Best products from r/debian

As an actual user of laptop as main driver with Debian installations since 2005:

• Absolute requirement: Form factor either 13" or 15". 11" is too small to write and code comfortably and 17" onwards is a PITA to carry around for work or leisure.
  
• Absolute requirement: VGA out port, maybe DVI. If possible no HDMI - it brings up the entire HDCP problem. if I want a laptop with Debian is to be in more control of the machine. Besides VGA is compatible everywhere and at almost every "age".
  
• Absolute requirement: Ethernet port. Why would that even be put into question?
  
• Absolute requirement: Keyboard should NOT be a "compact keyboard" where the PgUp/Down, Home/End and Insert/Delete keys are virtual, only accessible via a Fnkey. If necessary, use something like an extensible / foldable Pegasus keyboard to achieve that, even more builtin numeric keypad could become accessible with that as well.
  
• At least 2 GHz CPU clock speed.
  
• At least 8 GB RAM built in. Extensible to at least 16 GB.
  
• Minimum 768 vert screen resolution, if possible ~860 or 1024 .
  
• As much support for open drivers as possible. If things like wifi / video can not get an open driver, at least get enough support from the provider that performance is not lost in more demanding scenarios (eg.: games).
  
• Kernel needs to have good access and control of fan speed and fan sound.
  
• If possible, open BIOS.
  
• If there's a wifi chip, physical kill switch (also accessible via software from userspace aka rfkill).
  
• If there's a camera, physical kill switch (also accessible via software from userspace).
  
• If keyboard is backlight, software kill switch at the BIOS level (also accessible from userspace).
  
• If motherboard includes a dedicated chip for crypto acceleration, software kill switch at the BIOS level (also accessible from userspace).
  
• Considering this is Debian we are talking about I am expecting a battery duration of at least 3~4 h, but I can live with less provided a fair exchange: something like incredible life (at least 2 years without noticeable degradation) or superfast charging speed, for example.
  
• Pluggable battery. Sometimes at work I spend ~6-8 hrs on AC power only.
  
• Power connector should not be located besides the USB or video connectors. Risks accidentally disconnecting the power, in particular in scenarios where you work with a lot of cables, even more when you eventually have to switch to an alternative / generic power adapter and cable.
  
• At least 2 USB ports per side. Ports should be USB 2.0 and USB 3.0; no USB 3.0-only.
  
• While not necessary, a SD or microSD port would be convenient.
  
• Integrated video chip should be of good enough quality. Support for more recent MESA / OpenGL stuff, well supported at the kernel / Xorg devel level, etc.
  
• Keyboard should have a layout that allows for having spare keys to remap at least two to Meta, Super and or Hyper (for example the "Windows" key and the Mayus key).
  
• At this point an inbuilt optical DVD drive is a misuse of space. Better replace it with one of those access bays that include SSD and extra USB ports.
  
• If possible, more than one disk drive. Be it two hard drives, or one hard drive plus a SSD drive such as using the bay above. SSD doesn't really need to be larger than 50 GB, if I want it specifically for the Debian install's base I could live with a 20 GB one even, as I would set up /var and /home to be outside. "Storage" hard drive would hopefully be at least half a tera.
  
• ARM architecture if possible, AMD64 otherwise.
  
• No hidden Minix operating system.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: serial port.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: a clit mouse would certainly be a selling point for me.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: rotatable / slideable screen, for "book reading" mode.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: decent audio chip, accompanied by a physical mic port.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: support / preference stickers. "I love Debian" kind of stuff.
  
• Less requirement more leisure: Dedicated cross-architecture processor, for heightened virtualization / emulation (for example if machine is AMD64, include a RISC or ARM execution chip).
  
  

No prob!

One other thing I forgot to mention since it's a total "edge-case" is that I am able to run VERY unique monitor setups with it... other solutions like Gnome were hell for this and often bugged out when doing custom xrandr work - specifically panels would never position/stretch right on switching monitor configs, etc.

My daily driver is heavily modified T430, and I run a 1:1 aspect ratio on one of my monitors. XFCE does SUPER well and stays VERY low on system resource utilization (memory, CPU, etc.)!

