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I would like to buy a laptop for my research, which also, will be my first Ubuntu-only laptop. After searching for a design, with decent specs and ubuntu compatibility (although I did not find one here in which the community agreed) I think that the most convenient, in my case, would be the Dell Inspirion 15 7000 series:

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-7537/pd.

In Spain this model comes in two versions: The first one would be with a Intel HD Graphics 4400 and the second with a NVIDIA GeForce GT750M (I will not be using it for gaming or any graphics consuming task).

I seems there is not 100% compatibility with any of the models but I would love to hear user experiences with both cards about the following issues:

1) Noise, heating

2) How easy are the drivers to install? (Using bumblebee or the intel utility)

3) Which option offers better user experience, for example, brightness controls, software compatibility, updates....

Any advice would be most welcome, thanks.

2 Answers 2

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I have a lenovo Y510P with a nvidia 775m & only use the Intel Graphics for Ubuntu. Why? -

Mobile nvidia adapters are Optimus. If setting the laptop to nvidia only then that's done thru nvidia-prime. In that case there is no vsync at all which is unacceptable here when using an ubuntu session. The way bumblebee is used also provides an unacceptable solution.

So irregardless of whether you purchase the Intel only or the Nvidia card laptop the odds are you'll just be using Intel.

As far as Intel drivers what's provided by 14.04 for Intel by default is just fine, no need to install anything.

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You can visit the following link to see if your laptop is compatible:

http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/

Per the site there, your laptop is compatible.

I can not answer on noise and heat. I can answer on drivers for the video cards. I have never had any luck in compiling the drivers for Nvidia video cards myself. Downloading NVIDIA drivers and installing them are tricky and they have never worked for me. I managed to install the available drivers by running the following command in Terminal:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

This option could be sufficient for you as you have stated that you won't be gaming or utilizing graphic intensive applications that may require the latest version of NVIDIA drivers. Using the above method will install NVIDIA drivers, but they will be a couple of versions behind.

Intel drivers are much easier to deal with. I have managed to install drivers for Ubuntu straight off the Intel site by simply downloading them:

https://01.org/linuxgraphics/

Once you have downloaded the drivers, you will need to add keys to Ubuntu's software package manager ("apt"). Open a terminal, and execute these line:

$ wget --no-check-certificate https://download.01.org/gfx/RPM-GPG-KEY-ilg -O - | \
> sudo apt-key add -
$ wget --no-check-certificate https://download.01.org/gfx/RPM-GPG-KEY-ilg-2 -O - | \
> sudo apt-key add -

Then you can run the deb file to install the graphics installer. Note that the graphics installer will only install it, and not run. To actually install the drivers once the installer is installed, run the following command from a terminal:

$ sudo intel-linux-graphics-installer

Hope this helps.

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