Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13/10/12 18:33, paul sutton wrote: On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote: isn't there a company called naked computers, who sell systems minus any OS Unfortunately that will not verify that all functions are compatible with - whatever - version of ubuntu. -- alan cocks -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13/10/12 20:13, Mark Einon wrote: I can recommended novatech...uk based with some outlet stores, they sell bare systems but at a reduced price from the win versions. They're worth a look... I have bought a number of machines over the years from Novatech, for this reason. However, even though they offer machines with no OS installed, they do nothing to verify that the hardware is compatible with Ubuntu of whichever version. They cannot even guarantee that the on board chips, camera, whatever, will remain the same from batch to batch. May not change, but they cannot be sure. However, they have various stores, and in my experience, by arrangement, they will happily run their own Ubuntu live system media (or maybe possibly yours) on your chosen hardware. Some retail days are busier than others - so expect to use a non busy time. Unless they know you well, they will probably want to have a staff member with you - after all, it is their kit until you buy it. -- alan cocks -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13/10/12 18:00, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? Laptops are much more a problem than desktops, because they often have a higher level of customisation I believe, but you do say 'laptop' In recent years I have helped three friends buy laptops from Linux Emporium, and in each case the service was excellent. They like you, wanted Ubuntu preinstalled for the reasons you mention. LE are not the cheapest but you are buying more than just a preinstall. They have checked ot the compatibility of course, and there is a retail guarantee. You also will be supporting the Ubuntu wider ecosystem. Not only that, but over the guarantee period at least one of my (non tech) friends needed seriously heavy remote (online) support which sounded to me like it was a warm reinstall. LE were also utterly helpful in handing over to me as 'admin' later on. And when hard drive happened to fail (!) in later years, they managed to capture the HD image and replace and re image as with current user files, as if nothing had happened. This impressed me because with at least one current Ubuntu live CD which was tried the HD was not readable. Maybe luck, but I have no hesitation of pointing you to LE. Zareason USA and new zealand are interested in opening a UK branch but have no timescale. They do not ship to UK yet, which grieves me because I would LOVE to use them. -- alan cocks -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 14/10/12 16:01, Liam Proven wrote: On 13 October 2012 18:00, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? It's not something they advertise as of yet, but if you talk to Simplicity Computers, they should be able to sort you out. Not a big range but if they model they do appeals... Mention my name as the person who sent you! Otherwise they might not know what you're talking about. Wayne Cooper is probably a good chap to talk to. http://www.simplicitycomputers.co.uk/ Liam, the 'Ubuntu compatible' market might be a very useful supplementary business line for them. I personally do not need a preinstall nor any support, but as Gordon finds, I also would need a verified Ubuntu compatible laptop at some time. I can do my own install in a trice, but seeking out compat hardware is a hard task. I hope it will be worth them considering? There is a significant gap in the UK market here.They might get rushed off their feet! -- alan cocks -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 14 October 2012 16:24, alan c aecl...@candt.waitrose.com wrote: Liam, the 'Ubuntu compatible' market might be a very useful supplementary business line for them. I personally do not need a preinstall nor any support, but as Gordon finds, I also would need a verified Ubuntu compatible laptop at some time. I can do my own install in a trice, but seeking out compat hardware is a hard task. I hope it will be worth them considering? There is a significant gap in the UK market here.They might get rushed off their feet! I agree, but currently, there isn't really the staff availability to prep an image - I'd almost certainly be doing that myself - we don't really have enough people to offer much in the way of support if we were still to offer the machine(s) at a competitive price with the likes of Novatech - and finally they are uncertain how to promote the offering. However, I've been urging this for a year or 2 now. I'll send on your email by way of further encouragement! -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing:http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXMLhttp://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
As far as I am aware there is also system76 that sell laptops with Linux pre installed. I think it only does ubuntu but not sure myself. Bearing in mind that laptops with Linux pre installed are not significantly cheaper than their windows counterparts. You would have more choice if you include windows laptops in your search. You can always wipe it if you don't want windows on your laptop. On Oct 13, 2012 6:00 PM, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing: http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXML http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote: As far as I am aware there is also system76 that sell laptops with Linux pre installed. I think it only does ubuntu but not sure myself. Unfortunately they're in America! Bearing in mind that laptops with Linux pre installed are not significantly cheaper than their windows counterparts. You would have more choice if you include windows laptops in your search. You can always wipe it if you don't want windows on your laptop. Yes - that's what I did with my current laptop, but only because the later versions of Ubuntu (beginning with 10.04 and now with 12.04) supported the hardware - previous versions did not. (Well not all of it). That's my concern - that if I buy an up to the minute laptop with Windows installed, and then find that 12.04 doesn't work properly, I'm in for a (possible) lot of hassle - hence the desire to get one with Ubuntu pre-installed. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing:http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXMLhttp://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote: As far as I am aware there is also system76 that sell laptops with Linux pre installed. I think it only does ubuntu but not sure myself. Bearing in mind that laptops with Linux pre installed are not significantly cheaper than their windows counterparts. You would have more choice if you include windows laptops in your search. You can always wipe it if you don't want windows on your laptop. On Oct 13, 2012 6:00 PM, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com mailto:gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? isn't there a company called naked computers, who sell systems minus any OS Paul -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
