Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
I have found out how to fix the right click, See here http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49t=107118 (the second post down) It works fine for me I will post something on H-node saying that is how to fix it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
I've been using a Thinkpad X61 for about 2 years now. I recently switched to Trisquel from Parabola and everything works great for me. I did have to flash a custom BIOS in order to get a free software supported wifi card to work, but it was well worth it (And only cost about $6). I personally found mine on eBay for ~$75, so if you need a laptop with decent processing speed and you're on a nearly-broke budget (like me) I can't say enough good things about it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Battery life is still an issue with free software - hardware. I've had for a short time a Samsung with Atom CPU that went for over 12 hours with WiFi and Bluetooth off and over 7 hours with both on.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
When you say I am contributing to non-free software, do you mean the £30 microsoft got for my windows 8 licsense?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
axgb wrote: When you say I am contributing to non-free software, do you mean the £30 microsoft got for my windows 8 licsense? I think he means more that when you buy hardware that makes no effort to work with free/libre software, companies have no incentive to fix the problem.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
What is this agenda you have against ThinkPenguin? We've sold plenty of people spare batteries, AC adapters, etc. We have replacement parts for core components (shells, motherboards, screens, batteries, ac adapters, keyboards, etc) in addition to common components like CPUs, hard drives, and ram. We even replace entire laptops from time to time if there is a serious non-obvious issue just to reduce the turn around time. Heck- we've given free upgrades in the process! I personally threw in an extra 4GB of ram the other day for a customer needing a repair at the end of there warranty period (moved a customer from 12 to 16GB). Our turn around time from receipt to repair is one of the best in the industry too. Just 2-3 days.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Exactly what I was saying. Though... I'd also frown on contributing to companies contributing to proprietary software development too. But not what I was saying. First thing I'd avoid is those using digital restrictions (HP, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Apple, Lenovo/IBM are well known for this, most other companies appear not to have implemented digital restrictions), and then those shipping with primarily proprietary software (MS Windows, etc, most companies do this), then those shipping with select components depending on proprietary software (for instance GNU/Linux, but with non-free blobs required, pretty much everybody... except ThinkPenguin, and the company which ships the Gluglug X60 laptop).
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Heh, and with that I am reminded of Mike Linksvayer's [0] comment that if you aren’t helping make freedom real and real popular, you hate freedom! [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Linksvayer [1] http://gondwanaland.com/mlog/2013/04/23/drm-html5-whywhat/
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
I don't know specifically about the Asus x200CA although Asus is not on our 'avoid at all costs list', although, that doesn't mean I'd recommend them. Your still contributing to non-free software. The companies to avoid at all cost are HP, IBM/Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, and Apple. They use digital restrictions on the Mini PCIe wifi card slots/and or other proprietary components making it impossible or near impossible to free. We carry spare/replacement parts for ThinkPenguin laptops/desktops. This includes batteries, AC adapters, etc. We have 1-year limited warranties included with every system and 3-year extended limited warranties available at additional charge as well. While we're not big enough to maintain a great database of parts on our web site they are available. Just send an email to support or sales @ thinkpenguin and they'll respond with an invoice for the requested part.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Thank you When I posted that my intendsion was for people to post their model numbers, and for me to decide if one of them is suitable. For some reason, that laptop was listed as B on H-node (but only a few trivial things dont work.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
I have bought and now have a x200CA. Thank you Andrew for suggesting it. It works very well, everything that needs to work does.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
arielxgbarton: I have bought and now have a x200CA. Thank you Andrew for suggesting it. It works very well, everything that needs to work does. Cool! Good to hear that it works for you. Andrew.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Hey Lembas, Thanks for the link! this is great information -- unfortunately even when this computer had Windows on it, it would max out at around 2.5 hours so surprisingly Trisquel does just as well! The nice part about this specific computer is that it is small, light, and has a pretty small power cable so it is not too annoying to have to carry it around with me and plug in when needed. Best, Lev
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Heh, glad to know I'm not the only one. Must be a bug; gobblin.se periodically pulls the latest MediaGoblin code, so it breaks from time to time.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Thank you! You can install GNOME Shell (sudo apt-get install gnome-shell gnome-session) It's good for touch screen and have screen keyboard: http://ryanlerch.fedorapeople.org/askscreenshots/keyboard.png https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/7180/how-do-i-enable-and-use-the-on-screen-keyboard/
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Have you seen this? https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/optimizing-battery-time
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
About the Wi-Fi card: AirForce Broadcoms should also do. I've got a laptop at home with a Broadcom94311 card and OpenfWWF supports it.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
I will look into those computers, and see which one is best for my needs. What is the situation for replacement batteries for Penguin Laptops? That they do not exist?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
But if I update the Kernel then it will work totally perfectly, (i do not care for bluetooth, which might not work)
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
That firmware is experimental. An ath9k card is certainly better since Atheros actually supports it without any nonfree software.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Is the one in the x200ca the ath9k? I intend to get that one.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Chris (Owner of ThinkPenguin) is pretty active on these forums, I am not sure about the answer this this question - but I hope he comes by and provides some insight!
