What laptop should I get?

[LiteralKaiser]

(Sorry if this sounds hasty, I'm typing this up on my dying laptop)
Okay, so I need a new laptop, and I really, really like Ubuntu, I tried it for a while on a friend's computer and really, really liked it. I need a new laptop, and after some research, I've come up with some guidelines. (I won't be watching movies or anything, mostly programming and internet use.)

At Least 240 GB of memory.
At least 3GHz processor(s), either with dual 1.6GHz or single 3GHz
Up to 4GB of RAM.
A graphics card with at least 128MB of memory.
Less than $2000 total cost.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate any help, thanks!

EDIT: I got a Zareason Strata 6220 (http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16188)

[stefangr1]

(Sorry if this sounds hasty, I'm typing this up on my dying laptop)
Okay, so I need a new laptop, and I really, really like Ubuntu, I tried it for a while on a friend's computer and really, really liked it. I need a new laptop, and after some research, I've come up with some guidelines. (I won't be watching movies or anything, mostly programming and internet use.)

At Least 240 GB of memory.
At least 3GHz processor(s), either with dual 1.6GHz or single 3GHz
Up to 4GB of RAM.
A graphics card with at least 128MB of memory.
Less than $2000 total cost.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate any help, thanks!


I'd recommend you to go for a core 2 duo (not branded "dual core") with at least 2Ghz, like the T5800, since they are relatively energy efficient and perform well.

Another thing is the display: you could have a look at computers with a 1440x900 pixels display (assuming portability and small size doesn't have a high priority). This gives you a lot of extra space.

As a graphic card, NVIDIA is usually recommended over ATI, though there has been a catchup. Intel graphics should also work fine.

[Idefix82]

You could get a dell laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled, this way you make sure that there no compatibility issues:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[LiteralKaiser]

You could get a dell laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled, this way you make sure that there no compatibility issues:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

I haven't had the best experiences with Dell, if I could, I would like to avoid them.

[b3n87]

Dell M1330 !! its awesome!

[zmjjmz]

Get a Strata from ZaReason. (http://zareason.com)

[LiteralKaiser]

Dell M1330 !! its awesome!
As I said before, I would like to avoid Dell.

[LiteralKaiser]

Get a Strata from ZaReason. (http://zareason.com)

Wow, this meets all of my requirements, I will seriously consider ZaReason. Thank you!

[sunoccard]

what would the use be for?

[LiteralKaiser]

what would the use be for?

Mostly programming, Internet use, and school work.

[zmjjmz]

Just in case you're a bit suspicious of them, I already got a great PC from them, <shameless blog plug> review here (http://ldtooc.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-family-computer.html) </shameless blog plug>.

[peterthewolf]

Since your not looking for the cheapest I should go for the best ie Lenovo.

[sunoccard]

hp pavilion or acer aspire series laptops, should meet your requirements. I don't know about linux compatibility on them, but they all should do fine.

[Viranh]

Have you looked at System 76? I love my serval and their service is great. www.system76.com

[Changturkey]

Thinkpad.

[yipperzz]

I have been using thinkpads for a while for work and haven't had any issues with them. I think they're one of the most solid laptops out there. I've used Dells and HP's but still like the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad. I recently bought a T500 for myself and haven't had any issues with a new install of Ubuntu 8.10. After running the updates from the wired NIC, I got my wireless up and running unlike my previous laptops where I had to do quite a bit of work to get it up and running.

While they aren't the cheapest out there, it's a solid laptop and that is what I recommend.

[LiteralKaiser]

Just in case you're a bit suspicious of them, I already got a great PC from them, <shameless blog plug> review here (http://ldtooc.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-family-computer.html) </shameless blog plug>.

ZaReason is now my first choice!

[mips]

Thinkpad!

[SilverDragon]

Have you looked at System 76? I love my serval and their service is great. www.system76.com

I've had mine for about 5 months now and it works great. My Serval Performance 4 has been replaced by the Serval Professional but they are having a sale where it is $300 off. It might just be the best value under $2000.

http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=88

Without the $300 off I would probably say the Strata might be a better value but since your budget is $2000, I'd say it's definitely worth it to go for the Serval Professional. Another reason is if you upgrade the processor on the CPU on the Strata to the same one as the Professional they are about same the price, but the Professional has a higher end video card with less memory but you probably won't notice the difference between 1 GB and 512MB video RAM.

After looking over the specs., they are very similar so I would recommend you just pick whatever one you think looks better, because the difference in performance is probably negligible if you upgrade the processor on the Strata.