Gah. Maybe two more things - just thought of this... I come from a heavy design background and I am SUPER picky on UIX for myself. XFCE is as-close to a "pixel-perfect" solution that I've been able to find without hella bloat. The only widget/panel that I use that's not super configurable is the battery one... which meh w/e.

Needless to say I'm a huge advocate! Feel free to PM me if you have any onboarding questions that you can't find answers to online =)

Thanks for the HWM Manual.


It seems as though The only Atheros chip that is Free is the AR9271, However the only pci-e card I found, comes with only a single antenna jack.:/ The AR9285 PCI-e card comes with two antenna jacks, but is not listed in the Atheros Free Firmware.

http://www.amazon.com/Atheros-Wireless-802-11b-150Mbps-Support/dp/B00FJ08VDO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397188751&sr=8-3&keywords=atheros+ar9271

http://www.amazon.com/Atheros-AR5B95-AR9285-802-11B-PCI-E/dp/B005HMZ8B2

Appears as though my only option is to get the AR9271 and use only one antenna:/

Am I missing something? any other suggestions?

Thanks

> True, but what I and many others are still waiting for is for Debian to run on cheap tablets.

I'll let you know in a couple weeks. Got this one coming for my birthday mid-March

https://www.amazon.com/NuVision-Touchscreen-Quad-Core-Processor-Windows/dp/B01H3B17R8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

They were successful getting Ubuntu installed on it, I'm sure I can make Debian work.

When I was beginning to learn Linux back in the day, I used The Linux Command Line and have only good things to say about it. It must be one of the simple best books to introduce yourself to the command line and to how to use a modern Unix like system.

Thanks lol it's a 1440p TN panel but a very good one at that, here is a link to it on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-27-Inch-LED-Lit-Monitor-S2719DGF/dp/B00N2L5CXO/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=dell+gaming+monitor+1440p&qid=1575068187&sprefix=dell+gaming+monitor+1440&sr=8-3

Yes something like the TP-Link AC600, for example...
TP-Link AC600 High Gain Dual Band USB Wireless WiFi network Adapter for PC and Laptops (Archer T2UH) https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00UZRVY12/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kvImDb5BWJ1AK

lol yes https://www.amazon.ca/Logitech-Master-Wireless-Mouse-910-004956/dp/B01LXV001A

I can't believe you paid someone to put a live install on a 8GB drive for $5.95. You can buy this 32GB PNY Turbo USB 3.0 drive for $8.99.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDUHD2K?ref_=Oct_DotdC_3151491_1&pf_rd_p=e3df1873-28dd-5a1b-a67a-008588871413&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=3151491&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=8W90SCP6ZGKBXZEC41H1&pf_rd_r=8W90SCP6ZGKBXZEC41H1&pf_rd_p=e3df1873-28dd-5a1b-a67a-008588871413
Fire off a few emails and put it down to experience.
I appreciate your time may be valuable but creating a bootable live USB takes a few minutes of actual work.

It's a new one, so maybe that is the difference.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQTXMVC/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B01BTW4QNE

To be fair, I have pretty low expectations when it comes to touchpad precision on a cheap laptop.

Do you want to use your Intel graphics (for VGA-Out) and AMD graphics (HDMI/DVI out) at the same time?

don't think that's a usual use-case, but if you just want/need a VGA-Out, something like this should do the trick for a third display on the 390

This one's cheap and works great, no additional drivers required: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JDVRCI0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think it might be 2.4 ghz-only, though

For anyone who has had this same problem and ended up here looking for a solution, I ended up buying a PCI E sound card and audio is working with it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0192IRT90/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Y9WYxbD3KDKGC

Product page if you want to purchase: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B018JQPNK8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You might have problems. A guy in an Amazon review for example describes some of the problems he had installing Ubuntu :

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Stream-Includes-Personal-Horizon/product-reviews/B00O65HZKS

The issue would seem to be some device drivers. You also need the 3.16 kernel according to the review, but I do have that with Debian testing. I don't know offhand what kernel Debian stable is using.

Linux Bible, 9th Edition

UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 5th Edition

The Debian Administrator's Hanbook

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Operating-Systems-Andrew-Tanenbaum/dp/013359162X

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00380DI9Y/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/279-2316712-7148022

I had to manually download the firmware for the set up. But after its installed, it's picked up just fine…