On Mon, 26 Jun 2023, Will Godfrey wrote:
So, the next question is, can anyone suggest a
reasonably inexpensive laptop
that plays well with Linux?
I suspect you mean more than plays well with Linux. I have an Acer spin
(i5) that has worked well for me. All the periferals work. etc. However, I
do not use it for audio beyond videos and phone calls as I do not own any
USB audio devices beyond USB 1.1 mic/headphone dongles (some of them
purchaced for less than $1). I would like to have one (4 to 6 i/o though
more would be nice) but it is not in the budget just now as I already have
both a PCI and FW devices that are more stable than any USB devices I have
bumped into. They are just not portable.
I will say, that I did need to change the bios in such a way that windows
will not boot just to load Linux but I have really no use for a windows
partition anyway. I think this will be true on just about any newer
laptop. One needs to remove the "security" that windows deems required to
run (which makes it hard to run anything other than windows). I also had
to change the bios to make the touch pad act like a normal mouse rather
than an I2C (I think) device. I have heard that once the right modules are
loaded I could switch it back but have not tried that as everything works
well the way I have things set. It may make more difference to someone who
wishes to dual boot.
My primary use other than day to day computing has been to run an android
lyric display using waydroid which works well for me. (I do have some
complaints waydroid but these are not device specific) All my charts are
chordpro and there do not seem to be good display applications in native
Linux... something I intend to work on in the future.... maybe.
--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net