Linux friendly laptops?

[amnesiac]

Completely new to linux but just wondering if anyone would know if an HP 4-1010s ultrabook would run mint (or any distro).
The specs are here: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/html/pdf/4-1010sa_ds_ene.pdf

Intel core i3
Intel HM77 Express chipset
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Intel 802.11 b/g/n
Intel HD graphics 3000
500 GB SATA hard drive with 32 GB mSATA SSD

Any help would be much appreciated

[amnesiac]

Just wondering if this laptop http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-C870-14V/1128469/toshibaShop/false/
would run mint (or any linux distro?)
Are toshiba laptops generally compatible/supported or are others better (Was thinking a cheap HP)
What should I be looking for for hardware compatibility?

[viking777]

You could start by looking here:

http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/search

Because I have been looking at the same subject myself I can tell you that the most often mentioned products in that list are Acer, Asus, Dell and Lenovo, although there are quite a few Samsungs as well.

Actually, according to our hardware database, by far the most compatible laptops with Linux mint are made by the company '2wire'. I would ignore this information if I were you as this is simply a reflection of the fact that at least 50% of the people that use the database are too freakin lazy to fill it in properly . 2wire do not build computers, but since their company name starts with a number and not a letter, they happen to be the first manufacturer in the drop down list and therefore what the form defaults to when people don't bother to fill in the manufacturers name.

[usbtux]

If you own the computer why dont you try a live cd/usb and try it out?

[amnesiac]

Trying to get my hands on a fairly cheap laptop, just wondering which brands would be best.
For me at the moment the easiest ones to get a hold of would be HP, Sony, Toshiba and Samsung.
Are any of those any names known for being linux-friendly (and any specific models?)

Thanks

[bimsebasse]

Lenovo Thinkpads with Intel graphics have a good Linux reputation.

[amnesiac]

Would this model be compatible?

AMD E1200 processor with integrated graphics

I've heard Lenovo are generally very Linux-friendly but was wondering if anyone could advise, especially with booting from a USB.

[DrHu]

Cheap is OK, but one of the better ways to look at it is to examine the hardware specs being used by Linux vendors that support notebooks, or look at the laptop + linux support sites..
http://emperorlinux.com/

http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html

[cudayne]

i bought a cheep dell from Wal-Mart 350$$ us an Linux runs great mint 13 kde found all hard wear out the box.

[900i]

Never had a problem with HP, Acer and Dell. so long as its intel hardware.

[bigj231]

My ASUS X53 works perfectly fine. It did require a fix for the suspend though. I was able to purchase it for $615 US with tax included. I also bought a 128GB SSD at the same time, so I believe the laptop was on sale for about $430. It also included a 1 year accidental damage warranty directly from ASUS.
I haven't had good luck with the HP laptops I've used, but they've all been AMD with ATI graphics chips. HP's consumer laptop build quality is also very poor in my experience. The thermal design was also very bad on mine(although it made a great coffee warmer.) Their business models aren't nearly as bad, but are also much more expensive.
I didn't end up buying one, but I was impressed with Samsung's apparent build quality. I can't remember the exact models though. They were about $600.
The Lenovo's also seemed very well put together. I liked the keyboard on the IdeaPad I tried, but the other brands gave me more features for the money. In retrospect, I probably would have bought one of these instead of the ASUS.
I would also avoid DELL unless you get a good warranty and a good price. Too many bad experiences with my grandparent's desktops.
I haven't had any direct experience with Sony except for an ancient laptop that had a failed hard drive. My friends seemed to like their Sonys.
My sister has a Toshiba, and it seems well put together. No Linux on it, so I can't comment there. The screen is also surprisingly good. The touchpad is one of the ones that is level with the rest of the case. It looks nice, but is a pain to use.
I would recommend avoiding anything with an AMD/ATI graphics chip (or nVidia for that matter) if you want ease of setup. Once you do get them working though, you get a better computer for your money than an Intel system.
You could also try looking around over at the Tom's Hardware forums. there is a lot of information and opinions there.

[remoulder]

http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/welcome

[srs5694]

I don't know if that specific model is affected, but you should be aware of this bug that affects at least some Lenovo models booted in UEFI mode. This isn't a show-stopper bug, but I'm sure it would be frustrating if you weren't aware of it. The solution would be fairly simple if you know how:

1. Install normally in EFI mode. (This can present its own subtle issues, since it's easy to mistakenly boot in BIOS/legacy mode.)
2. If GRUB appears when you reboot, ignore the following steps.
3. Boot the installer in "live CD" mode.
4. Open a Terminal window.
5. Type 'sudo apt-get install efibootmgr'
6. Type 'sudo efibootmgr -v' to get a listing of the boot loaders registered with the firmware. Identify the one associated with Mint. (It should be obvious by name and/or filename -- probably \EFI\linuxmint\grubx64.efi or something similar.)
7. Type 'sudo efibootmgr -b #### -L "Red Hat Enterprise Linux"' or 'sudo efibootmgr -b #### -L "Windows Boot Manager"' to rename GRUB to something the firmware will accept. Note that "####" is a hexadecimal number corresponding to the boot loader you identified in the previous step.
8. Reboot to test the change.

With any luck GRUB should come up. If not, you may need to try again, and check that the boot order (as identified and changeable by efibootmgr) is correct.

A tip: If you're comfortable doing so, do manual partitioning and create a separate ext2fs, ext3fs, or ReiserFS /boot partition of about 500 MiB. This will increase your options for boot loaders and boot configurations should you have problems with GRUB.

One more point: If this computer bears a Windows 8 logo, it must ship with Secure Boot enabled. I don't know offhand if the latest Mint includes a boot loader that's signed with a key that permits it to install on this computer. If not, or if you want to use something other than GRUB, you'll need to either disable Secure Boot or reconfigure it to use your own keys. I describe both options in detail here; however, the details of how to adjust your firmware settings vary greatly from one implementation to another.

[xenopeek]

Except for the Linux laptop vendors that sell their own brands, I don't think there is a general brand that is guaranteed to work perfectly with Linux. See here for a list of vendors selling laptops preloaded with Linux: http://linuxpreloaded.com/. Some sell own brands, some sell general brands the like the ones you mention in your first post here. You could browse a bit and find a general brand model sold by one of these vendors, and pick that one from a store near you if that is more convenient.

Another helpful site is the Linux Laptop Wiki: http://www.linlap.com/. Helps you with getting Linux working on your laptop. If you have your eye on a specific brand or model of laptop, you could check here to see what kind of issues you can except you'll need to fix.

For Linux Mint you can also consult the hardware reviews database: http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/search

[xenopeek]

Merged all your topics and moved them here. I think you have enough answers now on how to find information about laptops that are Linux friendly.