Where to buy a Linux laptop in Chicago

[Richard Reina]

Anyone know where I can buy a Linux laptop in Chicago. In a bit of a hurry so I do not want to mess with buying online and installing.

Thanks

[bil Jeschke]

Doubt that you will find anyplace that sells them with Linux pre-installed in the area.  But if there is such a place i would love to know, my lappy is pushing 6 years old.

On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 11:05 AM, Richard Reina <gator...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone know where I can buy a Linux laptop in Chicago. In a bit of a hurry so I do not want to mess with buying online and installing.

Thanks

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[Richard Reina]

Can anyone recommend what Costco or Microcenter laptops are good candidates for a Debian install?

[Carl Karsten]

What sort of spec / price range?

for low end:

http://freegeekchicago.org/buy

$75

Minimum Laptop Hardware Package

• 1.60 GHz Intel Pentium M or better processor (or AMD equivalent)
• 1.0 GB Random Access Memory (RAM)
• 60.0 GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or better
• CD-RW / DVD-ROM Optical Disk Drive
• Includes AC Power Supply

Pre-installed Software

All FreeGeek systems are pre-installed with the Xubuntu Linux 12.04

Carl K

[Oleg Brodkin]

Richard,

It is more about what laptop do you need: ram, resolution, weight, etc..

But here are couple links to help:

"Detailed information about installing Debian on some models of laptops" https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/
"Linux on Laptops, definitive site" http://www.linux-laptop.net/

OB

[Richard Reina]

Unfortunately I don't see any of the new laptops that I would find at Costco on this list. My biggest requirement is time-- I am in a huge hurry. Is there any brands that are generally more Linux friendly than others? Dell, Toshiba, HP? On my way to Cotco.

[W Scott Lockwood III]

Dell and HP. I can't stand Dell, but they do tend to work well with
Ubuntu, and some come with it preloaded. HP works very well with
RHEL/Cent/Debian/etc.

--
W. Scott Lockwood III

[Renault Ellis]

I would recommend something along the lines of Thinkpad. They are normally great for Linux installations.

On Nov 17, 2015 11:06 AM, "Richard Reina" <gator...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone know where I can buy a Linux laptop in Chicago. In a bit of a hurry so I do not want to mess with buying online and installing.

Thanks

[Samir Faci]

ThinkPad are usually very good with Linux In my past experience.

A bunch of choices online you also might check craigslist they might have some nerds selling Linux machines. 

I sold my desktop work Linux pre-installed on it over CL.

[Jeff Yamada]

Don't forget to bring a tested, bootable Linux disc and/or thumb drive
with you if you go to a local store to help you pick out viable
choices.

[Richard Reina]

Ha! Wish I had thought if that. Back from Costco with a brand new HP Notebook and sitting down to try a Debian Netinstall. Wish me luck.

[Mike Scott]

Unless you have some really exotic hardware (like my Raven X61 and
screen flip / Wacom tablet), most modern Linux distros seem to just
install and run without too many headaches. Though my experience is far
from extensive.

- Mike Scott

[Richard Reina]

Install was a peace of cake once I figured out how to get past the Windows BIOS traps. Nice to have Linux on a brand new machine instead of all the old hardware I'm used to running it on.

[W Scott Lockwood III]

On Nov 17, 2015 5:51 PM, "Richard Reina" <gator...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Install was a peace of cake once I figured out how to get past the Windows BIOS traps. Nice to have Linux on a brand new machine instead of all the old hardware I'm used to running it on.

We use HP servers and have the same issue with the brand new gen 9 servers.

[Trev Peterson]

To be honest I don't think the brand matters so much. More important
is the hardware inside. I'd figure out what you need in the laptop and
then get the list of hardware you want. When I get a laptop I go for
the following:

- Intel Graphics (lower heat, battery, works out of the box for linux)
- Intel wifi (if you need to be an access point look for atheros or
ralink chipset)

Things to generally avoid:
amd (driver problems/instability)

I try to stay with intel graphics but if you really need more graphics
power then go nvidia. The nvidia optimus laptop stuff has been
terrible though so good luck with that. See if the laptop has a
hardware disable of the nvidia chip (forcing to intel only).

The best thing to do if buying in a store is to test with live USB pen
drive. Hope this helps,

--
Trev Peterson
Advanced Reality
Email: tr...@advanced-reality.com
Phone: +1 847 406 9018

[Trev Peterson]

that should be:

amd graphics not amd processors

[Mike Scott]

Are you referring to to UEFI BIOS stuff?
Pretty much have to turn that off unless installing Windows 8 or higher,
though I thought a lot of Linux distros could handle it(IIRC Ubuntu and
Fedora do).

I always disable it on Lenovo systems since it's one more thing to
fight.

- Mike Scott

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [LUNI] Where to buy a Linux laptop in Chicago

From: Richard Reina <gator...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, November 17, 2015 5:50 pm
To: luni-c...@googlegroups.com

Install was a peace of cake once I figured out how to get past the
Windows BIOS traps. Nice to have Linux on a brand new machine instead of
all the old hardware I'm used to running it on.

> El 17 nov 2015, a las 2:53 PM, Mike Scott <lu...@pyewacket.org> escribió:

>
> Unless you have some really exotic hardware (like my Raven X61 and
> screen flip / Wacom tablet), most modern Linux distros seem to just
> install and run without too many headaches. Though my experience is far
> from extensive.
>
>
> - Mike Scott
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [LUNI] Where to buy a Linux laptop in Chicago
> From: Samir Faci <sa...@esamir.com>
> Date: Tue, November 17, 2015 1:54 pm
> To: luni-c...@googlegroups.com
>
> ThinkPad are usually very good with Linux In my past experience.
> A bunch of choices online you also might check craigslist they might
> have some nerds selling Linux machines.
> I sold my desktop work Linux pre-installed on it over CL.
>
> On Nov 17, 2015 11:48 AM, "Renault Ellis"
> <organized...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would recommend something along the lines of Thinkpad. They are
> normally great for Linux installations.
> On Nov 17, 2015 11:06 AM, "Richard Reina" <gator...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Anyone know where I can buy a Linux laptop in Chicago. In a bit of a
> hurry so I do not want to mess with buying online and installing.
>
> Thanks
>
>

[bil Jeschke]

Some BIOS have an option auto select either one, but that bit me when setting up a dual boot system since it alternated how each OS was setup so kept getting errors on the second OS install until I set it for UEFI only.

[Richard Reina]

No with mine I just had to get to the bios and enable legacy support so that it would let me boot the usb.

[Oleg Brodkin]

I had Thinkpad X1 (gen 2) with Win7 installed under UEFI. And to install Arch Linux (their USB image handles both UEFI and MSDOS) I had to go UEFI route. Wasted tons of hours, but at the end found a way to install/boot multiple OSs with UEFI. Google is your friend... kind of, but all manuals were missing a single step that was very crucial in my case.