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[tickmike]

Anyone Got Linux On A Modern Laptop ?.
If so what Disto.
What Laptop make / spec etc.
Any problems ?.

Edit..
 What battery life do you get.
Did you dual boot to keep the warranty.

[roseway]

I've got a cheapie 2-year-old Acer laptop which I hardly ever use, but I did install several different Linuxes on it to try them out. I just wiped the hard disk - It had Vista installed, but this ran so slowly on the low power machine that it was virtually unusable. With one exception they all installed with no issues except that getting the wireless connection working was a bit of a pain. The exception was Mepis which set up everything including the wireless connection with no issues, and continued to run perfectly.

I can't comment on battery life, because I've never really tested it. I tend to charge it up, use it for an hour or so, then put it away until the next time.

[poppy]

Yes, dual-booted Vista HB/Mint. Now Vista/Ubuntu on Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Li1818.
Works very well but for a long time couldn't get the wireless to function so had to use a USB dongle. Now managed to get it to work via Windows Wireless Drivers utility (ndiswrapper). Has 1GB RAM - performance is much better in Ubuntu
Used Wubi (Ubuntu) on Dell Vostro 1700 - no problems whatsoever.
You need to run live CDs first to see if you are going to encounter any incompatibilities.
Battery - no difference.
Warranty - the Fujitsu is now out of warranty and TBH I don't know what the position is as I have not examined the terms - would have thought that it applies to the hardware rather than the OS but can't say for sure.
With the Fujitsu I only have Vista on the partition with nothing else at all in terms of software because I don't use it at all and I wanted to allocate the smallest amount of space possible. The only reason that I didn't scrap it altogether is that I knew that it would be easier to reinstate if I ever wanted to sell the laptop.
If Ubuntu/Linux is installed using the whole disk, thus wiping Windows, it would need to be reformatted back to NTFS for a reinstallation of Vista.

[tickmike]

Being this is going to be one of my daughters xmas presents I went to 'Comet' with a PCLinuxOs 2009.2 Live CD.

I tried the live CD in a
Acer Aspire 5735
Acer 5535
A HP and a compaq of similar spec.

NON of these would load the live CD up, It said something after loading part way through the loading process.

This computer does not have any media that's compatible with this software, the media should be loaded to the hard drive.

Well this is not what I expected.

An Acer is the type she likes (not the Acer One with Linux on it .) something better !, How can I make sure that an acer will run PCLinuxOs ?.

re..The only reason that I didn't scrap it altogether is that I knew that it would be easier to reinstate if I ever wanted to sell the laptop
That's a good point.

[roseway]

That's a strange error message. Do you think that perhaps the laptops were all booting from their hard disks and this error message came from Windows?

[poppy]

Yes, a very strange message. Couple of things - are you sure that you have burned the iso correctly?
Might be worth doing this again with a different computer.
When you are booting from the CD, are you pressing F12 as soon as the computer is switched on, then selecting the top one i.e. try PCLinuxOS without making any changes to your computer?
Sorry if this all sounds a bit basic but I can't think of any other reason why Linux shouldn't boot from the CD. Of course it can be tried from a USB stick so that is another way to go. I have never done this but the information should be easy to locate from the relevant forum.
Also, did you try one of the Debian distros e.g. Ubuntu?
BTW my Dell laptop boots everything up and no quibbles, including wireless. Tried Kubuntu, Xubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and Puppy.
I got an Acer for a friend a few months ago and two things I didn't like - no recovery disk so I had to burn 2 DVDs at the outset and there seemed to be a lot of their software on it. I just have a thing about the latter - would prefer just the OS and nothing else.
Just had a thought - there is a laptop on eBuyer with no operating system - don't know if it is of any interest to you - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167514
Follow the reviews because there is a link to reports of people using it for Linux. Also one to a website with it slightly cheaper.

[tickmike]

Yes, a very strange message. Couple of things - are you sure that you have burned the iso correctly?
Might be worth doing this again with a different computer.
When you are booting from the CD, are you pressing F12 as soon as the computer is switched on, then selecting the top one i.e. try PCLinuxOS without making any changes to your computer?
Sorry if this all sounds a bit basic but I can't think of any other reason why Linux shouldn't boot from the CD. Of course it can be tried from a USB stick so that is another way to go. I have never done this but the information should be easy to locate from the relevant forum.
Also, did you try one of the Debian distros e.g. Ubuntu?
BTW my Dell laptop boots everything up and no quibbles, including wireless. Tried Kubuntu, Xubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and Puppy.
I got an Acer for a friend a few months ago and two things I didn't like - no recovery disk so I had to burn 2 DVDs at the outset and there seemed to be a lot of their software on it. I just have a thing about the latter - would prefer just the OS and nothing else.
Just had a thought - there is a laptop on eBuyer with no operating system - don't know if it is of any interest to you - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167514
Follow the reviews because there is a link to reports of people using it for Linux. Also one to a website with it slightly cheaper.

Burnt a new CD last night,    I had to change the Bios on each laptop, it got half way through the loading process before it gave a hissy fit, As I was i a bit of a rush I did not try 'Safe boot' etc.

Yes I was thinking of some other Distros to take with me.

ebuyer lapy looks interesting, I have never seen any with no OS on before, Will look in to that. (Canot see what make it is  ).

In the shop when I ask the first staff who came up to me.  "You want to do what" and a look of horror on there face,

 I was glad to see one of the staff had used Linux him self and knew what live CD was.

[poppy]

Re: Lappy - if you read the reviews you will see a link to the Ubuntu forum where someone describes his experience of using this for Linux. Also, the make is mentioned but can't remember just at the mo - will have to take another look. There is a link to the same one, approximately £20 cheaper so it sounds like good value for money. I was very tempted but I tend to go for 17" screens.
Laptops without operating systems seem to be quite a rarity.
If you  get stuck with the burning process and want to try another CD, PM your address and I will send one on as I haven't had any problems using Roxio (Vista) and Brasero Disc Burner (Ubuntu). Another thought is about the CDs - I use CD-R, not RW.
I am not surprised about the response re Linux having recently scoured the local computer shops for a part, even they didn't have much of a clue - either that, or they just weren't interested because I didn't mention the 'M' word. It's an opportunity to enlighten them I suppose. 

[tnp]

You need to be aware that a Live CD is not something taht you will ever get from Microsoft or Apple. Why? because you have to second guess the hardware it will run on. When INSTALLING linux, typically the installation has a good rummage around the hardware and its software drawers, and usually comes up with something that fits.

Having said that. the lastest and greatest hardware is always 'windows firsts' driver wise, and it may take a couple of years for Linux to catch up.

I had one laptop that simply would NOT run linux. It had precisely one screen config, that worked once, then it somehow altered, and I could never get it to work again, tho it was fine on an external monitor, but I've put debian on two more since. Ones even 64 bit linux. Damned fast but the battery is flakey. That was an ACER aspire 1510. Sadly its disk is very slow, and it doesn't have a huge amount of RAM either.

I would recommend Debian or Ubuntu. Both install very simply, and both are similar. except ubuntu uses later software and is a shade more likely to have bugs. Debian trade features for stability, ad are very fluffy when you find a bug due to trying to push it beyond what they decree is stable..

If you are unsure whether it will in fact work, istall alongside windows as dual boot. But dont expect a Live CD to tell you anything meaningful if it doesn't work. If it does its a clears sign all is well, but its failure does not mean Linux wont install. You have to try that first.