Looking for a decent computer for Linux

[mthorne]

Hi all,

I am quite new to Linux, have been using Ubuntu on my old laptop for the past 8 months. But now I am looking to get a proper desktop so I can install Ubuntu 9.10 on it.

But I did encounter a few problems with my laptop when I installed Ubuntu 8.10, which meant I had to fix things like the graphics and sound to work properly.

So this time I want to ensure I buy the right hardware so I can get the most out of Ubuntu.

Any suggestions about motherboard brands etc? I am looking for an Intel dual processor based desktop. Maybe just onboard graphics. I will just use it for office work (things like email, Internet, openoffice) but also watching DVDs and other basic multimedia.

And does anyone know of a shop (CPT) that sells computers without an operating system? I don't want to have to purchase Windows if I'm not going to use it.

Thanks guys and girls.
M

 

[RSkeens]

There's quite a lot of dealers on this forum who can help you pick out some components - you don't need anything beefy at all. You could also order the components individually and build it yourself, there's places like Esquire, Chaos Computers, etc that can help you out there.

 

[bawrak]

From personal experience I can tell you that Nvidia seems to be a better bet for a graphics card than anything else. My Nvidia card was well supported on Ubuntu 9.04 while I had endless problems with ATI. So maybe rather look for a cheap Nvidia card than an onboard intel or some such...

Sound (Creative) was also a problem for me on 9.04 but Karmic apparently has it sorted out, so that should not be a problem

 

[milomak]

as a general view i would agree with what bawrak has to say. though it has to be said that ati drivers are improving all the time. at the time i had my hd4870, 3d acceleration was still lacking.

 

[MyWorld]

Stay with the well known brands, almost all chipset drivers are supported by the mayor vendors. Then also Nvidia for graphics, very well supported.

What budget do you have?

 

[milomak]

the best way to buy your comp is as components and then have the store build it if you don't want to.

it's probably best to list the components you want here so we can advise on whether the parts are likely to cause issues or not.

or you can take a stroll through here - http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/

 

[mthorne]

Thank you all for your comments

I'm looking at the R3000-R4000 range for my new desktop.

So I'll go Google some hardware setups, but I'm not confident enough to built it myself, so might take it to a store in Cape Town for them to build. But I'll post the setup here before I go buy it.

Also, I bought a 23" Samsung monitor that I've used with my laptop, so I'll have to make sure my new desktop can support the 1920x1080p resolution. It has VGA and DVI. But after reading your comments, I'll investigate NVIDIA cards - I don't want to fiddle with ATI drivers for days. I've also heard problems about maximum resolutions with some hardware.


Regards,
M