OT: Recommended Linux Laptops, suppliers?

[Cliff Wells]

On Sat, 2003-03-08 at 14:51, Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters wrote:
> |I'm looking to buy a notebook/laptop. I would like to run Linux on it. I
> |don't want to buy a notebook with Windows installed. I don't want to pay for
> |that OS since I'm just going to discard it.
> |Apple's are pretty much out of the price range
> 
> Someone else mentioned the discussion on /., which indeed pretty much
> covered all angles.  The jist of it seems to be that you are stuck with
> the Microsoft-tax, in practical terms.  You can buy a Windows-free
> laptop, but at a price that is several hundred more than a similar
> configuration with Windows included (i.e. from a bigger maker).  Even
> some of the "Windows-free" sellers actually pay the Windows license,
> then just remove the software before selling it to you.
> 
> Monopolies suck!

Indeed.  However, I'm surprised to hear that Dell isn't shipping
Linux-only laptops.  They certainly were for desktops (at least at one
time).  How about IBM?  I understand they've certified Linux for every
system they make, so I'd think a Windows-free system would be easy to
obtain from them.

> I would recommend thinking about Apples again, though.  Their laptops
> really are NOT much more expensive, and for certain features they are
> your cheapest option.  The absolute cheapest Wintel machine is cheaper
> than an iBook, but that PC is much heavier and has a shorter battery
> life.  And the cheapest Wintel might not have built-in ethernet, modem,
> CD-RW, nor have as bright a screen.

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.  Compare
that to the "cheapest" iBook you bought in the next paragraph.  A
similarly configured iBook or PowerBook (*if* they had one at 2GHz)
would cost well over $2000.

Granted, this is a no-name laptop, but I haven't owned a name-brand PC
in years so I don't consider that a problem (and if the name were HP I'd
consider it a plus).

> Valuing weight and battery life highly, I bought an iBook 12" last
> summer for $1000 (just after my 500Mhz was superceded by the next speed
> jump).  That's the cheapest--in retrospect I wish I had spent a little
> more for DVD/CD-RW, 14" screen, and mostly I wish my machine had come
> with Jaguar (MacOSX 10.2) since there is no cheap upgrade.  I'll
> probably upgrade soon to a somewhat faster machine with the newer OS,
> bigger screen, and better CD drive, for less than $2000.  Prices
> continue to fall, in spurts.
> 
> I am happy enough with MacOSX, and its Unix roots.  But there are
> several good Linux distributions available for PPC if you want that.

Does OSX use X11?  I ssh'd to my gf's school where they've got OSX and
it didn't seem like it.  If not, that would be a sad decision.  I know
you *can* run X on OSX, but I'm not sure if Aqua runs on it or is
independent of it.  Just curious.

-- 
Cliff Wells, Software Engineer
Logiplex Corporation (www.logiplex.net)
(503) 978-6726 x308  (800) 735-0555 x308