[TriLUG] Seeking Free-Software-friendly laptop suggestions

[William R. Gomeringer]

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I have not read all of the responses, but I thought I would warn you in case 
you had not been warned already. Stay far far away from anything made by, 
packaged by, branded by, or even breathed on by Hewlett Packard. These 
laptops have some of the worst Linux support I have ever seen. I have been 
struggling with an HP ze4430us for months. On that note, Thinkpads are always 
the safest route when it comes to Linux. Good Luck, William

On Sunday 07 March 2004 10:28 pm, Matt Matthews wrote:
> I'm positive this is an FAQ, of sorts, but with the hardware scene
> changing every day, I figured I'd give it a shot.
>
> I'll soon be leaving behind my Dell Latitude 640C which has been a
> perfect Linux laptop (see non-Linux caveat below). I'm leaving it
> because it was bought on grant money, so doesn't actually belong to me,
> and I'm headed to Real Job at another University. The internal wireless
> and wired networking on the Dell both work as do the 3D video hardware
> and the sound hardware (with some quirks), all with Free drivers, as per
> my preference. However, I do not think that I can still buy the same
> laptop anymore, so I'm looking at other options.
>
> However, I'm out of touch with the newest developments in hardware. I
> can live without 3D video hardware, but networking and sound are
> necessary. Built-in wireless isn't a must as I figure I can always try
> to track down a PCMCIA wireless adaptor. A combo CD-RW/DVD drive would
> be a nice feature to have. And, if possible, I'd like to use this with
> Free Software and avoid binary drivers. (So, for example, I'd use a
> laptop with NVIDIA video hardware as long as the 2D part works well with
> the standard distribution of XFree.)
>
> Of course, if there were an option to buy a "naked" laptop or one with
> Linux pre-installed without any Windows license, that'd be ideal. I'm
> not interested in Apple hardware nor am I interested in MacOS X,
> although I am aware of what is possible with both.
>
> So, does anyone have suggestions?
>
> Caveat about my Dell laptop: One of the memory modules and the hard
> drive have both failed in the 13 months I've owned the laptop. That's
> not Linux-related, but it does make me wary of Dell hardware from here
> on out.
>
> Thanks in advance, y'all.
>
> Regards,
> matt
>
> --
> Curmudgeon Gamer: In your heart, you know they're right.
> http://curmudgeongamer.com/
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