looking to buy a high-end laptop

[maniacmusician]

hey

I need some advice on buying a laptop...i've scouted out some of the other threads on here but some of them are kinda old and the new ones weren't exactly what i was looking for. The thing is, i'm graduating at the end of the year, and my graduation present will be a top-of-the-line laptop. Of course, I want to be able to run linux on it. Price of the laptop isn't really an issue at all, as a couple of parties are chipping in for it, and if its overly expensive, i'd pay for some of it myself too.

So basically, I'm looking for extremely high quality stuff that will be linux compatible. I was considering one of the Dell XPS systems (XPS M2010), as dell is usually pretty compatible with linux, but I thought i'd get opinions on it. Of course, the most important thing is Ubuntu compatibility, so i'll definitely take something less expensive if it allows me to run my precious Xubuntu. If you guys have any suggestions other than the dell system, that would be awesome too. Thanks for reading

maniacmusician.

edit: the system i pointed out has an ATI graphics card. I'm very wary of those, never got mine to work properly :( the M1710 has a nVidia card but a smaller screen (i dont really care that much about having a huge screen). But it doesnt have the built in webcam or microphone, and has a smaller hard drive. What sucks here is that they seem to uncustomizable...i'd really love to mix and match here.

edit again:
Some specifics that i've figured out I want:

-Would like to customize one for the special purpose of constructing a music studio (If this can be done, great! If it can't, then that's okay too. it's not 100% required, but its pretty high on the list)
-Dual Core processor (would be nice; i've been wanting to try this out. I hear Ubuntu has good support for these)
- at least 2GB of RAM
-Integrated WiFi, of course
-I'll add more if I come up with anything else. this is basically trial and error for me, I've never had the pleasure of buying a new laptop before.

[SoundMachine]

Apple Macbook Pro.

[mips]

Thinkpad T60p loaded to the brim.

[Tinuz]

Apple Macbook Pro.

Perhaps, but you'd be getting all the hassle with the new BIOS system. I don't know much about the maturity of the workarounds, but you'd be getting some hassle atleast.


Thinkpad T60p loaded to the brim.

Wait for the beginning of october and get a T61p (Lenovo say6s the'll be releasing them beginning of October). They'll atleast have the new Merom cores and widescreen if that's your thing (not much choice these days, but Lenovo will be keeping their 4:3 aspect screens).

If these two aren't to your liking, write down some more things about what you wish to do with it. For example: Is build quality important? Is battery life important? What kind of things will you be doing on it (gaming, running processor intensive tasks, watching movies, etc.)

[SoundMachine]

Perhaps, but you'd be getting all the hassle with the new BIOS system. I don't know much about the maturity of the workarounds, but you'd be getting some hassle atleast.

True, if you panic when you see a CLI then it's not for you, if you can follow instructions there are about a hundred howto's out there though, it's easier than getting XGL+Compiz working by far. :)

It is STILL my choice and recommendation though.

[maniacmusician]

Though apple does make pretty good hardware, it's just not for me. i should've mentioned that. I don't even like using iPods :/.

I'll check out the T60P/T61P. The laptop will be bought in like...June, so there's plenty of time for me to decide. The new T61P's will be totally linux compatible? I know new laptops can be a little trippy sometimes.

Of course, build quality is important...and if this much money is going to be spent, then that should be a given. I consider battery life pretty important too. I'm not sure how much you can squeeze out of laptops these days....I think 6 hours would be great, but it seems like a dream. But battery life isn't AS important as everything else. I probably won't play many games on it, but i would absolutely love to set up a music studio. it'd probably be better to do that with a desktop, but if it can be done with a laptop, that'd be fantastic too. that would be above and beyond anything i'm expecting.

[maniacmusician]

edit: okay, looked at the thinkpad. I only have a few reservations against it. First, it is kind of ugly. Cosmetics is obviously not the most important thing, but still. But if this is truly the best, then I can ignore that. In addition, I noticed that the T60P also had an ATI card. I've had pretty bad experiences with those, so i dont know if thats a good idea. will the t61p have an ATI card too? Also, it doesn't let me select more than 1GB of ram. once it arrives at the final page, it shows 1 GB of ram selected, even though I said 2. Finally, the size of the hard drive doesn't go above 100 GBs...I use 180 right now on my desktop, and even that doesn't seem to be enough for me.

So my questions are, will the T61P be easy to set up ubuntu on (even if it does have an ATI card?). And how long does a 9 cell battery last?

