcubed.com/
sorry i should prolly mention the model they described lol:
Model: LS1250, based on ASUS Z33Ae platform
LS1250 Information and Specs
* Vendor: R Cubed Technologies.
* URL: http://www.shoprcubed.com.
* Model: LS1250, based on ASUS Z33Ae platform (usa.asus.com).
* CPU: Pentium-M 760 (2.0GHz).
* Chipset: Intel 915GM.
* RAM (maximum): 768MB DDR2 integrated (1GB).
* OS options, as tested: SUSE 10.1, Windows XP Professional (dual-boot). Also available: Fedora Core, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, Windows XP (Home, Media Center or 2003 Server).
rcube are asus notebooks… so if you are fine with asus, rcube is the one who does everything for you :)
i would recommended core 2 duo, and perhaps either IBM or HP (i start to like HP more nowadays, so perhaps my next personal notebook should be a HP, if not a Mac) :)
dell used to be good, but today it is perhaps the same as or slightly worse than IBM (which means, not as good and solid as before).
The difference between the latitude and the inspiron laptops is that the latitude are aimed at business where as the inspiron aren’t. So in the Inspiron you tend to get things like media keys, card readers etc and on the latitude you get things like smart card readers and finger print scanners. As mentioned the Intel 900 series graphics chips are well supported but means you have to go the Core Duo (2) route. The r-cubed mentioned is ancient.
Generally I find the 3 year warranty is worth it. If something goes wrong it turns out much cheaper.
As for windows returns I know Dell does offer a limited range of machines with the option of Linux, not sure which models and whether there’s a laptop in them.
As for firewire the Latitude D820 has it (as does the D420 I think), but the in between model (the D620) doesn’t which is weird. I have a D620 and its well supported under Linux.
I’ve never been a fan of Dell but their latest Latitude Dx20 series are really nice, I just wish they’d put an SD slot and a camera in them. The other make to look at which i really like are Acer which do both Intel and AMD variants.
There are different versions of the Core 2 Duo. The T5500 does not support hardward-assisted virtualisation (IVT), so better avoid it. The most common Core 2 Duo laptops come with the T5500.
Definitely the Core 2 Duo. Graphics on Turion laptops tend to eat babies.
Also, xen on a laptop == world of hurt. No suspend, no cpufreq, basically none of the laptop features that you actually _want_
[…] Original post by byte […]
I’d recommend http://www.system76.com. They sell great systems that work with Ubuntu so you’re not paying an MS tax. They have a built-in webcam option too like the macbooks. I’m assuming you can easily wipe off Ubuntu to replace it with FC6.
I bought an Turion some months ago and I am very satisfied.
Yes, it is true, that Intel-Notebooks have a better battery life, but that does not really matter… Turion-Notebooks are much cheaper – for that money you can better buy a second battery which doubles your battery life!! BTW the CPU is definitly NOT the main-battery-life-eater!!!
My battery life will reduce by 50%, if I use the brightest monitor-setting.
Well but there was only one single disappointing part of the notebook*: the wireless card. I personally replaced it by a one with linux support, but only with a intel-notebook you can get sure, that wireless will work with linux… as they use the intel-wireless-cards of course!
as most wireless cards are in mini-pci-slots it’s no problem to buy an atheros, intel, ralink or whatever card… and they do not cost much!!
* every(!) other part works… graphic card, card reader, quick buttons, tv card, IR Remote, just everything (and with cpufreq I can choose how fast my cpu may run :D ) yeah this thing is really amazing!
Well I hope I could help you…
Philipp
Hey guys I don’t know how cool it is to also ask a question in response to a question, but here goes, and by a person who already has a system but looking for linux:
I just got a Macbook and would like to install a version of Linux on it. It has an 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking Red Hat or Ubunutu or Gentoo…
Thanks,
Amy
hi amy, i would go for gentoo personally. i’m using gentoo at the moment and it’s great. Except that some apps take slightly longer to compile and you have to configure quite a bit of stuff. But the time spent configuring will allow you to learn more about your system and make the OS tailor made for your system =) The package manager is quite easy to use.
I just surfed a website on benchmarking of 32bit and 64bit core 2 duo processor (it can run in both modes) and 64bit seems to be faster most of the time. personally i think that gentoo and opensuse provide better 64bit support. do check out http://gentoo-wiki.com/Main_Page for gentoo configurations
regards,
kevin