[Beowulf] Linux laptops, and M$ advertisement

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

On Mon, Apr 16, 2007 at 02:22:59PM -0400, Peter St. John wrote:
> 
> Be all that as it may, I"m wondering what laptop to get. There are two
> issues: one, that it used to be scary to get all the device drivers for
> linux (maybe not anymore); and two, that one would prefer not to pay the tax
> associated with the disk manufacturer contracting to preinstall Vista etc.
> Toshiba, which used to be a fair linux platform IIRC, promotes itself as the
> Premier Vista Notebook now (understandably).
> 
> I ran into http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux-laptop-lc2100.html via a
> couple routes but of course it's a no-frills site, dunno what it wouuld be
> like to find/get accessories etc. Anyone want to pitch me their laptop
> favorite?
> 

I had a long chat recently with one of the UK distributors (Linux 
Emporium).

They stock Lenovo "own brand" and Thinkpad. They support and install 
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS because they find the others change too radically and 
sometimes break on hardware changes as well. At least with the LTS 
release, they can rely on manufacturer support.

Thinkpads are solid and have "geek cred": at one Linux show I was at,
the Debian stand had 6 Thinkpads of various vintages and a Sony Vaio.

Certainly the bare-bones basic Thinkpad I have is 8 year old daughter 
proof :)

Andy

> Thanks,
> Peter