It's late so I'll keep this short...I *just* ordered a laptop for myself from Lenovo. For my purposes it was no competition (eraser head and Nvidia 570M were major factors) but all in all this is a great deal. I discovered their "Contractor Purchase Program" from a friend...there aren't any restrictions on it. HOWEVER: the sale that allowed me to get the price I did ends TODAY (4/21) Basically, its a completely pimped out T61p...*EVERY* option minus the RAM and OS...which I already have 4GB of to swap in my current laptop (put their 2GB in mine to make it "sellable" on ebay) and the cheapest OS I can get so I don't feel guilty throwing it away. No linux on T61p :'( Note: I did put on an extra sata-bay adapter and a super stylie power adapter...and don't forget the 2year ON SITE service! http://www.lenovo.com/cpp passcode: 556655 Here's what I got: Quantity Part No. Description Est. Ship Date Item Price Line Total 1 6459CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM 05/22/08 $1,608.97 $1,608.97 43Y3426 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T9300 42V8012 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC 42V8568 SBB MS WINVISTA HM BS32 US ENG 42V8288 ** SBB 15.4 WUXGA TFT 42X5976 SBB NVID QUA FX570M-256MB OPGL 41W2063 VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM 42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH 42V8297 SBB UN(TRCKP TOUCHPAD)FINGERRE 42X5227 SBB 200GB HDD,7200RPM,DISKENC 42V8193 SBB INTEL TURBO MEMORY 1GB 42V8172 SBB DVD REC.8XMAXDUAL LAY UB-S 42X0806 VBB PC CARDSLOT SM CARDSLOT 42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK4965AGN 62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN 42V8187 SBB THINKPAD WIRELESS USB ADPT 39T6651 SBB 9 CELL LI-ION BATTERY 39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA 42X1524 SBB LP-US ENGLISH 41C9167 LENOVO THINKPLUS EXTENDED SERVICE AGREEMENT - 2 YEARS - ON-SITE 1 CAFEE08 RECYCLE FEE FOR PRODUCT WITH 15 TO 34 INCH DISPLAY 05/22/08 $8.00 $8.00 1 40Y8725 LENOVO THINKPAD SERIAL ATA HARD DRIVE BAY ADAPTER - STORAGE BAY ADAPTER 05/22/08 $39.20 $39.20 1 41N8460 LENOVO 90W SLIM AC/DC COMBO ADAPTER - POWER ADAPTER - AC / CAR / AIRPLANE - 90 WATT 05/22/08 $95.96 $95.96 Shipping & Handling $0.00 Tax $138.80 Total $1,890.93 On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:31 PM, wrote: > I sort of wish they'd get out of the software business-- you wouldn't > buy a Windows laptop or a Linux laotop, but rather a machine that > boots, and runs the vendor's self-test, then waits for a boot disc. > > If the people who wanted Vista on their laptop had to install it just > as much as the people who wanted Slackware do, then all of a sudden: > > 1. Their support costs drop 90%-- the only things they really have to > handle are DOA hardware. > > 2. The Windows tax becomes obvious. > > 3. Preinstalled-software inertia becomes less of an issue. > (OpenOffice would get installed more if MS Office, or worse yet, its > free trial versiopn, wasn't preinstalled) > > 4. No more crapware. > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: der.hans > To: Main PLUG discussion list > Sent: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 8:42 pm > Subject: Re: OT: notebook shopping > > > > > > > > > > Am 20. Apr, 2008 schwätzte Cat Chapman so: > > > > I'm using a system76 laptop to post this. They make Linux lappies, > and > > > so far I've had nothing but great things with this machine. > > > Check them out at http://system76.com > > > By going with sytem76 or something else purchased with GNU/Linux we can > > get support for GNU/Linux. > > > At this point I do not intend to buy any computers that don't come with > > GNU/Linux pre-installed and supported. > > > I almost had to seriously consider getting a new laptop a couple of > weeks > > ago, so this is a current topic for me. I still needed the new > workstation > > and didn't consider anything that didn't come with GNU/Linux > > pre-installed. > > > I will play with Foresight when my KPC comes in, > > http://us.shuttle.com/Home.aspx, but I will shrink it down as a reserve > > with Ubuntu as my primary OS :). Shuttle is advertising compiz with the > > intel graphics chip. I expect good support. Maybe I'll run Foresight in > a > > VM. > > > I want the computer manufacturers to push the hardware industry for > > specs and Free Software drivers. That isn't going to happen if we > > don't intentionally and specifically purchase something with GNU/Linux > > pre-installed. > > > I would expect good support for suspend and all of the hardware for a > > laptop with GNU/Linux pre-installed. I likely wouldn't care about the > > modem, so I won't guarantee that I'd test every single component :). > > > The $700 system76 system comes with an intel graphics chip, so it > should > > have good X support since intel has been providing us with specs for a > > while. > > > It's also got a dual-core CPU, so virtual machines should have lots of > > resources available. > > > 4 GB of RAM should be plenty. Well, for now anyway :). It's double what > I > > could get on the desktop. > > > ciao, > > > der.hans > > -- > # https://www.LuftHans.com/ https://LOPSA.org/ > > # "I guess I should've agreed with my boss more often. Today I was > replaced > > # by a bobblehead doll!" -- Randy Glasbergen, 13Mar2006 > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss -- "A man is defined by the questions that he asks; and the way he goes about finding the answers to those questions is the way he goes through life." --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss