Comments on: Friends don’t let friends buy Vaio’s. http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/ Dave Jones' Linux & opensource stuff. Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:35:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: davej http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-119 davej Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:12:25 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-119 LFCS is an unknown right now. I'm trying to determine if it's either a) going to be something I'll get something out of, and b) whether others will get something out of me being there. I can answer A once I've seen the schedule, B depends on how useful I'm feeling ;-) LFCS is an unknown right now. I’m trying to determine if it’s either a) going to be something I’ll get something out of, and b) whether others will get something out of me being there.
I can answer A once I’ve seen the schedule, B depends on how useful I’m feeling ;-)

]]> By: dirkhh http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-118 dirkhh Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:02:25 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-118 I know people love the Thinkpad keyboards (me) or hate them (apparently, you). But give it a try again. The little stick makes it much easier not to have to move your hands when touch typing and using the mouse... Anyway, my recommendation for a laptop right now is the X200s. Yes, not everything works perfectly with F10 - but all of the important things do (some day I'll figure out why it SEES the Bluetooth device but then can't do anything useful with it). Anyway, it's small, it's super fast (if you ignore the temptation to by the UV chip), it has an amazing screen... then plop in an Intel SSD and you have the laptop of your dreams. Guess what I am writing this comment on... yep, F10 on an X200s with an Intel SSD. Are you coming to the LF Collab Summit? I'll let you play with it :-) I know people love the Thinkpad keyboards (me) or hate them (apparently, you). But give it a try again. The little stick makes it much easier not to have to move your hands when touch typing and using the mouse…

Anyway, my recommendation for a laptop right now is the X200s. Yes, not everything works perfectly with F10 – but all of the important things do (some day I’ll figure out why it SEES the Bluetooth device but then can’t do anything useful with it). Anyway, it’s small, it’s super fast (if you ignore the temptation to by the UV chip), it has an amazing screen… then plop in an Intel SSD and you have the laptop of your dreams.

Guess what I am writing this comment on… yep, F10 on an X200s with an Intel SSD. Are you coming to the LF Collab Summit? I’ll let you play with it :-)

]]> By: NateDS http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-106 NateDS Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:15:56 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-106 In this day and age when there are plenty of laptops you can buy with Linux pre-installed it's beyond my comprehention when people's first impulse, when thinking about buying a Linux laptop, is to go out and purchase one were Windows is the only option. Of course buying a Macbook is even worse. Not as bad as getting a Sony, of course. I mean seriously. WTF would you want to dick around with crappy BIOSes and proprietary hardware that is unkown vs getting a laptop that you know, for a fact, that it can be made to work well. Some Linux laptops are still undesirable... like the Dell Mini-12 with Ubuntu, which is a wonderful formfactor, but requires proprietary drivers for it's GMA 500 chipset. I am sure they are nice drivers and there is VA-API support for accelerating the decoding of HD content to make 720p and higher res H.264 video playable on a Atom-powered machine. It's certainly tempting, but I try to avoid proprietary drivers. (don't be confused by the name. GMA 500 isn't a Intel video card, it's licensed PowerVR SGX. This also can be found on Ti's ARM OMAP3 platform. Again with the ability to do 720p H.264) For example Dell: Dell Inspiron 530N -- Linux desktop Inspiron 1525N -- 15.4 inch Linux laptop XPS M1530n -- High performance 15.4 Linux laptop (nvidia graphics) Inspiron Mini 9n -- 9 inch netbook. Atom with GMA 950. Studio 15n -- 15.4 inch Linux laptop XPS M1330n -- High performancee version with option for Nvidia graphics. The nice thing about Dell is that if you get a 'online coupon' (just google for it, it's a copy-n-paste code that you can get from numerous websites) then you can get very very good deals on laptops. Killer deals. If Dell doesn't float your boat then you can check out System76. They are a bit more pricy, but are Linux specialists and offer higher levels of support: These are just the laptops: Darter Ultra -- 12.1 inch Intel X4500HD Gazelle Ultra -- 13.3 inch Intel X4500HD Pangolin Performance -- 15.4 inch with Nvidia Serval Performance -- 15.4 with bigger nvidia card Bonobo Professional -- 17 inch laptop high performance oriented laptop. Of course there is a lot more to them then just the size, but this gives you a idea. The nice thing is that they have all the extra options for them also. 802.11n and bluetooth, for example. In this day and age when there are plenty of laptops you can buy with Linux pre-installed it’s beyond my comprehention when people’s first impulse, when thinking about buying a Linux laptop, is to go out and purchase one were Windows is the only option.

Of course buying a Macbook is even worse. Not as bad as getting a Sony, of course.

I mean seriously. WTF would you want to dick around with crappy BIOSes and proprietary hardware that is unkown vs getting a laptop that you know, for a fact, that it can be made to work well.

Some Linux laptops are still undesirable… like the Dell Mini-12 with Ubuntu, which is a wonderful formfactor, but requires proprietary drivers for it’s GMA 500 chipset. I am sure they are nice drivers and there is VA-API support for accelerating the decoding of HD content to make 720p and higher res H.264 video playable on a Atom-powered machine. It’s certainly tempting, but I try to avoid proprietary drivers.

(don’t be confused by the name. GMA 500 isn’t a Intel video card, it’s licensed PowerVR SGX. This also can be found on Ti’s ARM OMAP3 platform. Again with the ability to do 720p H.264)

For example Dell:
Dell Inspiron 530N — Linux desktop
Inspiron 1525N — 15.4 inch Linux laptop
XPS M1530n — High performance 15.4 Linux laptop (nvidia graphics)
Inspiron Mini 9n — 9 inch netbook. Atom with GMA 950.
Studio 15n — 15.4 inch Linux laptop
XPS M1330n — High performancee version with option for Nvidia graphics.

The nice thing about Dell is that if you get a ‘online coupon’ (just google for it, it’s a copy-n-paste code that you can get from numerous websites) then you can get very very good deals on laptops. Killer deals.

If Dell doesn’t float your boat then you can check out System76. They are a bit more pricy, but are Linux specialists and offer higher levels of support:

These are just the laptops:

Darter Ultra — 12.1 inch Intel X4500HD
Gazelle Ultra — 13.3 inch Intel X4500HD
Pangolin Performance — 15.4 inch with Nvidia
Serval Performance — 15.4 with bigger nvidia card
Bonobo Professional — 17 inch laptop high performance oriented laptop.

Of course there is a lot more to them then just the size, but this gives you a idea. The nice thing is that they have all the extra options for them also. 802.11n and bluetooth, for example.

]]> By: davej http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-105 davej Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:45:29 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-105 Those really thin Dell XPS laptops are *really* nice looking. I don't recall exactly what wireless/gfx etc is in them though, so they may be full of proprietary fail. Those really thin Dell XPS laptops are *really* nice looking. I don’t recall exactly what wireless/gfx etc is in them though, so they may be full of proprietary fail.

]]> By: FireBurn http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-104 FireBurn Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:57:13 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-104 D'oh I was really looking forward to getting a nice shiny Sony lappy as well, I thought with there being Sony ACPI modules etc it would work well - obviously not. Macbooks seem good but I think Apple have plans for using NVidia chipsets :( As for IMB / Lenovo I think they're all ugly - I might go back will Dell as they had good support. They also had a cheep finish too of course. Mike D’oh I was really looking forward to getting a nice shiny Sony lappy as well, I thought with there being Sony ACPI modules etc it would work well – obviously not.

Macbooks seem good but I think Apple have plans for using NVidia chipsets :(

As for IMB / Lenovo I think they’re all ugly – I might go back will Dell as they had good support. They also had a cheep finish too of course.

Mike

]]> By: anton http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-103 anton Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:28:54 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-103 I tried various laptop vendors... And the Sony's and Fusjitsu-Siemens's are the ones that I will never suggest to buy for using with Linux. Because of exactly the odd behaviour you mentioned in your post. ... but definitely the nice toys for those who would like to start develop in kernel rapidly. >:-) I tried various laptop vendors… And the Sony’s and Fusjitsu-Siemens’s are the ones that I will never suggest to buy for using with Linux. Because of exactly the odd behaviour you mentioned in your post. … but definitely the nice toys for those who would like to start develop in kernel rapidly. >:-)

]]> By: davej http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-102 davej Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:04:21 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-102 I was dreading someone asking this. Mostly because it's tricky to answer, as it's at least partly subjective. A lot of my coworkers love thinkpads for eg. Personally, I've never seen a thinkpad I've liked. I'll go as far as to say I hate the thinkpad keyboards more than any other laptop keyboards. (Even the self-destructing vaio keyboard). Even answering from a 'everything works in Linux' angle is difficult, because pretty much everything needs some level of tweaking unless you're buying something that isn't a current model. In all likelyhood, my next 'buy for myself' laptop is going to be a macbook pro, but I'm somewhat biased there in that I want to run some OSX apps. If dual-booting sucks on it, I'll probably carry my trusty eeepc when I travel too. If it wasn't for the OSX apps, I'm not sure what I'd end up buying. I'm a great procrastinator when it comes to buying hardware. I've been putting off upgrading my mp3 player for about 4 years now for exactly the same reason. (Nothing seems as good as my old neuros). I was dreading someone asking this. Mostly because it’s tricky to answer, as it’s at least partly subjective. A lot of my coworkers love thinkpads for eg. Personally, I’ve never seen a thinkpad I’ve liked. I’ll go as far as to say I hate the thinkpad keyboards more than any other laptop keyboards. (Even the self-destructing vaio keyboard).
Even answering from a ‘everything works in Linux’ angle is difficult, because pretty much everything needs some level of tweaking unless you’re buying something that isn’t a current model.

