Re: Laptop advice
On 19/01/2015, Hans <hans.ullrich@loop.de> wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 18. Januar 2015, 10:29:42 schrieb john@AgeingGracefully.ca:
>> I have never installed used nor installed linux on a laptop ($500 -
>> $600),
>> however I have decided to buy one but before doing so I need some advice.
>> These are the questions that come to mind.
>>
>> 1. Graphics radeon or nvidia? I have nvidia on my desktop but have no
>> experience with radeon.
> In any case: Nvidia. Works like a charm.
>
I think the simplest thing, is to try booting into a LiveCD cersion,
and checking the computer for hardware compatibility.
I have a problem that I have found, with one of my laptops having an
nVidia card that is incompatible with Debian 7, in that it will not
run an external monitor. But, then, in using that acronym that people
tend to use, "Your Monkeys May Vary".
>> 2. WiFi what to avoid?
> I would prefer Atheros. Some nice options, other wifi-cards do not possess.
>
>> 3. Dual boot? What problems should I expect?
>
> None, if you follow the standard hard-drive rules (only 4 primary partions,
> or
> 3primary + 1 extended partition parted as you wish).
>
I stand to be corrected if I am wrong, but my understanding is that
that information applies now to only old computers; all new Wintel and
WinAMD computers are now UEFI/GPT, rather than FAT/BIOS, and the
primary/logical partitions system, is obsolete for new computers, with
UEFI/GPT systems having up to 128 partitions, with no differentiation
between primary and extended and logical partitions.
Of course, I may be wrong, and, thence, stand to be corrected, if I am wrong.
> I suggest (if you want to keep windows), to shrink the windows partition
> with
> gparted (there is a live dvd available), then install debian on the
> unpartitioned space.
>
> Note: If you want encrypteds filesystems, you might get in trouble, when
> changing the size later with gparted. So I suggest, to make a plan, how much
>
> space you want to give for every partition. Hint: Make the partition, where
>
> /tmp resides a little bigger, so that there is about 10GB free. Some
> applications (like a DVD burner) uses it for temporary files. In this
> special
> case, and you want to burn a blue-ray or a 8,5GB-DVD, then thios will come
> in
> handy.
>>
>> I will install Jessie from a thumb drive and upgrade to testing when
>> Jessie
>> becomes stable.
>
> That's fine.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Hans
>
>
Note - I do not profess to be any sort of a Linux expert - I am no
more that a Linux user with a little experience.
--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............
"So once you do know what the question actually is,
you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
A Trilogy In Four Parts",
written by Douglas Adams,
published by Pan Books, 1992
....................................................
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