Need Laptop Purchasing Advice

[Abras]

So I am officially in the market for a new laptop. I have a desktop PC that takes care of most of my family's computing needs, but I'd like a laptop that I can use as a secondary PC and when I am out and about. I expect to do little more than (a lot of) typing and occasional web surfing. With this in mind, I figure the specs can be very minimal, and here are some of the other things I'm looking for:

Price - Under $600 USD
OS - Doesn't matter, will probably end up installing Linux anyways
Weight - My last laptop was 6 and some pounds, and it was a pain to carry around. So obviously lighter than that.
A full sized keyboard (or nearly full sized) - The Eee PC's keyboard, for example, is way too small.
Screen Size - I'm thinking at least 12 inches.
Heat - My last laptop got so hot it burned my lap...obviously I don't want to repeat that.
Battery Life - This I'm not too worried about. Everywhere I go tends to have an electrical outlet.


I started looking at some reviews and so forth, but it quickly became overwhelming. There are just too many options... Hopefully you Ubuntu forum goers can help me through this.

[LaRoza]

Price - Under $600 USD
OS - Doesn't matter, will probably end up installing Linux anyways
Weight - My last laptop was 6 and some pounds, and it was a pain to carry around. So obviously lighter than that.
A full sized keyboard (or nearly full sized) - The Eee PC's keyboard, for example, is way too small.
Screen Size - I'm thinking at least 12 inches.
Heat - My last laptop got so hot it burned my lap...obviously I don't want to repeat that.
Battery Life - This I'm not too worried about. Everywhere I go tends to have an electrical outlet.


A Thinkpad, R series. Strong and good with Linux.

Comes with Linux or Windows.

Lighter than that...

Good sized keyboard.

14.5 and 15.4 screens.

Doesn't seem hot to me.

[seatex]

Asus Eee PC 900 coming to the US on May 12th, for $549.

9-inch screen (1024 x 600)
1GB of RAM
900 MHz (factory underclocked to 630 MHz) Intel Celeron-M ULV 353
20GB SSD w/Linux
1.3 megapixel webcam

Notable for its relatively small size/weight, solid-state permanent storage and Linux-based operating system.

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/900.htm

[sanderella]

Don't buy one with a Broadcom BCM43xx wireless card. They're really naff. Honest. :(

[negativerad]

I just got a Toshiba Satellite, A135, 1.75GHZ 512MB ram, i plan on spending 30$ to get another Gig. The laptop itself is $500, has everything one would need unless you are an extreme hardcore gamer. Which I am but I use my desktop for that :)

What I've done on my laptop so far.

Dual booted Ubuntu Hardy, and Vista Ultimate.
All hardware works with both operating systems 100%

Wifi,Ethernet, Bluetooth, DVD Writer, Widecreen Display, Multimedia Buttons on keyboard, Speakers, Headphone and Mic Jack, MiniDVD, SVideo Out, VGA out, and all usb ports work.

I've done some video capturing with the MiniDV @ 720x480 30fps, and had no dropped frames.

Like I said if you are not a hardcore gamer this is a great buy.

[aysiu]

There's an Eee competitor coming out soon called the HP Mini-Note, and its keyboard is supposed to be 92% the size of a normal keyboard.

[negativerad]

This would be fun to get.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220266

[seatex]

There's an Eee competitor coming out soon called the HP Mini-Note, and its keyboard is supposed to be 92% the size of a normal keyboard.

Yeah. It will probably be a little more $ for what you get, but it does appear to have bigger keys and looks pretty good.

Here's a review...

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4352

[seatex]

This would be fun to get.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220266

7" screen is just too tiny though.

[cubeist]

Ok, so this is a little off base, but recently I was looking for a device with similar characteristics... something small and light with a good battery to check email or web on the go.

I carefully considered the eee pc but went with a nokia n800...works great...no regrets at all...
anyway my suggestion is to consider the new EEE 900 or similar devices...remember, most new sub-notebooks have usb ports and you can always plug-in a full keyboard or mouse

[aysiu]

7" screen is just too tiny though.
Hasn't been for me, but I can understand how it could be for some people.

[seatex]

Hasn't been for me, but I can understand how it could be for some people.

It's not just the small size to me - it's the max horizontal resolution of 800 pixels as well.

[c007c]

I would spend time in the forums searching for threads with the model you have in mind, and if you see a lot of complaints/Issues, that will give you a idea which ones to stay away from. Most of the time, the issues are related to proprietary or unique HW. The more vanilla the HW, the better chances of success.

I'm running Vista--->VirtualBox/Ubuntu 8.04, and various grub distro's on a $599 Acer Aspire. Its a very cheap generic laptop with Intel Dual Core 1.6, 1.5gb mem, 80gig, ath wireless. Sleeps fine, Upgraded from 7.10 perfectly. Has slowed some in 8.04, waiting for first update to clean things up.

