Laptop Suggestions?

[Fryguy8]

I'm considering buying my first laptop, and I am going to be running linux on it, and I'm looking for suggestions.

I want:

floppy
DVD
usb
10/100 ethernet
wireless
capable of external mouse, and if possible external keyboard/monitor


I don't need bleeding edge performance. I'm going to be doing a lot of programming on it, but I don't need a ridiculous spec computer. I'd like something small, but with a large screen (at least 15", I like having lots of screen space). Something like a 1.2ghz Athlon w/ 256mb DDR.

What about iMacs? Are they hard to install linux on? For my pricerange, I really want to stay under $1200 if possible, and the cheaper the better.

[drummerboy195]

right now im on a hp ze4230, and my lan, dvd, cdrw, and modem all work. havent had an oppertunity to try anything else, but its nice and cheap, and most things worked out of the box w/ mdk 9.0

[Gertrude]

I also have a HP laptop. the model is zt1135 I think. I got it used off a guy I know for $700. I has dvd/cdrw ethernet (realtek) 2 pcmcia slots 1.2 Ghz celeron, 20 gig HDD, and 256 megs of ram. It seems to be OK, I havnt had any issues with it yet. I would also suggest getting a pcmcia wireless card instead of something built in.

[Fryguy8]

Well what brands should I look at besides the obvious:

ibm thinkpad
dell

Also, are pcmcia cards universal? like can I just go buy any old pcmcia wireless card and have it work, or are they brand/computer dependent? Like I said, this is my first laptop, and I have ZERO experience with any mobile technology, including pcmcia.

[drummerboy195]

no they are not laptop dependant, but linux is somewhat touchy with wireless stuff.

[Gertrude]

Think of pcmcia cards the same way as you would a pci card. There are newer cards called cardbus, its the newer improved version of pcmcia cards.

[Fryguy8]

ok, so anyway, back to brands, what brands should I be looking at that have quality laptops?

[RWiggum]

I'm typing this on my Thinkpad, so I'm a little biased, but IBM is good. :D

Seriously, IBM builds very solid laptops. They don't have the "Fisher-Price" plastic feel that Dell and Gateway have. You pay a little more, but you get quality. Look into the R-series for a reasonable set of specs, and a price around $1k +/- $100. I think the biggest screen on an R is 14", though. If you want big screen, go with the A-series. They're bigger and heavier (and can be a bit more expensive) but you can get at least a 15" screen.

[madcompnerd]

I've been looking at notebooks a lot lately, and as far as I can tell HP's are the best bargain. Gateways and Dells are overpriced, IBM's seemed to be very comparable(if not the same) in price to HP's and Compaq's. And, refurbished looks like it costs more, which is annoying because I really want a laptop for under $500 that isn't Ni-Cad and has 128MB+mem(I want it to work(Ni-Cad is crap), and run X4.3).

[Valorin]

I second the praise for an IBM Thinkpad. My T30 is awesome, but you have to be willing to pay a little more for one. Try to get a refurb from IBM, they're cheap and basically new. You might also think you want a big screen, but in my experience 14 inches is plenty. It's like a 16 inch CRT screen, and believe me you don't want to have to lug around any more than 6 pounds of laptop around, even my T30 feels pretty heavy with all the accessories.

[RWiggum]

I agree with you on screen requirements, Valorin. I've always liked massive screen real estate, so when I went looking for a laptop I eliminated every model that didn't offer a 15" option. A 14" would probably have been a better choice. The A series is not very portable. Mine weighs about 7 pounds, and is not fun to carry while traveling. The monstrous screen also pulls major juice, and a new battery will only provide about 2.5 - 3 hours of run time. My used battery is only good for about 90 minutes of light use. Playing MP3's or gaming pulls that down to about 45 minutes, so it's not even very useful for a plane trip.

The A series is geared more towards someone who wants a "moveable desktop" rather than a notebook. It's handy to carry home for the holidays, but if I was a road warrior it wouldn't work at all.

