Help me find a good laptop

[ubuntu_demon]

I think you'll have a hard time finding a <13.3" notebook for 1200EUR...
I just want to give you a link of a Danish company that builds and sells notebooks all around Europe, Netherlands included. Their smallest one has a 14" screen, but the prices are quite reasonable:
www.zepto.com

You can buy them without any OS installed (thus not paying the Windows tax). This model look nice:
http://lu.zepto.com/Default.aspx?pag...HwR8IWVmThfdAw

Nice hunting!

PS: I have an Acer Aspire 2012 and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have never heard of zepto and I want an A brand laptop.

I have no idea of Ubuntu works good on zepto laptops. I don't want to spend a lot of money and ending up having a laptop which works poorly with Ubuntu.

When I googled for 'ubuntu 6014W' I found some danish? links. Maybe there are some people who have very good experiences with Dapper or Edgy but I can't read danish.

[ubuntu_demon]

I want an A-brand laptop. And I want a US-english qwerty keyboard.

I’m willing to spend about 1200 euros on it which is a LOT of money for me. I want a small laptop with good performance and good battery life and I want it to work perfectly with Ubuntu (including wireless and suspend/hibernate)

I forgot to explicitely mention that I want a small core duo laptop with a screen that’s smaller than 15″.

Here's a list of some possible models. First I need to find out whether they work perfectly with Ubuntu.

* 13,3" macbook (T2400;1GB;60 GB;intel GMA 950)

I have read stories about heat problems. This doesn't sound very positive to me.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/MacBook
http://desrt.mcmaster.ca/macbook.xhtml
http://bin-false.org/?p=17
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hajk/
https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu...484/comments/2
http://www.mactel-linux.org/wiki/HOWTO
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=225621

* HP Pavilion DV2085 (T2400;14″ TFT;1GB;120GB;GF7200)

No dedicated video memory for this laptop. See :
http://www.nvidia.com/object/go_7_series_techspecs.html

nvidia doesn't list the GF go 7200 in it's support cards :
http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_18897.html

I can't find any review of Ubuntu on this laptop

This laptop doesn't look very interesting right now.

dutch link for prices :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/14185...)-prijzen.html

* Asus A8Jc (T2300E;14″ TFT;1GB;100GB;GF7300)

regarding the videomemory it seems to be 128 dedicated + 128 mb shared

There are multiple models but between these models.

There are multiple A8Jc types and I'm not exactly sure what the differences are but I guess they all use the same chipsets.

A8Jc-H033H looks best on first look.

dutch link for prices :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/4...&orderSort=asc

More general information about Asus A8 laptops in dutch :
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...6///?limit=999

More information (regarding Ubuntu on this laptop) :
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AsusA8Jc
http://www.willempen.org/asus-a8jc-on-linux/
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showpost...13&postcount=9

* Asus S62J-H044 (T2400,14.1",1 GB , 100 GB, geforce7300)

-"barebone" which means I can customize it, I don't have to pay for windows and they build it
-optionally with 2 GB ram for 1268 euro (where as it costs about 1600 euro for the macbook with 2 GB)
-Compared to the A8Jc this laptop is a bit more expensive but it comes with a faster processor and without a couple of things : windows, a bag and a mouse.
-I can't find test information about Ubuntu on it

Pictures :
http://dump.johnvh.nl/images/S62J.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-S62J-T2600-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://www.geared2play.com/store/pro.../s62j/s62j.htm

More information :
http://geared2play.com/phpbb/nfphpbb...opic.php?t=578
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/rese...eng/283358.htm
http://www.laptops4u.nl/cmsdownloads...d_by_Intel.pdf

More information (dutch but probably understandable for non-dutch people) :
http://www.laptops4u.nl/info/s62j-h044-1011.html

More dutch links (not Ubuntu specific) :
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ssage/26145652
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ssage/26125237

* Dell XPS M1210 (T2300;12.1″ TFT;1GB;60GB;intel GMA 950)

The differences from the standard model I selected :
1 year On-site service
US Intl - (QWERTY) - Internal Keyboard
1024MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
Primary 9-cell 80WHr Li-Ion Battery

If I would go for 2GB 667mhz instead it would become about 1480 euro. For 1570 euro it comes with 2 GB memory and a Core 2 Duo processor and some other improvements. But 1480 euro is far over my budget.

