laptops (Was: Re: No Go Lenovo)

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On Thu, 10 May 2007 10:27:15 -0400
"Bill Bogstad" <bogstad at pobox.com> wrote:

> I'm not aware of a list of laptops, but I think you can get a pretty
> good idea  on wireless issues by determing who the manufacturer of the
> wireless chipset is.  Most laptops which come with wireless builtin
> seem to either use a Broadcom or an Intel chipset.  In general, Intel
> wireless chipsets don't need hacks while Broadcom typically do.  Some
> manufacturer let you select which type of wireless you want
> pre-installed in which case Intel is typically the way to go.  Note:
> This is only for wireless.  I think Broadcom wired ethernet chips are
> typically okay.
Basically, most AMD based laptops use the Broadcom chips. The more
recent Linux distros come with a Broadcom native driver, however the
Broadcom firmware is not distributed with the distros. It is fairly
simple to get the appropriate Broadcom Windows  driver and extract the
firmware with a tool called bcm43xx-fwcutter. Much cleaner than using
ndiswrapper. My wife uses my laptop frequently, and has not had a
problem with the wireless. 
Additionally, as Jarod mentioned, Red Hat certifies some laptops as
does SuSE, but http://www.linux-laptop.net/ also has peoples'
experiences with various distros and vendors. I tend to personally
favor HP and IBM laptops, but since they sold to Lenovo I don't know
how Linux friendly their new laptops will remain. Historically, the
Thinkpads seem to have been the most Linux-friendly brand. HP is all
over the board, but as a company HP also strongly support Linux. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
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