Help purchasing laptop

[NakedSnake]

Wanted: A 15" laptop to install Ubuntu on (not dual-booting) for undergraduate level programming assignments.

HIGH priorities:
CPU
portability(weight)

MEDIUM priorities:
graphics power
battery life

LOW priorities:
HD space
optical drive

Budget:~$750

None of the laptops I've found on recommended lists have many reviews on Newegg. If anyone has the time to point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[bavman]

The problem is if you want graphics power AND battery life you'll need to stick with windows or drop one or the other. Laptops with good battery life and discrete graphics use nvidia optimus to switch between IGP and DGPU, which if im not mistaken doesn't have drivers for linux so you'll have crappy battery life with ubuntu.

 

[NakedSnake]

In that case, I'll sacrifice on graphics. But, if I'm going to end up with integrated-level graphics, I'll sacrifice on battery life instead.

 

[bavman]

You can try asking on the ubuntu forums as well as here: http/ubuntuforums.org/

I wish I could help you but my knowledge of ubuntu is really limited to setting up my home server. You can probably find people with more experiences with mobile hardware and give you good suggestions.