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Hi! I was having trouble getting the video on the site you linked to - I tried to upload it twice but it did not seem to go through. So, I uploaded it to an alternate location. http://levlaz.co/media.html#trisqueldemo (Right click and select play) Please check out the short video I made of my using the touch screen on the laptop. As you can see it is surprisingly responsive. It is not the most useful feature since the UI today was really designed for the keyboard and mouse, but it certainly opens up a lot of possibilities for future development! Best, Lev
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
all of which are deemed not suitable for my needs (by my brother). How come?
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
arielxgbarton: Any suggestions for buying a laptop. I want something that works fine with Trisquel and similar OS. On H-Node there are only about 10 ones suggested, all of which are deemed not suitable for my needs (by my brother). I recently bought a laptop/netbook (not sure what your needs are), which I will add to h-node sometime. The make/model number is ASUS X200CA. Features: - freedom-compatible Atheros WiFi chipset, - 3D acceleration support, - it's very light (1.2kg), - 4GB RAM, - 500GB hard drive, - recent Intel Celeron CPU, - 3 USB ports (1x 3.0, 2x 2.0), - HDMI port, - combined microphone/headphone port and - an SD card reader. The battery life is longer than advertised (runs for 3 hours) and the charger is very light, like a mobile phone charger. It suits all of my needs, very convenient to carry around and use, no performance issues for me at all. Downsides: - comes with Windows 8 by default, - requires some UEFI/BIOS config to run Trisquel, - hard drive speed is 5400rpm, - BIOS is proprietary software, - glossy screen (which is normal in most laptops, but I prefer matte), - right-click button behaviour is different to what I am used to. The button does a left click for some reason, but touching two fingers on the touchpad or using the right-click key on the keyboard works; and - requires a kernel update (I upgraded to 3.10) for the touch screen and ethernet adapter to work. I haven't tested 3D-intensive games on it, but I don't think it would work that well as a gaming laptop, besides running less graphics-intensive games. Some reviews I found before I bought the laptop said the laptop can get a little bit warm, although I haven't had any such issues so far! Andrew.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
With Penguin laptops, wont there be an issue that if you use the battery all the time, like charge/discharge once every second day, it will be impossible to get a replacement battery? Also, only one model has a UK keyboard, and that model is too physicially large for me.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
If I just go onto a shopping website, and click on the laptop you suggested, and buy it, is it likely the wireless card might just be a different one? If it is a miniPCI one, the manufacturer may have a policy of fitting the cheapest one they can obtain that is to the specification. None of the shopping sites specify what chipset it is.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
The one I have is very old, 2003 or something. If I go onto Youtube or similar, and open another tab, the browser would probabaly crash, and the internal wireless card does not work. I got an external one, but people at school seem to think it is funny to constantly disconnect it and throw it around, which caused it to break. It worked less and less reliably, and today the computer doesn't even recognise it. I looked into replacing its minpci card, but it is too deep down for me to be prepared to take it apart that far to get to it (and it could even have a BIOS card lock).
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Is the X60 (from Gluglug) too big too? I don't see a keyboard option on the Gluglug site, but from a quick search it looks like there are UK keyboards for it that you can get elsewhere.
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
arielxgbarton: If I just go onto a shopping website, and click on the laptop you suggested, and buy it, is it likely the wireless card might just be a different one? If it is a miniPCI one, the manufacturer may have a policy of fitting the cheapest one they can obtain that is to the specification. None of the shopping sites specify what chipset it is. I'm not too sure, to be honest. I bought it expecting that I would have to buy a USB WiFi adapter, and was surprised when it worked. Andrew.
[Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Any suggestions for buying a laptop. I want something that works fine with Trisquel and similar OS. On H-Node there are only about 10 ones suggested, all of which are deemed not suitable for my needs (by my brother).
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
Check this http://libre.thinkpenguin.com Maybe you find the laptop that you need... Regards.. and sorry for my english :D
Re: [Trisquel-users] Buying a laptop
There's the Gluglug laptop: http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/ There's also the laptops sold by Think Penguin, though they have proprietary BIOS: http://libre.thinkpenguin.com