I guess i'll get more specific in what I want:

-Would like to customize one for the special purpose of constructing a music studio
- at least 2GB of RAM
-at least 200GB of disk space
-Integrated WiFi, of course
-I'll add more if I come up with anything else. this is basically trial and error for me, I've never had the pleasure of buying a new laptop before.


thanks a lot for the replies,

maniacmusician.

[hizaguchi]

Ok, so my laptop isn't high end, but Circuit City actually has some good deals from time to time, and you can take a live CD and test the compatibility before you buy. I got a Turion X2 (dual core, 1.6 GHz, 64-bit) based Acer with a gig of DDR2, 120gig HD, and a 128 MB ATI video card for $850. It's got a dual layer DVD burner, 1280:800 widescreen, 6 button touchpad, and everything seems to be working in Edgy (sleep didn't in Dapper). Battery lasts about 5 hours. Yeah, that $4000 Dell will blow it away, but for the money it's worth checking out.

edit: Ah, we posted at the same time. Nevermind. Sounds like you have some severe computing needs.

[prizrak]

I second the T60/61P idea. For one Lenovo announced full support for them under SLED (SuSE Linux) including some of those OEM tools that are usually supplied for Windows. Even aside from that Thinkpads were always great under Linux and the quality is pretty nice. Battery life will suck but that's normal for anything performance.

[prizrak]

edit: okay, looked at the thinkpad. I only have a few reservations against it. First, it is kind of ugly. Cosmetics is obviously not the most important thing, but still. But if this is truly the best, then I can ignore that. In addition, I noticed that the T60P also had an ATI card. I've had pretty bad experiences with those, so i dont know if thats a good idea. will the t61p have an ATI card too? Also, it doesn't let me select more than 1GB of ram. once it arrives at the final page, it shows 1 GB of ram selected, even though I said 2. Finally, the size of the hard drive doesn't go above 100 GBs...I use 180 right now on my desktop, and even that doesn't seem to be enough for me.

So my questions are, will the T61P be easy to set up ubuntu on (even if it does have an ATI card?). And how long does a 9 cell battery last?

I guess i'll get more specific in what I want:

-Would like to customize one for the special purpose of constructing a music studio
- at least 2GB of RAM
-at least 200GB of disk space
-Integrated WiFi, of course
-I'll add more if I come up with anything else. this is basically trial and error for me, I've never had the pleasure of buying a new laptop before.


thanks a lot for the replies,

maniacmusician.
I don't think I ever seen a laptop with more than a 100GB of disk space. Laptop drives are pretty small (physically) so there are limitations.

[tseliot]

I don't think I ever seen a laptop with more than a 100GB of disk space.
They do exist. I have a seen a Sony Vaio with a 200GB hard disk) but they are quite expensive: 3199 euros. The code of that model is:
SOVGN-AR115

Unfortunately I can't find it on the Internet.

EDIT:
Here you can find more about the AR series:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_AR_Se ries&Dept=computers

But they have only 1gb of RAM

[maniacmusician]

They do exist. I have a seen a Sony Vaio with a 200GB hard disk) but they are quite expensive: 3199 euros. The code of that model is:
SOVGN-AR115

Unfortunately I can't find it on the Internet.

EDIT:
Here you can find more about the AR series:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_AR_Se ries&Dept=computers

But they have only 1gb of RAM
the link that you posted shows that you can customize the laptop to have a hard drive of up to 320 GB! so its definitely possible. And RAM also goes up to 2 GB. it looks like an excellent system, but what about its level of linux compatibility? thats the most important thing.

@hizaguchi: I dont think my needs are too severe. But i guess i am looking for the best under like 6,000. Your laptop is pretty good! It could probably be upgraded to 2 GBs of RAM, and i would want a bigger hard drive. I would maybe upgrade the processor, but since its dual core, i might not have to. I've never used a dual core, so i don't know how much more efficiency it offers.

[fuscia]

if you get one of these, you can tell all your friends you got a ferrari for a graduation present...

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/i/z/rv/2004/05/acer-ferrari-350x330.jpg

[maniacmusician]

lol...is that a real computer or just a joke. because thats a pretty pathetic marketing theme (even though it would probably work)

[hizaguchi]

Hey now, don't make fun of the marketing. I wanted one of those! :)

I like the carbon fiber though. http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops-pcs/acer-ferarri-4000-104703.php

[prizrak]

It's quite real and is also a very nice unit. Acers tend to play nice with Linux. There is also a Lamborghini laptop if you prefer that made by ASUS I think (also plays nice with Linux). Take a look at www.system76.com they are preloaded with Ubuntu and I think (think being the keyword) they might have something with the amount of power you want.

