Laptop Recommendations?

[teddks]

It's time for me to get a new laptop, and I'm not really sure what I should be looking for. I have only a few requirements:


No thinkpads. I have heard very many good things about them, but unfortunately they leave an unsightly and useless blob in the middle of my keyboard.
I want to be able to use all the features of all the hardware I am paying for using only free drivers. I've had the best success with Atheros wireless cards and Intel graphics cards, but anything that I can use with free software is fine.
Optimally, I'd have a 15 or so inch screen with widescreen resolution, but this isn't terribly important.
I'd like a quad core CPU, optimally. This is also less important, but preferred.


I think the most optimal laptop would really be something like the Pangolin Performance with an Intel card instead of an Nvidia card, to give an idea of what I'm looking for. Ideas?

[PrePenguin]

It's time for me to get a new laptop, and I'm not really sure what I should be looking for. I have only a few requirements:


No thinkpads. I have heard very many good things about them, but unfortunately they leave an unsightly and useless blob in the middle of my keyboard.
I want to be able to use all the features of all the hardware I am paying for using only free drivers. I've had the best success with Atheros wireless cards and Intel graphics cards, but anything that I can use with free software is fine.
Optimally, I'd have a 15 or so inch screen with widescreen resolution, but this isn't terribly important.

I think the most optimal laptop would really be something like the Pangolin Performance with an Intel card instead of an Nvidia card, to give an idea of what I'm looking for. Ideas?


This is open to price range.. If you can tell us the ball park figure you are looking to spend.

[teddks]

This is open to price range.. If you can tell us the ball park figure you are looking to spend.

I did that on purpose.

[Dark_Stang]

Sooo... what are you wanting to do with it? Average home use, graphic design, gaming, multimedia, etc.

[PrePenguin]

I did that on purpose.


Well I like Toshiba and This Acer isnt to bad both have decent systems in the $500-$800 price range.. I have absolutely no problems running ubuntu on this Acer Aspire 5536 However you may want a better processor.. Solid state HDD etc like i said that will all come at a cost just so many combinations offered by all the manufacturers. By the way this Acer is in the $600 range.

[TombKing]

I actually have come to like my thinkpad even with the stupid mouse nipple. The Fn key placment annoys me the most about it. Though now it sits in a dock 95% of the time so I am using a regular keyboard and mouse. It is a pretty solidly built little laptop as well they take abuse and still work well from what I have seen.

My personal laptop is a dell inspirion 1721 which I find to be quite nice if a bit big to lug around when I take it out, but ooooooh 17" screen... I like my screen real estate. I am also fond of the case design on the Studio series laptops.

I have been tempted by the System76 machines. They do look nice and I have read good reviews. They will cost more but then the price isn't subsidized by all the trial ware. The same goes for a local to me vendor puget systems and will probably be who I go with when the dell is ready to be handed off to freegeek or some such charity.

Best I can tell all hp/dell/toshiba/etc stuff seems pretty much a wash anymore as far as how well it is built.

[OmegaAI]

I know you do not want a thinkpad, but my old T43 served my very well and I would get it again if I needed to.

Personally, I have no idea what you should get. System76 sells some full functional laptops.

[teddks]

Sooo... what are you wanting to do with it? Average home use, graphic design, gaming, multimedia, etc.

Hacking. Some movies / music.

This really doesn't matter, though. Anything that fits the above constraints is fair game.

[teddks]

Well I like Toshiba and This Acer isnt to bad both have decent systems in the $500-$800 price range.. I have absolutely no problems running ubuntu on this Acer Aspire 5536 However you may want a better processor.. Solid state HDD etc like i said that will all come at a cost just so many combinations offered by all the manufacturers. By the way this Acer is in the $600 range.

Could you be more specific with regards to the models involved, and what hardware they have? You can use everything (or at least everything you've used) with only free drivers?

I don't really care about SSD's, they're way too expensive per gigabyte now to make them worth anything for me.

[teddks]

I know you do not want a thinkpad, but my old T43 served my very well and I would get it again if I needed to.

Personally, I have no idea what you should get. System76 sells some full functional laptops.

System76's bigger-screened laptops have Nvidia cards, which rule them out. I'd probably get a Gazelle, but the '/' and '.' keys are really narrow for some reason, and I hate typing on them. That's kind of a deal breaker.

[PrePenguin]

Could you be more specific with regards to the models involved, and what hardware they have? You can use everything (or at least everything you've used) with only free drivers?

I don't really care about SSD's, they're way too expensive per gigabyte now to make them worth anything for me.



Well the acer I am using is the acer Aspire 5536-5224 with the hardware listed in my signature. They have better models for just a few dollars more.. This system has big keys with a the numpad you can lock the touchpad if you like it has a wide Screen LCD 15.6 display its been great so far this particualr model doesnt have bluetooth in it something i missed when looking at the specs and the speakers are ok not monstrous but i have seen much worse, heres the thing they have this in 3-4 configurations the same models and so does Toshiba etc.

[SofaSmarties]

id defiantly recommend one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Portable):P