Laptops for Linux

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Sun, Feb 26, 2006 at 09:06:10PM -0500, Dominic Bonfiglio wrote:
> I am shopping for a new laptop, and I of course plan to use Linux for my 
> operating system. Do all chipsets/motherboards work equally well with 
> Linux? Has anyone in the community had particularly good or bad luck 
> with certain manufacturers?

ATI chipsets have been almost a nightmare for linux users so far.  Clock
running double speed, and other weirdness.

Intel generally works just fine, assuming your kernel is newer than
your chipset (obviously).

Nvidia has in general worked pretty well (I haven't had any trouble with
them).

Via tends to work great too (I also have had no problems with these).

I haven't messed with SIS since my 486.  I haven't heard any horror
stories though, so they are probably OK too.

Wireless chips on the other hand are for the most part not supported.
Some can work with ndiswrappers (if you get the right version of
everything).  Intel wireless chips are generally supported quite well,
broadcom isn't (yet.  I think someone is trying to reverse engineer the
drivers).

Len Sorensen
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