Posting this from my new HP ENVY dv7-7240us laptop while booted in F18-Xfce-Live from USB stick which was purchased just yesterday.
This is this laptops "first light" with Linux. Wireless working "out of the box" as I expected (I did my research).
Of course, I spent all of yesterday afternoon and evening assimilating how to navigate my way around in W8, removing various "bloatware" and installing needed "software".
So far I'm pleased with my purchase, save for the somewhat annoying fact that some of the function key "functions" either don't work properly, or don't work at all. The screen bightness controls don't function, but they also didn't work on the store display model either, so I'm sure it's not just a "my unit only" issue. But all the non/mis-functioing functkon key functions work fine with software control.
My goal is to install F18.x86_64 from the Live USB in UEFI mode, without disabling SecureBoot. I have the link to a blog post from someone who has done just that with success. It seems straight forward enough, but I'm sure there are unforseen "gotchya's" up ahead. All UEFI, all gpt, dual-booting W8 and F18 with SecureBoot enabled. I understand that I'll still need a "bootloader" or have to rely on the UEFI boot device function to get Fedora launched.
Not to say that I really want or need W8 (I already dual-boot W7 and F18 on my desktop pc), but hey, why not if you can? I want to be among the few out of the herd who succeeded in doing so.
Side note: Before we left for the day to do our "shopping", my wife tried to print out her shopping list, like she does every week. The somehat aging HP deskjet printer wouldn't print, the "ink" light kept flashing. She had just replaced the "black" ink cartridge a week or two prior. So she put in a new "color" cartridge.
Restart the printer......same cr*p> Ink light flashes, won't print. I removed both cartridges and cleaned the contacts on the cartridges and in the printer where they contact with distilled water as advised in the manual. Totally power down the printer (AC power brick unplugged). Restart the printer. No go, same blinking ink light. This was repeated several times prior to fianlly leaving the house. My wife had already been thinking of replacing the printer with something newer for awhle due to a little "balky" behaviour.
So, besides the new laptop, we plunged in and bought a new printer as well. Both were "on Sale" for the week at the retail merchant where we made the purchase. Come home, I focus on the laptop and my wife comes in and fires up her laptop and the old HP printer and it decides to print without any issues at all. Go figure.
This is this laptops "first light" with Linux. Wireless working "out of the box" as I expected (I did my research).
Of course, I spent all of yesterday afternoon and evening assimilating how to navigate my way around in W8, removing various "bloatware" and installing needed "software".
So far I'm pleased with my purchase, save for the somewhat annoying fact that some of the function key "functions" either don't work properly, or don't work at all. The screen bightness controls don't function, but they also didn't work on the store display model either, so I'm sure it's not just a "my unit only" issue. But all the non/mis-functioing functkon key functions work fine with software control.
My goal is to install F18.x86_64 from the Live USB in UEFI mode, without disabling SecureBoot. I have the link to a blog post from someone who has done just that with success. It seems straight forward enough, but I'm sure there are unforseen "gotchya's" up ahead. All UEFI, all gpt, dual-booting W8 and F18 with SecureBoot enabled. I understand that I'll still need a "bootloader" or have to rely on the UEFI boot device function to get Fedora launched.
Not to say that I really want or need W8 (I already dual-boot W7 and F18 on my desktop pc), but hey, why not if you can? I want to be among the few out of the herd who succeeded in doing so.
Side note: Before we left for the day to do our "shopping", my wife tried to print out her shopping list, like she does every week. The somehat aging HP deskjet printer wouldn't print, the "ink" light kept flashing. She had just replaced the "black" ink cartridge a week or two prior. So she put in a new "color" cartridge.
Restart the printer......same cr*p> Ink light flashes, won't print. I removed both cartridges and cleaned the contacts on the cartridges and in the printer where they contact with distilled water as advised in the manual. Totally power down the printer (AC power brick unplugged). Restart the printer. No go, same blinking ink light. This was repeated several times prior to fianlly leaving the house. My wife had already been thinking of replacing the printer with something newer for awhle due to a little "balky" behaviour.
So, besides the new laptop, we plunged in and bought a new printer as well. Both were "on Sale" for the week at the retail merchant where we made the purchase. Come home, I focus on the laptop and my wife comes in and fires up her laptop and the old HP printer and it decides to print without any issues at all. Go figure.