OT: Recommended Linux Laptops, suppliers?

[Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters]

Cliff Wells <LogiplexSoftware at earthlink.net> wrote previously:
|> I would recommend thinking about Apples again, though.  Their laptops
|> really are NOT much more expensive

|Have to disagree here.  Intel boxes, whether laptop or desktop tend to
|be far cheaper than Apple products.  I have a catalog in hand at the
|moment (Global Computer) which features a Systemax 2GHz Celeron, 15" TFT
|display, 128MB DDR, 20GB HDD, modem, NIC, and WinXP for $899.

How much does it weigh?  Less than 5 lbs?  If not, the Systemax is a far
less good system for my purposes than is the iBook I paid $1000 for.
Likewise, does the battery make 4 hours?  If it only lasts 2.5 hours, it
is simply not a comparable machine (for me).

Actually, the system you describe is a bit light on the memory and HDD
too.  But the larger display is more important than a few bucks worth of
expansion memory.

Now, of course, my G3-500 is a lot slower than a 2Ghz Celeron.  In fact,
on OSX 10.1.5 and JVM 1.3, it's a bit slower than I *want*.  But the
speed is mostly fine... generally it keeps up with my typing in a text
editor, which is exactly the amount of speed I have any use for.

|Does OSX use X11?

Aqua is not based on X11.  I (occassionally) use an XFree-based server
that you can either run rootless or fullscreen.  In rootless mode, X11
Windows appear next to Aqua windows on the same desktop... but they
might not behave and look exactly the same.  On a new system with OSX
10.2.x, you can run Apple's X11 server, which is more visually and
behaviorally integrated (so I hear), and also takes advantage of Aqua
video acceleration.

I actually do not like the "lickable" appearance of Aqua myself; I have
replaced it with a much more plain, gray, boxy theme (based on NeXT, not
because I was looking for that theme specifically, just because it
seemed like the most consistent theme that was simple, and in which
nothing glowed and throbbed like a Lava Lamp).  Themes aren't something
Apple really likes, but it's easy to download free 3rd party theme
managers.

But most importantly, Python runs just perfectly in an OSX terminal!

Yours, Lulu...

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