2009/11/4 Eric Jacobs

So I'm asking you, if you have a laptop, what kind is it? Does arch run pretty well on it (synaptics, sleep/wake, etc.)? What window manager do you think works best with the touchpad (I'm using gnome now)?

I've got an old Dell D610 and a new HP dv7. I think if I had to choose, I'd prefer the Dell, but that might be because it's (significantly) smaller and lighter, but I use the HP because of the 17" screen, 64-bit dual-core processor, 4gb RAM and 640gb disk as compared to the 14" screen, 32-bit single-core, 1gb RAM and 60gb disk in the Dell :P Everything on the Dell works beautifully -- I've never had reason to use the 56k dialup modem but it's detected OK so I presume it works OK. The HP is working almost completely apart from the "subwoofer" and fingerprint reader. The audio, wireless, webcam, dvd-rw and bluetooth are all sweet :) Oh, and I'm using Gnome on both. Never bothered even trying suspend or anything, I always just shutdown, so can't comment on that.

MSI Megabook S262B: Nice and small laptop, it's a 12" model from the days netbooks weren't invented yet. Everything on this laptop works out of the box since the day I purchased it. Suspend, resume, hibernate, etc. There's a few issues with this machine though: - the inverter is broken in cold environments, I have to rub it so it warms up a bit. The backlight will not turn on without that action - the keyboard sometimes gets stuck, the kernel doesn't always detect the correct key release, causing arrow keys to become stuck. This is a known kernel bug for ages, and my laptop suffers from it. Besides the usual "it's only i686" and "945GM is slow", I'm happy with this laptop. I might ever consider buying a new inverter for this >2 year old laptop.

Notebooks so far: Twinhead R15D: centrino, 1.86GHz, Intel 915, 1Gig Ram - everything worked nicely out of the box Thinkpad T400: Intel X4100, 3G Ram: Actually it's a dual graphic but I never really tried to get the ATI running. It's set to use the integrated in the BIOS and that works smoothely. BT, WiFi(Intel5300), Suspend, Hibernate, Resume all work out of the box. Netbook HP 2140: All works great and out of the box. While the commercial Broadcom drivers are annoying, they actually work. Oh and I can't get the lid to trigger events, so suspend and resumer are just wired to the keys and buttons, which really is a minor issue. That being said, I always buy hardware specifically to work under Linux which means avoiding to depend on commercial drivers where ever I can. -T

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 10:22, Eric Jacobs wrote:

Hello fello archers..

I've recently been going through a bit of a rough patch with my laptop usage.. I had a 15" macbook pro (dual booted with arch linux), which I recently sold because I thought it was ugly, the mouse didn't work very well, and frankly I was trying to de-appletize myself :)..

I just received my refurbished dell studio 14z and got arch up and running on it, but I can't decide if I like it or not.. I haven't gotten used to the mouse yet. The resolution is less than desirable. (13 something x 7 something). And there isn't a latch on the lid.. but I do like the size, aesthetics, weight, and the keyboard feels nice..

So I'm asking you, if you have a laptop, what kind is it? Does arch run pretty well on it (synaptics, sleep/wake, etc.)? What window manager do you think works best with the touchpad (I'm using gnome now)?

Any input would be appreciated.

Dell Vostro 1400 here. I really love its 14" matte screen and magnesium alloy body. LAN, BT, webcam, sound, multimedia keys, SD slot work out of the box. I had to tweak touchpad via HAL, but I think it works out of the box with the latest packages now. My model has Broadcom wireless card, so a firmware is needed, but it works without any problems (b43 driver). There are also models with Intel wireless card. The video in my model is Intel GMA X3100M, never had problems wiith it and xf86-video-intel (using Metacity's built-in compositor), there are also models with Nvidia GeForce 8400GS. I have not tried built-in mics (one jack and 2 around webcam), firewire and 56K modem though, but according to the wiki they work too. Unfortunately it's no longer available for purchase, but I think most (if not all) Dell laptops work great with Linux. Oh, and mine came with FreeDOS and printed GPL. :-D -- Roman Kyrylych (Роман Кирилич)