Very typical to get 6-7hrs. If I turn down brightness and don't use power hungry apps (Chrome, Firefox), 7-9hrs.
> 2. Are all devices supported with drivers - Bluetooth, 3D, graphics, sleep/wake, 802.11n, webcam, internal mike, ...
Everything works out of the box. I haven't had to tweak a thing. I don't game at all, though, so I can't speak to the 3D in games.
> 3. Does it do instant sleep/wake like a Mac - 100s of times without crashing/rebooting?
Yes. I had some crashes in wake just before 12.04 went final, but nothing since. Hibernate works as well, you just need to turn it on.
> 4. How does it handle external displays? Plug and play like a Mac? Does it handle display rotate? The internal display is only 1366x768 ?
Seamlessly. I haven't rotated the display, but I've heard it works.
> 5. Does it detect a headphone and switch from speaker to headphone automatically (speaker driver?)
Yes.
> 6. How's the trackpad compare to a Macbook Pro?
I prefer the nub, however, the macbook pro trackpad is still the best I've seen. I don't think this one compares, but it isn't bad, just not great like the MBP.
> 7. How's the keyboard compare to a Macbook Pro?
100 thousand million times better. I've never liked the MBP/MBA keyboards since they went chicklet style. I don't hate them, I just don't like them. The Lenovo/IBM keyboards are, quite simply, the best out there. I even bought an external Lenovo keyboard to use at my desktop I like it that much.
> Asking because I moved from Linux->OSX a long time ago, and I wouldn't mind switching back if the hardware is right and more importantly the Linux drivers work well.
The reason I bought a Lenovo x220, tbh, is because I had a friend tell me that they were at UDS in Oakland and the Ubuntu kernel team all had them. When you think about that, makes me feel pretty confident things will work correctly.
Another vote for the x220. I Have the tablet version, and some of the tablet stuff isn't perfect yet. But I mainly use it as a laptop, for which it is solid since 12.04.
Very typical to get 6-7hrs. If I turn down brightness and don't use power hungry apps (Chrome, Firefox), 7-9hrs.
> 2. Are all devices supported with drivers - Bluetooth, 3D, graphics, sleep/wake, 802.11n, webcam, internal mike, ...
Everything works out of the box. I haven't had to tweak a thing. I don't game at all, though, so I can't speak to the 3D in games.
> 3. Does it do instant sleep/wake like a Mac - 100s of times without crashing/rebooting?
Yes. I had some crashes in wake just before 12.04 went final, but nothing since. Hibernate works as well, you just need to turn it on.
> 4. How does it handle external displays? Plug and play like a Mac? Does it handle display rotate? The internal display is only 1366x768 ?
Seamlessly. I haven't rotated the display, but I've heard it works.
> 5. Does it detect a headphone and switch from speaker to headphone automatically (speaker driver?)
Yes.
> 6. How's the trackpad compare to a Macbook Pro?
I prefer the nub, however, the macbook pro trackpad is still the best I've seen. I don't think this one compares, but it isn't bad, just not great like the MBP.
> 7. How's the keyboard compare to a Macbook Pro?
100 thousand million times better. I've never liked the MBP/MBA keyboards since they went chicklet style. I don't hate them, I just don't like them. The Lenovo/IBM keyboards are, quite simply, the best out there. I even bought an external Lenovo keyboard to use at my desktop I like it that much.
> Asking because I moved from Linux->OSX a long time ago, and I wouldn't mind switching back if the hardware is right and more importantly the Linux drivers work well.
The reason I bought a Lenovo x220, tbh, is because I had a friend tell me that they were at UDS in Oakland and the Ubuntu kernel team all had them. When you think about that, makes me feel pretty confident things will work correctly.