Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I used IBM and then Lenovo for 
many years. Good to know.

I even seen a HW button for switching on some VAio laptop like 3yrs back 
... the technology differs depending on manufacturer and brand - so 
that's why i said, i'd just check this Optimus technology switching 
carefully on particular laptop before buying it...

cheers, :]

-- 
*Karel Lang*
*Unix/Linux Administration*
[log in to unmask] | +420 731 13 40 40
AUFEER DESIGN, s.r.o. | www.aufeerdesign.cz



On 01/27/2015 04:53 PM, James M. Pulver wrote:
> With Lenovo anyway, there is a BIOS setting to select the graphics card you want to use, with Auto / Optimus the default. Change to PCI / External for the nVidia card or Internal for Intel, and it works fine for SL6.x...
>
> --
> James Pulver
> CLASSE Computer Group
> Cornell University
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karel Lang AFD
> Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:51 AM
> To: Lamar Owen; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: SL on Dell Precision M4800 Mobile Workstation
>
> Hi,
> i, for one, would approach any laptop using Nvidia Optimus technology with caution, particularly if i want to run Linux on it.
>
> I googled your laptop config and it comes with 'Intel(r) Core(tm) i7-4900MQ Processor' meaning Intel(r) HD Graphics 4600 built in.
>
> I just wander, why the laptop sellers stopped to announce Nvidia Optimus technology on their laptops - nowadays noone says a word. Is it because it got a bad rep? In my eyes it indeed does.
>
> Bumblebee is working solution on Linux, but not entirely convenient? - you need to switch between VGAs manually as far as i understand the problem.
>
> I don't have personal experience with Optimus, as i do not own any newer built laptop (my own is 6yrs old).
>
> But after reading many many angry threads on various linux (and even a
> windows) forums, i'd think twice before buying one.
>
>
>