[mips]

Thinkpads are probably the most durable & reliable laptops out there.

Linux support on them is very good and online resources are excellent. Have a look at www.thinkwiki.org

They have good battery life and also gives you the option to use a secondary battery for very long life.

I personally do not like ATI but apparently things are getting better.

Rarely seen 2.5" HD over 120GB but they will become more common over time.

You have time so wait and see what gives.

[hizaguchi]

Oh, another thing to consider is an external HD. A laptop HD as big as you're wanting is going to be way more expensive than one of those affordable 250 gig externals. With a nice big laptop case you could haul a couple of those around. Some extra batteries too. :)

[jdong]

Don't rule out laptops because of an ATI video card... modern ATI cards work quite well with fglrx, especially on laptops... Arguably fglrx makes laptop users happier than nvidia drivers because of aticonfig's ability to change GPU clock speeds and instantaneously change output devices, etc.

[mips]

It's quite real and is also a very nice unit. Acers tend to play nice with Linux. There is also a Lamborghini laptop if you prefer that made by ASUS I think (also plays nice with Linux). Take a look at www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) they are preloaded with Ubuntu and I think (think being the keyword) they might have something with the amount of power you want.

The Asus Lamborghini in black looks nice but from what I've seen the specs are not that hot.

[maniacmusician]

@jdong: thanks for the heads up about the ATI cards. it's just i have an Xpress 200 series chipset in my desktop, and no matter how i tried, i just couldnt get it to work at its best. I can't even enable compositing without the computer screwing up :(. I guess I will take a chance on it if the Thinkpad really turns out to be the best choice, but i will definitely have to look around.
@hizaguchi: an external hard drive sounds like a great idea...but aren't they USB and thus considerably slower than normal? It's definitely something to consider though, it probably wouldnt hurt to have one as just storage for files.
@prizrak: I've had a look at system76, but I don't think they can deliver the type of performance that i'm looking for. they certainly are nice systems though, but i think the key to make a laptop last longer is to go ahead and buy a dual-core now.

the acer laptops definitely are pretty nice. They look amazing cosmetically, which is a slight problem I had with the thinkpads, but i still feel like that the thinkpads are more powerful. I'm trying to find more information on laptops that can be used as the center to a music studio. ie; what kind of card it would require, would it be preinstalled or would i have to install it myself, stuff like that. so i'm still looking into that. thanks for all the suggestions so far.

ps.@mips: what makes you say that? from what I'm seeing, the specs dont seem to be too far below anything else i've seen. http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1188&l1=5&l2=25&l3=0

edit: Just out of curiosity, why did you guys recommend the T60/61P? What does it have over other Thinkpad models?

[jdong]

@jdong: thanks for the heads up about the ATI cards. it's just i have an Xpress 200 series chipset in my desktop, and no matter how i tried, i just couldnt get it to work at its best. I can't even enable compositing without the computer screwing up :(. I guess I will take a chance on it if the Thinkpad really turns out to be the best choice, but i will definitely have to look around.

Sorry to hear of your ATI troubles. I have a Mobility Radeon x1400 in my Acer Aspire 5672 Core Duo, and it's been a charm with stock Ubuntu drivers. At one point, I was running Dapper with Compiz/Xgl and it was working like a charm. Of course, none of the proprietary 3d drivers handle compositing correctly yet, that's gonna change soon. ATI is releasing frequent driver updates -- they actually beat Nvidia to Xorg 7.1 support. Hopefully that's a sign of positive change for the future!



@hizaguchi: an external hard drive sounds like a great idea...but aren't they USB and thus considerably slower than normal? It's definitely something to consider though, it probably wouldnt hurt to have one as just storage for files.

I have a cheap external I put together by combining a cheap ($30 for 160GB) Seagate ATA hard drive with a cheap ($20, CompUSA no-name brand) USB enclosure, and I get around 40MB/s read rates out of it. It feels no slower than my internal hard drives, and it's a heck of a lot faster than my laptop hard drive.