[cubeist]

It's not just the small size to me - it's the max horizontal resolution of 800 pixels as well.

In theory I would agree...but when you are looking at the screen 800 pixels in 7inches looks good...really good

You'll find that videos and pictures often look better on an eee than on a regular monitor if you put them side by side...

[aysiu]

It's not just the small size to me - it's the max horizontal resolution of 800 pixels as well.
Again, hasn't been an issue for me, but it could be an issue for me.

I was a little nervous about the screen size at first, but once I started using it, I found it... usable. Not amazing, of course, being small - but not terrible either.

[aysiu]

It's not just the small size to me - it's the max horizontal resolution of 800 pixels as well.
Again, hasn't been an issue for me, but it could be an issue for me.

I was a little nervous about the screen size at first, but once I started using it, I found it... usable. Not amazing, of course, being small - but not terrible either.

[intense.ego]

Here you go: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow:LoadRuntimeTree?sb=: 00000025:000001B8:&smid=DE3CFBC23C43487D87A3BFF52A54D1E8
(not 100% sure the link works since its javascript)

If you are willing to spend a little over your budget, this is better value for money:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow:LoadRuntimeTree?sb=: 00000025:000001B3:&smid=DE3CFBC23C43487D87A3BFF52A54D1E8

EDIT: yeah, the links work

[gn2]

There's a lot to be gained by waiting till this lot (http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/over-past-six-months-or-so-asus-everex_24.html) hit the market.

There's a lot of interesting stuff in the pipeline, Intel Atom CPU's, big resolution small screens, larger capacity SSD's and some really good battery life

[mips]

One word, Thinkpad!

[Pinoy915]

Mine works well. The only bump in the road I had was with the Atheros driver. I think it is much easier to get it up and running in 32 bit version but I got it running with the 64-bit Hardy. Battery life is decent and I bought mine for $449.49 USD at Best Buy.

[LaRoza]

One word, Thinkpad!

That was said twice already.

I do recommend the OP get one. Intel based Thinkpads work perfectly with Linux. Sound, Video and Wireless. They are hardworking and will serve you well. (Know what movie I was thinking about in that last sentence?).

[cardinals_fan]

Any Thinkpad. YES, it did need to be said again.

[Washer]

Step 1: go to newegg
Step 2: look under best sellers
Step 3: win.

[Th3Professor]

Toshiba or IBM/Lenovo.

[presston]

1. Choose new platfotm (chipset). As for me - it's reason to wait new laptops based on new Intel chips IP35 (etc) with 1333 FSB
2. CPU -imho- i love intel:) that's why - core 2 duo (quadro is to expensive in time)- 2.66..3.00 - it would be the best
3. RAM - at least 1.5 GB DDR800 (2.0 best)
4. if you play games - think about normaly graphic card (integradet ones as geforce 7000Go etc - its waste)
5. About manufacturer - if you have a lot of money for it - Sone, Toshiba. Cheaper - Asus, Dell. DO NOT take someone as ACER ... its china:)

[presston]

PS. if you want concret model - i cam advise (for moment):
*Asus F5R (870 usd)

15,4" WXGA Glare/T2310 (1.46)/1GB/120GB/ATI Radeon 1100/DVD-SMulti/WiFi/Camera/Vista HB/bag/2,8k
*Asus X50VL 990usd

15,4" WXGA/T5250 (1.5)/2GB/120GB/ATI Radeon X2300 128MB (384TC)/DVD SMulti DL/WiFi/BT/Vista HB/bag/2,8kg
*HP Compaq 6720s /this serie optimized for vista/ 990 usd

15.4” WXGA/Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz)/2 GB/160GB/DVD RW/LAN/WiFi/BT/Free Dos/2.5 kg
etc.

Lenovo - its expensive toy:)

[master5o1]

Make sure it works 100% with linux. Check out the websites which tell you what hardware works with Linux.


Think INTEL INTEL INTEL:

Intel Processor
Intel Wireless
Intel (for OSS) or ATI Graphics (for OSS goodness) or Nvidia (for goodness)
(Bluetooth)


reason: VRMS rating!!



jason@meinDell:~$ vrms
Non-free packages installed on meinDell

human-icon-theme Human Icon theme
linux-generic Complete Generic Linux kernel
linux-restricted-modules- Non-free Linux 2.6.24 modules on x86/x86_64
linux-restricted-modules- Non-free Linux 2.6.24 modules helper script
linux-restricted-modules- Restricted Linux modules for generic kernels
nvidia-glx-new NVIDIA binary XFree86 4.x/X.Org 'new' driver
tangerine-icon-theme Tangerine Icon theme

7 non-free packages, 0.5% of 1483 installed packages

[Abras]

Thanks, you guys have given me a lot to think about. As of right now, I' leaning towards some sort of Thinkpad, but that may change. :)