My bad, I thought they were in the uk :( . I think they do ship to UK but the tax you would pay to get it over here (20 odd %) will negate any savings. Taking into account the importance of hardware support it may be a good idea to bring in a usb stick (with persistency) with all your common applications (not data) into a store and ask whether you can test drive the os (ubuntu 12.04 for example). that way you can check whether the laptop will work for you when(if) you do buy it. I heard that dell were going to release a laptop with ubuntu preinstalled. Is it a nessesity for you that you have a laptop and not a desktop. The reason I am asking is that you can configure a desktop (even if you dont build it yourself) to have all componnets be 100% compatible. There is a list of compatible components on the ubuntu website. From my experience with linux the biggest problems in terms of getting things to work are the graphics drivers and sound,sometimes external monitors(related to graphics drivers in the first place). What sort of specifications would you need/be looking for in a laptop(cpu power,ram etc)? I think certain mobile chipsets are better supported than others and full out of the box support is very dependant on the gpu(drivers). Summary- I would go into a store and try out your favourite distro(with just basic install but all latest updates) and see what happens-worst thing is they wont let you do it, at least you would be able to test the laptop before you commit yourself to buying one and spending hours(weeks?) sorting all the (not so) little nags. Hope this helped somehow. On 13 October 2012 18:28, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote: As far as I am aware there is also system76 that sell laptops with Linux pre installed. I think it only does ubuntu but not sure myself. Unfortunately they're in America! Bearing in mind that laptops with Linux pre installed are not significantly cheaper than their windows counterparts. You would have more choice if you include windows laptops in your search. You can always wipe it if you don't want windows on your laptop. Yes - that's what I did with my current laptop, but only because the later versions of Ubuntu (beginning with 10.04 and now with 12.04) supported the hardware - previous versions did not. (Well not all of it). That's my concern - that if I buy an up to the minute laptop with Windows installed, and then find that 12.04 doesn't work properly, I'm in for a (possible) lot of hassle - hence the desire to get one with Ubuntu pre-installed. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing: http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXML http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
Hi, a quick way to see if the laptop you're considering is Ubuntu Friendly is to look at https://friendly.ubuntu.com/ Regards, Phill. On 13 October 2012 18:51, Anton Kanishchev antonk20...@gmail.com wrote: My bad, I thought they were in the uk :( . I think they do ship to UK but the tax you would pay to get it over here (20 odd %) will negate any savings. Taking into account the importance of hardware support it may be a good idea to bring in a usb stick (with persistency) with all your common applications (not data) into a store and ask whether you can test drive the os (ubuntu 12.04 for example). that way you can check whether the laptop will work for you when(if) you do buy it. I heard that dell were going to release a laptop with ubuntu preinstalled. Is it a nessesity for you that you have a laptop and not a desktop. The reason I am asking is that you can configure a desktop (even if you dont build it yourself) to have all componnets be 100% compatible. There is a list of compatible components on the ubuntu website. From my experience with linux the biggest problems in terms of getting things to work are the graphics drivers and sound,sometimes external monitors(related to graphics drivers in the first place). What sort of specifications would you need/be looking for in a laptop(cpu power,ram etc)? I think certain mobile chipsets are better supported than others and full out of the box support is very dependant on the gpu(drivers). Summary- I would go into a store and try out your favourite distro(with just basic install but all latest updates) and see what happens-worst thing is they wont let you do it, at least you would be able to test the laptop before you commit yourself to buying one and spending hours(weeks?) sorting all the (not so) little nags. Hope this helped somehow. On 13 October 2012 18:28, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.comwrote: On 13/10/12 18:21, Anton Kanishchev wrote: As far as I am aware there is also system76 that sell laptops with Linux pre installed. I think it only does ubuntu but not sure myself. Unfortunately they're in America! Bearing in mind that laptops with Linux pre installed are not significantly cheaper than their windows counterparts. You would have more choice if you include windows laptops in your search. You can always wipe it if you don't want windows on your laptop. Yes - that's what I did with my current laptop, but only because the later versions of Ubuntu (beginning with 10.04 and now with 12.04) supported the hardware - previous versions did not. (Well not all of it). That's my concern - that if I buy an up to the minute laptop with Windows installed, and then find that 12.04 doesn't work properly, I'm in for a (possible) lot of hassle - hence the desire to get one with Ubuntu pre-installed. -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing: http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXML http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/https://wiki.ubuntu.com/phillw -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? -- Registered Linux User no 240308 GBP's alternative computing:http://gbplinuxfoss.blogspot.com/ Say No to OOXMLhttp://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9594#mpart8 I only accept odf or pdf documents by email -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ I can recommended novatech...uk based with some outlet stores, they sell bare systems but at a reduced price from the win versions. They're worth a look... Cheers, Mark -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.-- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] SOT - Pre-installed Linux machine vendors
On 13 October 2012 18:00, Gordon Burgess-Parker gbpli...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! I'm looking at the inevitable replacement of my 4 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop in the near future and am looking at purchasing a laptop pre-installed. I'm having grave difficulties finding any vendors in the UK other than Linux Emporium - are there any others? I am running Ubuntu 12.10 Beta on a PC Specialist Genesis IV [0] (with a core i5 processor and onboard graphics) with only a few minor problems. It is not available with Ubuntu pre-installed but is available with no OS. There is a problem with the screen brightness function keys [1] but there is a workaround and a fix has been released. The only other problem I have had is with the SD card reader [2] but again the workaround works. It is based on a Clevo laptop and reports itself as a W240EU/W250EUQ/W270EUQ. I believe that the System76 machines are also based on Clevo units. Colin [0] http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/genesisIV/ [1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/806032 [2] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/udisks/+bug/971876 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
