--- In LINUX_Newbies@yahoogroups.com, David Neeley <dbneeley@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings!
>
> Within the next couple days, I should be ordering a new laptop to
> replace this one, which is on its last legs.
>
> For various reasons -- including the international warranty and a
> decent repair record, I plan to get an ASUS machine. This time out, I
> have fairly well determined it'll be one of the small, light ones with
> good battery life--probably something from the UL30 series of 13.3
> inch screen machines. At present, These all have either the SU7300 ULV
> dual core, or the new Core I3 or I5 Mobile CPUs. The newer CPU
> machines are quite a bit more expensive, as you might expect.
>
> However, the things I do these days are not particularly taxing, so
> the SU7300 should be fine. My conundrum, though, is whether to simply
> go with the Intel 4500M integrated graphics models (which can be had
> new for $600 including 500 GB hard disk and 4 GB of RAM), or to pay
> another hundred and change for one with switchable graphics that
> include nVidia discrete graphics chips in addition.
>
> I am not a gamer, nor do I do things like video encoding that cry out
> for all the CPU and graphics horsepower you can throw at them.
> However, I still do appreciate decent performance, so I am tempted to
> the models with switchable graphics.
>
> The only problem is, support for these boxes is still kind of sketchy
> in Linux, it seems. The 2.6.34 kernel has incorporated "VGA
> Switcheroo"--but that is not yet fully stable and tested with
> Intel/nVidia combinations like the ASUS boxes.
>
> Oh, yes, one more issue--the older models often have WIFI issues--many
> of them have difficulty getting solid connections even when sitting
> within ten feet of a wireless router. If I get one of these, I would
> also get a much better wireless card and at least one additional
> antenna, as ASUS has been only putting in a single antenna. Thus, I
> will probably be out another thirty or forty bucks or so and about ten
> or fifteen minutes labor to make the switch.
>
> So, what's your opinion--should I simply get the cheaper machines with
> integrated graphics only, or would I be a bit too much on the cutting
> edge to get the dual graphics machines? What would you do? (And who
> knows, there might be someone here already using one of these
> machines, and I would most definitely love to hear your thoughts in
> particular.)
>
> TIA,
>
> David
>
> Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
>
> David
>
The only advice is... think of the future not the present. I can tell you that I installed a video card in my desktop and stopped using the embedded one and I didn't see much of an overall performance increase ie. booting up or starting apps, but videos played much more smoothly and looked sharper. When I buy a new computer or replace my Main Board I will definitely get one with a separate video card.
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