Laptop recommendations

[rlk at alum.mit.edu (Robert L Krawitz)]

   From: David Kramer <david at thekramers.net>
   Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 07:18:40 -0400

   On Friday 14 May 2004 2:25 am, Derek Martin wrote:
   > On Fri, May 14, 2004 at 01:44:03AM -0400, David Kramer wrote:
   > > So I want to buy a high-end laptop (probably below $2,000).  I know
   > > there's a few sites that cover linux on laptops, but they often
   > > contain coflicting information and views.  I would rather solicit
   > > information from people I know.  Features and speed are more
   > > important than size or battery life.
   > >
   > > Has anyone bought a laptop and put Linux on it recently?
   >
   > Not recently, but I never had much trouble with Dell Inspirons.
   > Limiting your price to under $2,000 initially struck me as
   > eliminiating the possibility of getting a high-end laptop, but it does
   > seem a little more feasible these days.  I guess it all depends on
   > what you consider high-end...  ;-)

   $2K will buy a hell of a lot of laptops today (Dell seems to run
   unusually expensive; not sure where the extra value comes from if
   it's a bitch to get them serviced).  But that's NOT a hard limit.

Buy a used 8200 (or 8500, if you really want the wide screen) on eBay.
I have an 8000 that I've repaired and upgraded in various ways over
2.5 years (replaced the LCD panel with a 1600x1200 one, faster
processor, new keyboard since I seem to abuse them, and some other
things).

A lot of laptops, even expensive ones with 17" screens, have XGA
(1024x768, or wider versions with about the same vertical resolution).
For the way I like to work that's not acceptable.  I bought a used I8K
with the lower end (1400x1050) screen because at the time the
1600x1200 screen was very expensive; the $1500 I paid was a very good
deal back then.  I just checked, and there's a 2.4 GHz 8200 for $1500
BIN on there.

-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk at alum.mit.edu>

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"Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works."
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