I had got the possibility to test Linux on an Asus A6748KLH recently .
The notebook has a power saving Turion MT30 processor and a less power saving Nvidia GF 6200 GO with TurboCache. The 15.4 inch TFT reflects strongly. The resolution is 1280*800 and its weight is 2.8 kg.
Keyboard:
I think it's wider than normal. When i want to
press “Enter”, i hit the “#” instead. But I
think, thats due to habit (on my own notebook the enter button is
next to the “;”.
The lid is solid.
There is a CD playback function without starting the os (works with Linux too). But the fan is running very loudly in this mode. You can't use it really.
The speakers haven't bass at all, but there are worse.
I used Suse Linux (9.3). I think this distribution is one of the best for notebooks.
Installation:
You can press Esc to get a menu for selecting the startup device. This is very handy because you don't have to enter the BIOS. The installation runs through without any problems. You have only to set the correct screen resolution in sax2. But thats no problem..
Operation:
The processor is working from 800Mhz up to 1600Mhz (depending on system load). Suspend to Disk works without any problems, but at Suspend to ram there is only working the doze off. Standby is working properly. I have tried to get some photos of the build in web cam shortly, but without success. It is recognized as a “ Acer USB2.0 Camera”. I don't know if the Modem, the W-LAN (Broadcom BCM 4306 802.11 b/g) nor the SD card reader (Suse has some drivers for the card reader) is working. I haven't the hardware to test it. When you close the lid, the TFT switches off.
With the original Nvidia driver for the graphics card (vers 7167 and 7676 tested) i wasn't able to set a resolution greater then 1024*768. With the Xorg driver (nv) it works properly.
Apart from that, everything seems to be working as it should.
Run time:
only desktop / display dimmed / nv (xorg) driver / processor on 800Mhz: 2h 10 min
a few programs / display max bright / nv (xorg) driver / processor at 1600Mhz running at about 5% / music turned up to100% : 1h 20min
with nvidia driver (orig): Not tested, because nobody wants to work with such a low resolution..
Special buttons:
Display lighter / darker: working
Switch to extern monitor: not working
Loudness: not working
W-LAN card on / off: not working
Suspend To Ram: no
Power Button: working (shut down smoothly)
ToutchPad off: not working
Browser / e-mail / power mode (processor runs faster/slower under windows): not working
Conclusion:
There are Notebooks with better Linux support, but this one is good compared to some others. The only trouble is the not working Nvidia driver (the battery live would increase).
Here is the outpur of the Suse hardwaredetection.
if you have a question, you can email me using “notebookquestions at xibo.at” ..
There is also a german version of this document.