But sadly I don't know of a way to look at the laptop in real life before buying it.

More information (regarding Ubuntu on this laptop) :
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=199717
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/DellXPSM1210
http://g33k.wordpress.com/2006/07/20...a-mini-review/
http://toufeeq.blogspot.com/2006/07/...xps-m1210.html
http://imaging.ugent.be/mr/Suse/suse-m1210.html

* Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO Si 1520 (T2300,12" TFT,1GB,100GB,intel GMA 950)

Fujitsu-Siemens doesn't sound like an A-brand to me.

This laptop only has 533 mhz memory instead of 667 mhz.

dutch link for prices :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/14323...)-prijzen.html

More information (regarding Ubuntu on this laptop) :
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=252011
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=208957
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...8&postcount=54

* MSI S262 ( 12.1" TFT,Core Duo T2300E; 1GB; 100GB;videochip unclear probably intel GMA 950)

The MSI 262 looks good, has nice specs and according to the wiki there are no major problems with it in Ubuntu.

I remember someone showing some white MSI laptop to me sometime and it looked allright.

Con :
- I don't consider MSI to being an A grade brand. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The specs of the S262 look alright :
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...il.php?UID=618
http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/produc...asp?model=S262
http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/produc...?model=MS-1057

S262 on the wiki :
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestin...SIMegaBookS262

dutch links for prices :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/14213...)-prijzen.html
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/6...riceMax=&land=

The wiki confuses me a bit. It says :
"Video: Integrated Intel i845gm" while to two pages it links to say Intel GMA 950 and the other MSI page about the S262 doesn't say anything about the videochip.

picture :
http://www.msi-computer.nl/perscentr...262_w2_pho.jpg

german site which sells the S262 :
-they build it
-without OS
-customizable
-2 years pickup warranty for the netherlands for 29 euros
- a really cool laptop with 2 GB of ram and 8 cell battery possible almost within my budget

http://www.alb-computer.de/product_i...25&cPath=81_83
http://www.alb-computer.de/product_i...24&cPath=81_83

Grundsystem: MSI S262 Barebone black 555,00 EUR
Sprache / Layout: Layout: English (UK) 0,00 EUR
Prozessor: Intel Prozessor Mobil - T2400 Core Duo 1.83 GHz 269,00 EUR
Festplatte: 2.5 Harddrive 80GB PATA 5400rpm 79,00 EUR
Arbeitsspeicher: 2x SO 1024MB PC667 DDRII RAM 156,00 EUR
Laufwerk: Sony CRX835E Combo 24x/24x/24x/8x Slim Line 49,00 EUR
Wireless LAN: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express - 54M/Bit 37,00 EUR
Akku: 8 Zellen Batterie 4.400 mAh S260/S262/S270 89,01 EUR
Service: Warranty PICK-UP Service 24 months for AT/BE/NL/LU 29,00 EUR

Grundsystem: 555,00 EUR
Komponenten: 708,01 EUR
--------------------------------
Gesamt: 1.263,01 EUR
(inkl. MwSt. zzgl. Versand)

With the T2500 2 GHz cpu it's a bit more expensive :

Grundsystem: MSI S262 Barebone black 555,00 EUR
Sprache / Layout: Layout: English (UK) 0,00 EUR
Prozessor: Intel Prozessor Mobil - T2500 Core Duo 2.00 GHz 349,00 EUR
Festplatte: 2.5 Harddrive 80GB PATA 5400rpm 79,00 EUR
Arbeitsspeicher: 2x SO 1024MB PC667 DDRII RAM 156,00 EUR
Laufwerk: Sony CRX835E Combo 24x/24x/24x/8x Slim Line 49,00 EUR
Wireless LAN: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express - 54M/Bit 37,00 EUR
Akku: 8 Zellen Batterie 4.400 mAh S260/S262/S270 89,01 EUR
Service: Warranty PICK-UP Service 24 months for AT/BE/NL/LU 29,00 EUR