[maniacmusician]

Sorry to hear of your ATI troubles. I have a Mobility Radeon x1400 in my Acer Aspire 5672 Core Duo, and it's been a charm with stock Ubuntu drivers. At one point, I was running Dapper with Compiz/Xgl and it was working like a charm. Of course, none of the proprietary 3d drivers handle compositing correctly yet, that's gonna change soon. ATI is releasing frequent driver updates -- they actually beat Nvidia to Xorg 7.1 support. Hopefully that's a sign of positive change for the future!

wow, that is pretty good! i do feel a little more comfortable after hearing about your experience. and also, i think I read somewhere that laptop ATI cards are better supported than some of the desktop chipsets.




I have a cheap external I put together by combining a cheap ($30 for 160GB) Seagate ATA hard drive with a cheap ($20, CompUSA no-name brand) USB enclosure, and I get around 40MB/s read rates out of it. It feels no slower than my internal hard drives, and it's a heck of a lot faster than my laptop hard drive.

that sounds like an awesome setup, i'm definitely going to look into that! I think I can now effectively remove the hard drive specification from the first post. Thanks for that.

[jimrz]

Thinkpad T60p loaded to the brim.

+1

[prizrak]

Just out of curiosity, why did you guys recommend the T60/61P? What does it have over other Thinkpad models?

Lenovo announced that they will sell it without an OS. They will also provide full support for SLED, including drivers and a tech support number. They will also release TFTs (those little programs you get with OEM installs) for SLED. As far as I know you can also order it with SLED preinstalled from Lenovo distributors such as CDW. On the hardware side of things it is a laptop aimed mostly at engineers and as such has great power and durability.

[maniacmusician]

built for an engineer? seems like it could very easily be used for music production as well. The thing is, since a laptop lacks a pci interface like a desktop, i'll have to setup an audio interface based on firewire....how is firewire integrated into laptops? does it come built in? i didnt see an option for it when customizing...

thanks.

[RAV TUX]

I suggest the convertible my wife recently bought:

Fujitsu Lifebook T4210

[maniacmusician]

a tablet pc? those are fully compatible? I took a look at the specs of this machine, and they're pretty impressive as a whole.

how does the fingerprint security thing work with ubuntu?

like i said, its pretty good, but there are some lacking features that i'll need:
-the hard drive is only 5200 RPM. for efficient music production, you need 7200 (or was it 7400? forget the exact number)
-the graphics card is not very impressive (i dont need this for music, but its nice for everything else)
-the battery is only 6-cell (7200 RPM drives suck up power like nobody's business..)

thanks for the suggestion though, it was an impressive notebook. i especially liked the fact that it came with a firewire port...

[maniacmusician]

also, i checked back on the lenovo site. for the T60P, all it said for ports was:
3 USB 2.0, S-Video out, External Display (VGA), External Microphone/Line-In, Headphone/Line out (Standard)

nothing about a firewire port. Which is pretty much essential to any decent audio interfaces. i was just starting to fall in love with this laptop too...it would suck if i couldnt use it. I couldnt find any specs for the t61P but if it doesnt have firewire, i dont think i'll be able to use it.

[prizrak]

Weird that it doesn't have firewire, another name for it is IEEE 1394 in case you didn't know. If you decide on a laptop w/o built in firewire you can get PCMCIA firewire cards (my friend did that) they work quite nicely. The HDD speed is 7200rpm but you will be hard pressed to find that in a laptop. I have seen them before but they are fairly rare. BTW External HDD's also come with firewire (not all of them) so you might want to look into that for speed sake.

It's a good idea to check the laptop out physically as some firewires have different connectors and I'm not sure if you can buy different cables for the same device.

Also check out www.newegg.com they got a pretty good website with a search filter where you can specify what you want in the hardware that will be returned.

[jdong]

A laptop 7200rpm hard drive still provides quite lackluster performance... Again, look to externals :)

[prizrak]

Also if you are keen on using a laptop for a music studio you might be better off with a MacBook Pro those DEFINETLY have firewire and as far as I know are very good for music production. Linux also can work on them through boot camp.

[maniacmusician]

@prizrak: I don't really like apple products. It's just a personal thing. I've never been comfortable with them. regarding your previous post, I didn't see IEEE (and whatever number) in there either. The only ports it said were available were the ones I put in my post.

@jdong: I definitely am going to buy an external drive. hbut 7200 RPM would still be nice. it's definitely a huge step up.

