[Gllug] Desktops with preinstalled linux

[general_email at technicalbloke.com]

John Hearns wrote:
> 2009/11/24 Nix <nix at esperi.org.uk>:
>   
>> On 23 Nov 2009, general stated:
>>     
>>> Nix wrote:
>>>       
>>>> They do recommend nvidia all over the place but it's easy to avoid it
>>>> (nvidia avoidance is probably a reflex in anyone posting here).
>>>>         
>>> Really? I posted a Q here a few months ago soliciting compatible 3D
>>> graphics card advice and don't recall getting many suggestions at all,
>>> let alone a strong preference for ATI.
>>>       
>
> Depends if you have strong leanings towards free source drivers or not.
> I have had an Nvidia Quadro FX4800 on eval loan, and it works just fine!
> Currently have 3700 and 1700 cards working fine.
>
> ATI are showing the 5870 off to me in a week or so - should be good.
>   


Mmm, open drivers would be great but right now I need things to work
straight out of the box. If that means compromising on proprietary
drivers and/or paying a bit more for black box solutions so be it.
Although I'm sure Brasero will be robust and feature complete someday I
ended up buying Nero a few weeks back for exactly that reason, I had
work to do that day! The last thing I can afford is to have to spend
days and weeks trying to get hardware working which is often a worry
with linux + new products. The various HCL sites can't hope to keep up
with the sheer weight of new products and most retailers don't know,
care or want to assume the risk of providing this info. I spy a market
failure!

Or maybe I've just missed it and you all know... Are there any UK online
shops (or central london shops) that sell components and peripherals
that are known to work well with linux? Right now I need a new
all-in-one printer but the market moves so fast I'm finding it hard to
track down the right blend of known decent linux compatibility and cheap
3rd party ink availability.

I've been told kodak don't work at all, and that HP work great, but I
can't find bargain ink for them anywhere. Inkwise the cheapest are Canon
then Epson but, as the manufacturers and retailers make no claim for
linux compatibility, I'm still not sure if they will work well with
Ubuntu. There seem to be very few useful online reviews too. It's quite
a catch22, by the time people have a had an all-in-one long enough to be
able to recommend it you can't buy it in the shops anymore!

Roger.
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