Grundsystem: 555,00 EUR
Komponenten: 788,01 EUR
--------------------------------
Gesamt: 1.343,01 EUR
(inkl. MwSt. zzgl. Versand)

dutch review :
http://www.hardwareonline.be/modules...hp?storyid=494

old dutch pre-production preview of the S262 :
http://www.pcmweb.nl/hardware_review.jsp?productid=82

dutch link comparing S262 , macbook and Asus A8Jc :
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ssages/1136076

dutch link discussing MSI Megabook S2x0 series :
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ages/1098331/0

dutch links discussing 12" notebooks :
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...275/last//s262

* or maybe another similar laptop model ?

Which one would you guys advise ?

I also posted on my blog about this here :
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...dback-request/

[Donnut]

Well, I am planning on a new macbook myself, gettong it on the 29th or 30th.

As for it's compatibility, I'm going to go to a mac store with an ubuntu live cd and check it out. And I'm going to use grub or Lilo to quad boot! It'll be a fun project.

[ayoli]

dell is well known for battery problems: short life, burning batteries (http://fr.news.yahoo.com/31072006/30...autre-cas.html sorry article in french but photos tell much than words).
i use toshiba which are quite linux friendly, i had a s3000 and now a satellite L10 with dont fit really your needs but cost less money (i wish i'll have 1200 one day for a laptop... )
this one looks nice:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...HO&coid=-31395
regards.

[ubuntu_demon]

dell is well known for battery problems: short life, burning batteries (http://fr.news.yahoo.com/31072006/30...autre-cas.html sorry article in french but photos tell much than words).
i use toshiba which are quite linux friendly, i had a s3000 and now a satellite L10 with dont fit really your needs but cost less money (i wish i'll have 1200 one day for a laptop... )
this one looks nice:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...HO&coid=-31395
regards.

thanks for the suggestion.

AFAIK toshiba doesn't have models below 15" that are also about/below 1200 euros. So I don't think toshiba is an option.

[hubuntu]

Hei!

I just had to givce you a recomendation:

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pro V3205

1,8 Kg
Bluetooth
12,1 " Crystal view

An lightweight laptop costing just below 1200 euro. It works perfectly with dapper (even bluetooth works), besides the Memory Stick reader (MMC & SD Works)...

Take a look.

Good luck!

[ubuntu_demon]

Hei!

I just had to givce you a recomendation:

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pro V3205

1,8 Kg
Bluetooth
12,1 " Crystal view

An lightweight laptop costing just below 1200 euro. It works perfectly with dapper (even bluetooth works), besides the Memory Stick reader (MMC & SD Works)...

Take a look.

Good luck!

Thanks for the information!

sadly I can't find this laptop here :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch

which probably means this laptop is probably not (very much) available in the netherlands.

The Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO Si 1520 laptop is available in the netherlands. Maybe it's the same one ???

[ayoli]

thanks for the suggestion.

AFAIK toshiba doesn't have models below 15" that are also about/below 1200 euros. So I don't think toshiba is an option.

you didnt look right this model is from 1099 $ and has a 12,1 widescreennd a battery that works until 5hours, just need to add some ram

[ubuntu_demon]

you didnt look right this model is from 1099 $ and has a 12,1 widescreennd a battery that works until 5hours, just need to add some ram

Sadly this laptop doesn't seem to be available in the netherlands.

The tecra section on the dutch toshiba website doesn't show the tecra M6 :
http://nl.computers.toshiba-europe.c...FAMILY_ID=2328

The cheapest 12.1" toshiba laptop according to tweakers.net/pricewatch comes for 1327 Euro and doesn't have Core Duo :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/5...riceMax=&land=

[ayoli]

Sadly this laptop doesn't seem to be available in the netherlands.

The tecra section on the dutch toshiba website doesn't show the tecra M6 :
http://nl.computers.toshiba-europe.c...FAMILY_ID=2328

The cheapest 12.1" toshiba laptop according to tweakers.net/pricewatch comes for 1327 Euro and doesn't have Core Duo :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/5...riceMax=&land=

you're right, just seen that, too bad.