I think my next Thinkpad will be an X model with a smaller screen, 3-4 pounds and 8 hours of run time.

[mchangun]

You might wanna checkout the japansese brands (samsung (korean actually), sony, fujitsu), they seem pretty good, tho i'm not sure about their reliabliltiy. Sony's laptops can get quite pricey, but if you only look at the lower line ones and the ones which are on clearance, they're rather cheap.

This link is to pricegrabber, i've set the criterias to the ones you've specified, take a look and see if there's anything you like.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php?page_id=13&sortby=popular-&vendors%5B%5D=0&popup1%5B%5D=4%3A276&popup1_attr_id%5B%5D=276&popup2%5B%5D=0&popup2_attr_id%5B%5D=976&popup3%5B%5D=4%3A386&popup3_attr_id%5B%5D=386&popup4%5B%5D=70%3A384&lo_p=0&hi_p=0&form_keyword=&ut=db4c6001664f599e

[garskoci]

I've been running RedHat on my ThinkPad as well. IBM would be a good choice. Besides, IBM appears to be a friend of Linux. I wouldn't go with some others because they don't give a rat's *** about Linux. It would be like having MSN as an ISP.

Just my .02, I support what supports me.

[RWiggum]

Garskoci, your reasoning affected my decision a little bit as well. The particular model I have (A20m) was actually available from IBM with Linux pre-installed for awhile. I figured that would be a good indicator of hardware compatibility. IBM warned potential customers of the Winmodem and no OpenGL support out of the box, but I eventually got those working under Linux as well.

I considered a Fujitsu due to similar high build quality, but I've heard they are not Linux friendly. They don't want you running anything on their machines but a Microsoft OS. People trying to get a credit for unused Windows disks have been told to get lost. I took my business elsewhere.

[Fryguy8]

well size both is and isn't an issue for me. I'm just going to be using this since I have a retarded schedule at college upcoming semester, an 8 oclock class, and the nothign till like 11. I have a bunch of other breaks throughout the day, and it'd be nice to sit down with a laptop and do some work in the campus center rather than looking around the library for an available computer and besides you can't really listen to music on the lib computers etc. Price is the most important issue for me, since this isn't like mission critical or anything. It's not a must-have item, it's a want-to-have.

so I guess stepping down in screensize might be smart. Also, I mentioned music above, are most laptops going to have a nice sound card and an easily accessable jack for headphones.

[egdinger]

Has any one tried using an alienware laptop with linux? just wondering.

[SDS]

I've only heard good things about the IBM Thinkpads. I've heard the Centrino processors get really good battery life, too. That's something I'd look in to if you have the money. I myself want a Laptop, but am limited on money, too. I think I'll wait another year or so, so I can get a better laptop at a good price. You may need it more than I do, though. I don't do anything mobile, really. I want to get a laptop with good battery life to take some notes with, though. Being an AP student, most of my classes are notes driven so it would be nice to be able to just type the notes because it's faster and easier on the hands.

Anyways, this isn't my area of expertise, but the IBMs are supposed to be awesome, and some places sell computers a lot cheaper than other places, so be sure to shop around, and see if you can play around with the model in the store for a bit, see if you like the keyboard and mouse thingy and stuff.

[mike8706]

I bought a Dell Inspiron 1100 recently. It was fairly cheap, under a $1000, including shipping. Dell has a forum on their website about linux on the 1100. Here's a site that shows how to configure linux for different almost all laptops. http://www.linux-laptop.net

[ff103]

I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 8000 with a 20 gig HD and a 15 inch screen with a CDRW and I dual booted it with Mandrake 9.1 and Win ME and everything worked without a hitch,even got the winmodem to work under Linux with a driver from linmodems. Dell also sold laptops with the Linux system installed on them, so they are also linux friendly.You could also check dellauction.com to see if they have anything that interests you ,It an auction site direct from Dell and the laptops are factory refurbs with warranty.Good Luck.