Also, I would prefer to use a PCMCIA soundcard with a firewire external drive. But that might not be possible so I am also looking into a USB external drive and firewire audio interfaces. but regardless of which option I choose in the end, I still definitely need the laptop to have firewire.

edit: also, thanks prizrak for reminding me about newegg. but by the time I got it down to "Notebooks & Accessories > Notebooks / Laptops > cpu type : Intel Core Duo (x) > cpu speed : T2600(2.16GHz)", there were only 4 laptops left lol.

[mips]

T60p not having firewire is a bit daft. Hopefully they come to their senses and include firewire on the T61p.

[jdong]

@prizrak: I don't really like apple products. It's just a personal thing. I've never been comfortable with them. regarding your previous post, I didn't see IEEE (and whatever number) in there either. The only ports it said were available were the ones I put in my post.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/0.RSLID?mco=925997E8&nclm=MacBookPro

All the macbook Pros have at least a firewire 400 port, the highest-end model also has a firewire 800 port.


As far as mac hardware, I'm not gonna try to convince you one way or the other, but it's a heck of a lot better than 75% of PC brands :)

[maniacmusician]

T60p not having firewire is a bit daft. Hopefully they come to their senses and include firewire on the T61p.

yes i know! I was just falling in love with the T60p too. i really hope they have it in the T61p because then i will probably buy it. Do you know where I can find specs for the T61P? I keep finding pages in other languages that i cant read but none in english lol.


http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/0.RSLID?mco=925997E8&nclm=MacBookPro

All the macbook Pros have at least a firewire 400 port, the highest-end model also has a firewire 800 port.


As far as mac hardware, I'm not gonna try to convince you one way or the other, but it's a heck of a lot better than 75% of PC brands :)

Yeah, i know mac hardware is usually pretty good, i just personally dont like them...I think if the T61P has a firewire, it would beat a mac machine with ubuntu on it. I guess my issues with mac are a personal thing. I don't like their mentality about certain things..but this isn't that kind of thread so i'll keep that out of it. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for the T61P and also looking at any suggestions people might have

[prizrak]

As far as mac hardware, I'm not gonna try to convince you one way or the other, but it's a heck of a lot better than 75% of PC brands
Mac IS a PC brand. ASUS and Quanta make their machines ;)

[jdong]

Mac IS a PC brand. ASUS and Quanta make their machines ;)

They'll fall into that 25% category, then :). When you look at the brand names of the hard drives and other parts that go in, and the overall reliability of the hardware, Mac hardware is definitely near the top. I won't rip on any manufacturer here (this is not the thread for doing that), but some PC makers put absolute crap parts in their machines, and as a result things start breaking... fast...

[prizrak]

They'll fall into that 25% category, then :). When you look at the brand names of the hard drives and other parts that go in, and the overall reliability of the hardware, Mac hardware is definitely near the top. I won't rip on any manufacturer here (this is not the thread for doing that), but some PC makers put absolute crap parts in their machines, and as a result things start breaking... fast...

The only good laptops are the Toughbook series anyways, if it cannot survive me throwing it against the wall it is not a good machine :) Cept they cost like $4K so it's Acer for me at the moment :)

[mips]

yes i know! I was just falling in love with the T60p too. i really hope they have it in the T61p because then i will probably buy it. Do you know where I can find specs for the T61P? I keep finding pages in other languages that i cant read but none in english lol.


It does'nt have to be a deal breaker. Can always get a pcmcia one or docking station. Sorry, I'm not aware of the T61p specs, maybe someone else here knows.

[maniacmusician]

It does'nt have to be a deal breaker. Can always get a pcmcia one or docking station. Sorry, I'm not aware of the T61p specs, maybe someone else here knows.
but laptops usually only have 2 pcmcia slots right? If i use one for firewire and maybe use the other one for a sound card, i won't have any left. I wanted to leave one open, just in case.

@jdong: yeah i agree they do make great hardware. but i don't really like them as a company.

[jdong]

As far as number of PC card slots -- make sure of it. I'm finding more and more laptops with only one!

Also, with two slots, look at the kind of cards you'll be shoving in there. Some of them have a bulky exterior portion that'll cover up the other slot.

[maniacmusician]

good point! only one slot? that's ridiculous. i will definitely make sure mine has at least too. thanks for the heads up

[Steve Gates]

Just to let you know the XPS M2010 doesn't boot with the standard CD. I tried it in Safe VGA mode still no joy, I then turned off Quiet and Splash to see where it was hanging.

