New Commute situation

[Mizutsuki]

Looking around I see about 50 different topics on what kind of laptop to buy, but I was humbling hoping that if anyone had the time he/she might address my specific needs.

Ok, so last week I decided that I was fed up with commuting. I live in Santa Cruz CA and I work in Sunnyvale, which is a 1 hour drive. So I looked into taking public transportation. Unfortunately, that route makes it a two hour commute, but for reasons I don't want to get in to right now, I'm going to go ahead and stick with it anyway.
So I have 4 hours every day hands free and mind active. I've decided it's high time I contribute something back to the community that has given me so much. So I need a development laptop. Here's my list of requirements:
* It must have (either internally, or by expansion) a way to connect to the Internet throw AT&T/Cingular's cell service
* I'm open minded about processor
* I'm open minded about graphics
* It must have at least 2 gigs of RAM, preferably 4
* It must be below $2,500, preferably $2k
* It needn't have ubuntu pre-installed, but I'd prefer it if I wasn't forced to purchase an MS OS with it
* I had a bit of a day-dream about buying a solid-state drive and having no moving parts, is that ridiculous?
* must be below 5 lbs, preferably below 4 lbs
* I'm not really sure about screen size, it has to fit in my backpack, so it can't be huge, but it doesn't really need to be tiny, either
* The higher the res, the better, must be sxga/wsxga or better

I've been looking at lenovo, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get one of those without windows on it. I have an old T22, and I absolutely love it. It'd be great to get another thinkpad if I could make it work with my requirements.
I was also looking at System 76. Pretty slick, actually. Although, they do look pretty heavy. Is my weight requirement unreasonable?

Can anyone tell me your experience with trying to code on a bus/train/plain? A co-worker told me it was not a good idea, he said he got seasick. Though, I generally don't have problems reading, so I figure it should be fine.

Thanks so much for your time and thoughts,
Stephen

[prizrak]

I believe only Lenovo and Emperor Linux (also Lenovo) machines have internal WAN cards. I know Toughbook has one as well but that's a 4K laptop. Most of those WAN cards do not work with Linux. To my knowledge only Emperor Linux machines have a module that can use those cards but it's 100% closed source**.

Weight won't matter much on public trans as you only carry it to and from the bus/train.

I used to use my laptop on the train all the time and there is no problem as far as being nausious goes. Basically if you can read you can use a laptop, the only thing that ever made me queasy was playing games but with a Linux box I doubt you would have that problem ;)

**Not a hundred percent on this one


P.S. If you can handle it (financially and such) I would suggest getting a bike it should cut on your commute time as it is legal in CA to go between cars :)

[Mizutsuki]

I believe only Lenovo and Emperor Linux (also Lenovo) machines have internal WAN cards. I know Toughbook has one as well but that's a 4K laptop. Most of those WAN cards do not work with Linux. To my knowledge only Emperor Linux machines have a module that can use those cards but it's 100% closed source**.

Weight won't matter much on public trans as you only carry it to and from the bus/train.

I used to use my laptop on the train all the time and there is no problem as far as being nausious goes. Basically if you can read you can use a laptop, the only thing that ever made me queasy was playing games but with a Linux box I doubt you would have that problem ;)

**Not a hundred percent on this one


P.S. If you can handle it (financially and such) I would suggest getting a bike it should cut on your commute time as it is legal in CA to go between cars :)

Hey,
Thanks for the reply.
Do you mean motor bike, or bicycle? I've always wanted to get a class-m and buy a cheap honda, and then my friends all freak out and tell me horror stories of people who drive motorcycles. Bah! what do they know?
I'm looking at some success stories with the PC cards sold at AT&T's site. Is there any reason I shouldn't just get a laptop without internal WAN and install one of these?
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/pc-cards.jsp
By the way, I'm looking at System 76 and wondering myself why the cost of going from 1 gig to 2 gigs is $20 while the cost of going from 2 gigs to 4 gigs is $256. Anybody have clues? Is this a typo?
The emperor linux laptops looked pretty expensive, and looking at the description it looks like you still get hit with the MS tax, and avoiding paying MS a dime is high on my list of priorities.
Also, I don't really mind that much having closed source drivers. I realize that this card is sort of an extravagance to begin with and I'll take what I can get.
Anyway, at this point buying a laptop with linux compatible AT&T wan (even if I have to use a card/mess around a lot with ubuntu), without paying microsoft are my priorities. Is this possible with System76 to the best of anyone's knowledge? I'm not married to it, but I like the site a lot. Any further alternatives that meet those criteria welcome.
Thank you,
Stephen

[prizrak]

I meant motorbike of course, I don't go for anything without a motor ;) I know a few people who ride bikes and both are alive and unscathed for now. Like everything else it's all about your own driving skill/style.

As far as I know System 76 doesn't sell anyhting with integrated WAN cards. PCMCIA should work just as well though the only downside would be the card sticking out.

[daynah]

Seriously. Check out Asus's laptops. They have an incredible amount of variety, and are priced well. They have a lot of... "creative" I guess, laptops. I'm extremely happy with my Asus (W7S, but mine isn't one of their crazy ones).