Pre-order questions - Latife Linux - ElementaryOS (Ubuntu 14.04)

[landerson61]

Hi All,

I'm contemplating using PC Specialist for the first time and have some questions regarding hardware compatibility and if there are any known issues with Linux.

I'm looking at the Latife 13.3" and will be running Elementary OS (essentially Ubuntu 14.04 LTS), and wanted to know if any other people have experience with Ubuntu 14.04, and if there are any hardware niggles (i.e. WLAN, graphics etc)? I understand people may not have had experience with Elementary exactly, but its Ubuntu based at least.

I have selected Intel HD5500 graphics and Intel AC-3160 WLAN. Usually Intel support for both graphics & wireless is good out of the box on Ubuntu, but just wanted to know before I place an order.

I have read a few posts having touchpad issues. Not too fussed about the 2 finger right click etc if there are niggles with that but would be good to know if anything.

Thanks
Luke

 

[Stephen M]

I have a two year old Voyager laptop from PCS, it has a basic set up but all Linux Distros have been fine with no major issues. Have run Ubuntu as main OS but also Fedora, Zorin, Arch, Debian and quite a few others. On a couple of Debian installs I have need to get WiFi drivers but that has been only issue.

 

[raedwulf]

Hello landerson61 - I have a Lafite which I've just bought at the start of this month running on void linux. So far people have encountered issues with the lcd screen/drivers - this I have solved by selecting the acceleration method to be "uxa" but one person who bought theirs earlier this year said that this did not work for them. It could be that the problem has gone away with the recent version or the fact that ubuntu runs different drivers to the distro i'm running - I do not know.

For the touchpad, I've written my own driver to handle it and it's available on the github link in the other thread - if you need any help setting that up just PM/mail me.

I'm very happy with linux running on it so far. The current downside is that battery life is around 4-5h on normal use rather than the advertised 7.5 hours. The wifi you chose AC-3160 only gets the purported 443Mbps if you have an AC router, if you have a N-router you will be restricted to 72mbps tops. It works fine though, if you don't mind that speed - i regret getting that card but will replace it in the future when I get bothered by it.

 

[pcurtis]

The wifi you chose AC-3160 only gets the purported 443Mbps if you have an AC router, if you have a N-router you will be restricted to 72mbps tops. It works fine though, if you don't mind that speed - i regret getting that card but will replace it in the future when I get bothered by it.

Raedwulf: I am also just about to order a Lafite for my wife and intend to use Mint 17.2 (based round Ubuntu 14.04 with kernel updates). Which of the Wifi options would you recommend if you regret getting the AC-3160?

I currently have a Clevo W230ST which is similar to the 13.3 Optimus series running Mint 17.2 as well as a number of other older machines running Mint (or Lubuntu when legacy). I also find the battery life is worse under Linux. There are various Power Saving programs available such as TLP and Laptop-ModeTools but neither are in the standard repositories and I can not say they have a huge effect on the Clevo W230ST which is closest to the Lafite.

 

[Stephen M]

I think battery life is one of the very few downsides to Linux, I certainly noticed it on my Voyager and now the Octane but I am rarely away from a power source for long so it is not really an issue. Certainly the plus sides of Linux outweigh by far this one thing.

 

[carlthegreat]

Hi. My lafite laptop is currently being built and when I get it I plan to dual boot windows 10 and ubuntu 14.04. I've read that a lot of people had problems when trying to dual boot. Do you have any suggestions how I should do it?
P.S. Sorry for bad english, I'm from Croatia

 

[Stephen M]

I have dual booted with other Windows but not 10 but don't think it should be a problem. Ubuntu is usually fine with UEFI now but is there are problems, disable UEFI in the BIOS (f2 on start up) and try that. On some machines you may also have to choose "nomodeset" before you start the Ubuntu installation, click on icons at the bottom of the first Ubuntu screen to get the menu.

Have you installed Ubuntu before, if yes you will know all the partitioning will be done automatically if you wish.

There are other Lafitte users on here as well, hope they can help, I have a different laptop but it is the same with most of them.

 

[carlthegreat]

I'm already running dual boot windows 7 and ubuntu so I do know about partitioning. But I haven't tried it with windows 10 yet.
Oh and second question, I saw that there are no windows 10 drivers in download section for my laptop. I guess I will just install windows 8.1 ones.

 

[Stephen M]

The drivers are still being updated and you will need Windows 10 drivers but you should get a CD with drivers on it with your Lafitte.

 

[carlthegreat]

That's great!