It appears to be stuck with trying to read the CD. I have used the boot tool to check the CD and it checks out ok.

Best regards

[RAV TUX]

hey

I need some advice on buying a laptop...i've scouted out some of the other threads on here but some of them are kinda old and the new ones weren't exactly what i was looking for. The thing is, i'm graduating at the end of the year, and my graduation present will be a top-of-the-line laptop. Of course, I want to be able to run linux on it. Price of the laptop isn't really an issue at all, as a couple of parties are chipping in for it, and if its overly expensive, i'd pay for some of it myself too.

So basically, I'm looking for extremely high quality stuff that will be linux compatible. I was considering one of the Dell XPS systems (XPS M2010), as dell is usually pretty compatible with linux, but I thought i'd get opinions on it. Of course, the most important thing is Ubuntu compatibility, so i'll definitely take something less expensive if it allows me to run my precious Xubuntu. If you guys have any suggestions other than the dell system, that would be awesome too. Thanks for reading

maniacmusician.

edit: the system i pointed out has an ATI graphics card. I'm very wary of those, never got mine to work properly :( the M1710 has a nVidia card but a smaller screen (i dont really care that much about having a huge screen). But it doesnt have the built in webcam or microphone, and has a smaller hard drive. What sucks here is that they seem to uncustomizable...i'd really love to mix and match here.

edit again:
Some specifics that i've figured out I want:

-Would like to customize one for the special purpose of constructing a music studio (If this can be done, great! If it can't, then that's okay too. it's not 100% required, but its pretty high on the list)
-Dual Core processor (would be nice; i've been wanting to try this out. I hear Ubuntu has good support for these)
- at least 2GB of RAM
-Integrated WiFi, of course
-I'll add more if I come up with anything else. this is basically trial and error for me, I've never had the pleasure of buying a new laptop before.
Fujitsu LifeBook Convertible


LifeBook® T4215 Notebook

Click on image for larger view




http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_angle_cdout_stylus_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#)
(http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_fingerprintsensor_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) CD out Back Specs Fingerprint sensor
http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_front_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_hand_usingtablet2_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#)
(http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) Front tablet mode in use Left Side Specs

(http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_rotation_arrow_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/images/notebooks/t4215_photogal/t_4215_tablet_stylus_sm.jpg (http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/www/products_notebooks.shtml?products/notebooks/photo_gal/gal_t4215#) Right Specs Rotation arrow Tablet modehttp://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=T4215

Ubuntu compatible, about $3700....you may want to invest about $100 for a SB Audigy sound card and you will be set...

My wife bought one of these recently...and a friend of mine has many Fujitsu's, he dual-boots to Ubuntu....

If you want the best in quality then Fujitsu is the way to go....(Made in Japan)

if you don't need to skimp for a Mac....then I can stand by this 100%

[m.musashi]

A lot of good suggestions here. I've heard nothing but good about the lenovos. Dells are okay but nothing to write home about. There was one I saw a while back that looked excellent but I can't remember the maker. If I find it I'll post back. The acer shouldn't disappoint either. Have you thought about Alienware? They have a big selection but this one looks really cool.

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Aurora_mALX/aurora-m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AURORA-M-ALX&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT#pdp-nav

[BeachBum]

Add another plus for the T60; my roommate has one and its performance is great, all hardware supported out of the box. I have a T42, and between the two of us, we have never seen better quality notebooks. As boring as Windows is, the apps IBM supplies are awesome, though now that someone mentioned support for these in Linux, thats even more reason to buy one! Both have ATI cards, and as I said, everything works very well.

I've had some experience with Dells, mostly mid-range models that were mid-range about 2 years ago, and those just plain suck :P. My girlfriend's Dell is as old as my laptop (3 yrs.) and she has gone through 3 harddrives and a motherboard already, while my roommates old Dell's wifi card died after 2 years. Plus the build quality of those notebooks was lousy, ie plastic screen hinges (Lenovo's are metal :D ) so they feel flimsy.

Also, surprised nobody mentioned these really high end boutique PCs:

www.voodoopc.com

www.falcon-nw.com

Voodoo notebooks are BY FAR the COOLEST; you can select from a nice variety of colors and have a "tattoo" painted on, just be prepared to pay...

One of my friends had an Alienware desktop replacement notebook, it was very snazzy but like all desktop replacements, too bulky and under nominal usage was WAY too hot to keep on your lap, otherwise great overall quality.