Shopping for a new laptop: recommendations wanted

[mssever]

My current laptop quit, so I'm looking to replace it. PC World's recent reader survey (http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=139958&page=12&zoomIdx=1) ranked Lenovo really highly, so I'm considering the Lenovo ThinkPad R61 Linux version (comes with SuSE 10, but I'll probably install Ubuntu instead).

Things I'm looking for:


I don't have much money, so I can't afford something high end
I plan to keep it for as long as possible, so it needs to be quality and not too low-end
I'm not a gamer, but I do like Compiz
All open source drivers would be really nice, but not a deal-breaker (e.g., I prefer Intel graphics over nVidia)
The price I'm currently looking at, US$750, is about as high as I can afford. Even that's marginal.

Does anyone have any experience with the ThinkPad R61 under Linux? Or can you recommend something different.

Mods: If this isn't in the best forum, please move it.

[Eman1955]

I've read nothing but good things about Lenevo (IBM). Shop at New egg. It has it for $500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260032+4020&name=%24400+-+%24500

E

[damis648]

Well Dell XPS M1530's are good if you can scrounge up but a little bit extra. For your price range, i would go with a nice System76 notebook (system76.com). The Pangolin value would probably be good for you, but upgrade the graphics card because the default one has issues with compiz.

[Sef]

Moved to Community Cafe.

[zachtib]

Thinkpad.

Always get a Thinkpad.

I have a T61p, and it's great under Linux. For the last three years, I used an R51 under Linux.

The R61 should work fine as well, go for Intel wifi if you can, though.

[mssever]

Thanks for the suggestions. I noticed that while the NewEgg ThinkPad R61s cost quite a bit less, their specs are also somewhat more modest then the ones on lenovo.com. That's probably not a problem, but I do have a couple questions that the website didn't seem to answer.

First, the lenovo.com descriptions mention that you can put other stuff in the optical drive bay, such as an extra battery or hard drive. Is that standard on ThinkPads, or is it just on some (NewEgg doesn't mention that either way)? It's a pretty cool feature.

Second, the NewEgg models don't have a touchpad. I've only used ancient ThinkPads before, so I'm wondering about their red mouse thing (what do thay call it?). Does it have any kind of scroll wheel? What about middle clicking? I can't imagine being without either feature. (Actually, my church recently acquired a new Vista Laptop, and simultaneously clicking the left and right buttons doesn't send a middle click. So when surfing the web on that machine, I have to repeatedly right click links and choose Open in new tab. Annoying.)

[Lord Xeb]

Try an eeePC or CloudBook. They are light and tough, particularly the eeePC. You cannot damage the HDD because it is basically a flash drive used as the HDD. It has 3 hours of battery life, a good GPU, 900MHz CPU, light, small (I mean small, 7" screen). It is for light work like writing reports and stuff, it will also grab a bit of attention. Also, it full supports the Linux kernal, so have fun.

[jrusso2]

My current laptop quit, so I'm looking to replace it. PC World's recent reader survey (http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=139958&page=12&zoomIdx=1) ranked Lenovo really highly, so I'm considering the Lenovo ThinkPad R61 Linux version (comes with SuSE 10, but I'll probably install Ubuntu instead).

Things I'm looking for:


I don't have much money, so I can't afford something high end
I plan to keep it for as long as possible, so it needs to be quality and not too low-end
I'm not a gamer, but I do like Compiz
All open source drivers would be really nice, but not a deal-breaker (e.g., I prefer Intel graphics over nVidia)
The price I'm currently looking at, US$750, is about as high as I can afford. Even that's marginal.

Does anyone have any experience with the ThinkPad R61 under Linux? Or can you recommend something different.

Mods: If this isn't in the best forum, please move it.

Your not going to get a T-61 for $750, for that price range I would look at the UBuntu Dells

[mthei]

I will also have to recommend a Thinkpad. My desktop is a Lenovo, and it really plays well with Linux distros for me, and I have yet to read or hear otherwise from others.

[MONODA]

I would go for a Lenovo X series laptop, they are all great. heres the link:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=135A781CA29B4ECB9ADAD8E72CF6FD61&tab=2#tab-container-5

[kodoku]

Second, the NewEgg models don't have a touchpad. I've only used ancient ThinkPads before, so I'm wondering about their red mouse thing (what do thay call it?). Does it have any kind of scroll wheel? What about middle clicking? I can't imagine being without either feature. (Actually, my church recently acquired a new Vista Laptop, and simultaneously clicking the left and right buttons doesn't send a middle click. So when surfing the web on that machine, I have to repeatedly right click links and choose Open in new tab. Annoying.)

TrackPoint! I personally prefer that over a touchpad. And yes, I do believe that there is a middle clicking button, at least my X32 does.

+1 for Lenovo

[twisted_steel]

I love my ThinkPad T42 (pre-Lenovo). It looks like some of the R61 models have a touchpad.

Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146382

I personally use the TrackPoint (nipple ;)) more than the touchpad.

Edit:
The combo (TrackPoint + touchpad) is called UltraNav

[cookieofdoom]

Thinkpads are amazing. If you get an R61i (really cheap now, check out fatwallet to see if they have coupons) you should have full compatability with Ubuntu. Compiz works out of the box, standby working flawlessly, sound support, etc. I have an X61 and it's amazing, I never boot to Windows.

As far as hardware quality goes, they're built like a rock but they don't weigh as much as one (T series are even more solid, but R is quite good also), no heat issues on any of them, and support is excellent. You can also decide to upgrade (do it yourself) the CPU on the R61i to a 2.6ghz 6MB cache Core 2 Duo, and put in 4GB of RAM. IMHO Thinkpads are some of the best notebook PC's on the market today.

[zachtib]

some of the Thinkpads are now configurable with PC DOS (so, basically no OS)

Of course they'd do that right after I get my T61p

[cookieofdoom]

some of the Thinkpads are now configurable with PC DOS (so, basically no OS)

Of course they'd do that right after I get my T61p

You can also get some of them with SUSE.

[71CH]

I just got a R61 and can vouch for them. Completely amazing. I previously had a Dell XPS M140 and won't go back to Dell again.

[agurk]

Thinkpad T60 here, couldn't be happier. Everything works, even suspend/hibernate, and without any proprietary drivers. 10/10.

[unutbu]

71CH, what didn't you like about the XPS M140?

[akiratheoni]

Second, the NewEgg models don't have a touchpad. I've only used ancient ThinkPads before, so I'm wondering about their red mouse thing (what do thay call it?). Does it have any kind of scroll wheel? What about middle clicking? I can't imagine being without either feature. (Actually, my church recently acquired a new Vista Laptop, and simultaneously clicking the left and right buttons doesn't send a middle click. So when surfing the web on that machine, I have to repeatedly right click links and choose Open in new tab. Annoying.)

Control+Left Click opens up links in a new tab. I find it a bit more convenient than right click -> open in new tab.

[reacocard]

I have a Thinkpad T61 myself and I love it. I've seen the R series as well and they're also good, they just lack a few of the internal design touches the T series has.

A word of advice: If you need lots of RAM, get the minimum they allow then buy 2 or 4 GB off newegg and install it yourself. You'll spend a lot less for the upgrade than you would getting it from lenovo. I wasn't aware of this when I bought and now I really regret it, since the $200 I paid to upgrade to 2GB would have gotten me 4GB on newegg and left me with $100 to spare.