From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sun Feb 19 01:39:21 2017 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 477A7CDB550 for ; Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:39:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "wonkity.com", Issuer "wonkity.com" (not verified)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 0FBDB1E56 for ; Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:39:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id v1J1dJK4083799 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO); Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:39:19 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) with ESMTP id v1J1dJ0D083796; Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:39:19 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:39:19 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Sergei Akhmatdinov cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, David Christensen Subject: Re: Laptop recommendation In-Reply-To: <20170218213408.6ftvgiy7j5gwzxvt@silverbeast> Message-ID: References: <140316c2-a061-de66-7e1f-212ac88f235e@holgerdanske.com> <20170218213408.6ftvgiy7j5gwzxvt@silverbeast> User-Agent: Alpine 2.20 (BSF 67 2015-01-07) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.6.2 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:39:19 -0700 (MST) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:39:21 -0000 On Sat, 18 Feb 2017, Sergei Akhmatdinov wrote: >> When I bought my laptop back in 2007, I blew it -- it has a wireless >> networking card with a Broadcom chipset that is not FOSS-friendly. Debian >> has a work-around using proprietary firmware, but I would prefer a laptop >> with 100% FOSS-supported hardware. > > Perhaps I am going off on a tangent, but most of the time you can buy > an Aetheros card online and replace it. Yes. I have used replacement Atheros wireless cards in my most recent notebooks: Dell Latitude E7240 and E7440, small ultrabooks with Haswell processors and graphics. Some vendors only allow particular wireless cards of their own choosing, which makes replacing the stock one with a particular chipset expensive, challenging, or impossible. This includes Lenovo and HP. If you are dead-set on one of those and feel lucky with their security or quality issues, it might be easier to use a low-profile USB wireless adapter. The entry on the wiki for the Dell E7240 has everything I wished I could ask before buying it. The E7440 is essentially the same thing with a 14-inch screen. Both can be had with 1920x1080 screens, which I strongly recommend because the lower-res screen is not IPS. https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops/Dell_Latitude_E7240_i5-4310U