[GRLUG] shopping for linux-compatible hardware

[Michael Mol]

On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Bob Kline<bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> In a similar vein, has anyone had any
> experience putting Linux on Acer Aspire
> (5000 in my case) laptops?  I installed
> Ubuntu 9.04.  The display is fuzzy.  Like
> maybe the refresh rate is not right.  But
> the 60Hz option seems to be the only
> one available.  The 1280x800 size is correct.

I'm posting this from Ubuntu 9.04 on an Acer Aspire A4715Z.
Everything seems to work, but I did have some issues with the screen
resolution initially.  I've lately seen some artifacts that lead me to
believe the cable connecting the screen to the mainboard is dying,
though.

Refresh rates shouldn't cause fuzziness if your screen is running at
the correct resolution.  Using a too-high vertical refresh rate can
cause processing rates faster than your dot clock allows, but that
results in not running at your maximum resolution.  So I suspect
you're not actually at your max/native resolution for your LCD
display.  Can you take a picture of what you're describing, and throw
it up on something like Imageshack, Flickr or Picasa?

As for my issues with screen resolution, see these blog posts:

http://mmol-6453.livejournal.com/121437.html
http://mmol-6453.livejournal.com/122352.html

>
> Anyway,  any suggestions about what else
> to adjust,  or might this be a chipset support
> issue?
>
> Here are the specs I know about:
>
> http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-5000/4507-3121_7-31394073.html

Try the resolution I mention in the second blog post.


-- 
:wq