In all likelyhood, my next ‘buy for myself’ laptop is going to be a macbook pro, but I’m somewhat biased there in that I want to run some OSX apps. If dual-booting sucks on it, I’ll probably carry my trusty eeepc when I travel too. If it wasn’t for the OSX apps, I’m not sure what I’d end up buying. I’m a great procrastinator when it comes to buying hardware. I’ve been putting off upgrading my mp3 player for about 4 years now for exactly the same reason. (Nothing seems as good as my old neuros).

]]> By: FireBurn http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-101 FireBurn Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:56:42 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-101 Can I ask what Laptop you do recommend? I'm guessing either Intel or ATI graphics are a must My current Samsung is driving me nuts!! (R510's BIOS is worse than that Sony's) Mike Can I ask what Laptop you do recommend?

I’m guessing either Intel or ATI graphics are a must

My current Samsung is driving me nuts!! (R510′s BIOS is worse than that Sony’s)

Mike

]]> By: Spykes http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-100 Spykes Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:40:43 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-100 I've also a "recent" Vaio (VGN CS11S) with F10 x86-64, and I have not the same troubles... but others : - Only two hotkeys are working at this time (Volume+/Volume-) - No multimedia keys at all (at least, I can understand this as it's another proprietary "extra-shit"). - I lose the keyboard input each time I come back from suspend mode. Beyond that, I've never used visualization, so I don't know if VMX is correctly set or not. I also suspect a wrong initialization of the webcam UVC driver, as the display is strangely not as smooth as it is under windows (It doesn't seem to depend on the application used). It's a pity, as all of that seems to be functional on some other models. I’ve also a “recent” Vaio (VGN CS11S) with F10 x86-64, and I have not the same troubles… but others :
- Only two hotkeys are working at this time (Volume+/Volume-)
- No multimedia keys at all (at least, I can understand this as it’s another proprietary “extra-shit”).
- I lose the keyboard input each time I come back from suspend mode.
Beyond that, I’ve never used visualization, so I don’t know if VMX is correctly set or not.

I also suspect a wrong initialization of the webcam UVC driver, as the display is strangely not as smooth as it is under windows (It doesn’t seem to depend on the application used).

It’s a pity, as all of that seems to be functional on some other models.

]]> By: nine http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/2009/01/26/friends-friends-buy-vaios/comment-page-1/#comment-99 nine Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:01:12 +0000 http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/?p=107#comment-99 The hda-intel issue pops up on the Acer Aspire One as well (along with Insyde BIOS, amusingly). It seems that giving vendors the choice of which audio output chip to sit on the HDA's i2s bus is an open invitation for some incredibly wacky audio setups. Either hda-intel isn't automatically picking up the right audio codec, or it's not supported and it's trying a best guess. First time I dumped another distribution onto the AA1, headphone output didn't work. A few kernel revisions later, and it did. Took about 5 minutes before someone sitting near me on the train turned around and informed me that I was entertaining the carriage with the music I was listening to. The WMI interface crap isn't the first time a vendor has gone ahead and done something stupid like this. My previous laptop was a Toshiba Portege M200, and for some incredibly dumb reason they a) bundled it with a non-SDHCI SD card controller, meaning zero support for anything that isn't Windows and b) put some bizarre proprietary WMI ACPI control on attaching the bluetooth controller to the USB bus. Unfortunately the patch to hack the control into the toshiba_acpi driver never made it into the kernel. And to make matters worse, the performance of the system was dire in comparison to lesser specced devices. I should be grateful that this netbook was practically <em>designed</em> to run Linux, but I can't help wanting something better. My experiences with laptops over the past few years have lead me to believe that the Apple MacBook might be the best choice for a Linux laptop. The world's a crazy place. The hda-intel issue pops up on the Acer Aspire One as well (along with Insyde BIOS, amusingly). It seems that giving vendors the choice of which audio output chip to sit on the HDA’s i2s bus is an open invitation for some incredibly wacky audio setups. Either hda-intel isn’t automatically picking up the right audio codec, or it’s not supported and it’s trying a best guess.

First time I dumped another distribution onto the AA1, headphone output didn’t work. A few kernel revisions later, and it did. Took about 5 minutes before someone sitting near me on the train turned around and informed me that I was entertaining the carriage with the music I was listening to.

The WMI interface crap isn’t the first time a vendor has gone ahead and done something stupid like this. My previous laptop was a Toshiba Portege M200, and for some incredibly dumb reason they a) bundled it with a non-SDHCI SD card controller, meaning zero support for anything that isn’t Windows and b) put some bizarre proprietary WMI ACPI control on attaching the bluetooth controller to the USB bus. Unfortunately the patch to hack the control into the toshiba_acpi driver never made it into the kernel. And to make matters worse, the performance of the system was dire in comparison to lesser specced devices.

I should be grateful that this netbook was practically designed to run Linux, but I can’t help wanting something better. My experiences with laptops over the past few years have lead me to believe that the Apple MacBook might be the best choice for a Linux laptop.

The world’s a crazy place.

]]>