**VANITY**Looking for a laptop, see thread for details**VANITY**

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[Michael Barnes]

I am looking at purchasing a laptop in the next few days. My top price is 2K (possibly more depending features). Few things I am looking for:

64 bit, dual core
2-3GB Mem
160GB+ HDD
17 inch screen
CD/DVD R (write would be cool).
Not too worried about weight or how "thin" it is.
I intend to run Redhat Enterprise WS 5

Looking to see what your experiences have been in laptop land.

[Michael Barnes]

I have considered apple, but for what I want to do, prefer a laptop that I can easily run Redhat on.

Thanks in advance...

[chaos_5]

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=32&name=Laptops-Notebooks

[HAL9000]

Intel-based Macs should have no problem running Red Hat Linux in native mode, or with virtualization.

[Michael Barnes]

*note, I like apple hardware and the OS (unix under the hood). Looking for a laptop I can easily run Linux on.

[dit_xi]

What do you intend to do with your laptop? Gaming, graphics/CADD, video editting? What’s your graphic card requirement?

[Randy Larsen]

You just described my Dell E1705...

I love it!

[Michael Barnes]

Thanks. Been out there already. Looking for user input on the varying brands before I buy.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

2,000? Wow. I think I paid about $700 for mine ( got a free printer with it after rebate). My only advise is avoid Dell. I have a Gateway and it’s been fine so far.

[Michael Barnes]

Graphics don’t have to be bleeding edge. 256MB is probably more than enough. I intend to run servers on this laptop so I can develop outside of the office (websphere, jvm’s, apache/tomcat, oracle, etc..)

[Michael Barnes]

Gona surf back over to Dell with that model#

[HAL9000]

One other note - If you want to run Red Hat Linux, but don't need an expensive service contract, take a look at CentOS. They claim it is binary-compatible with Red Hat, but without the trademarked logos.

[Michael Barnes]

If I buy a laptop, I want it to last me for quite a while. I don’t mind paying upfront, just don’t want to re-buy in three years.

[Michael Barnes]

Thanks, appreciate the input.

[Billthedrill]

Those are BIG laptops! On a dual-core system with 3 GB of RAM you could run Vista. If you wanted to run any applications you could always add a processor and some more memory.

OK, just kidding. ;-) (Bitter Vista user here...)

Don't have a specific recommendation but you might consider a screen warranty on one that size - may I assume you have some fairly graphics-intensive uses in mind? If you're traveling with it you ought to cost in a VERY well-padded case of some sort. Some of the ones the manufacturers send are pretty cheesy and aren't padded at the corners. Extra power supply if you're shuttling it between two settled locations.

Let us know what you settle on!

[Michael Barnes]

I’ve had two different Dells in the past and had no real issues with them. Will check out gateway as well...thanks!

[Michael Barnes]

Yeah, extended warranty would definitely be part of the deal. I am betting on some sort of hardware failure within three years. As to screen size, nothing graphics intensive, more of a luxury so I can squeeze out a few more years on these aging eyes ;-)

[dit_xi]

Screen resolution? WSXGA vs. WUXGA.

[Randy Larsen]

It probably has been upgraded to a 17something...

[Michael Barnes]

Differences, pro’s? cons?

[grwcfl537]

I have a dual core (32 bit) Gateway running Mandriva with no problems. Desktop is dual-core 64 bit intel running Mandriva (64 bit) with no problems. Laptop hasw 2G RAM, desktop 4G. Only drawback to laptop was I could not get it without M$ Vista. Built desktop so no M$ products used. If there is a RH live disk, would recommend trying it out on virtually any name brand machine.

Now have 3 machines with no M$ products.

Mel

[dit_xi]

check out the Sager NP5792, very reasonable with a great GPU and screen.

[gotribe]

You could almost buy 2 of what you want for $2000 - I’m assuming you want some software.

[Michael Barnes]

Many thanks!

[Michael Barnes]

Interesting you mention about MS being shipped with it. I don’t want MS loaded at all. Do any of the vendors even support that these days?

[Tainan]

check out Samsung models. Quality, technology and dependability.

[grwcfl537]

Do any of the vendors even support that these days?

Yes, but you have to use specialty retailers. Most big box places have deals with M$ or with makers who have deals with M$. With desktop, it is easy enough to put together a good system with name parts and use any O/S. Harder with laptop. I just wiped disk and started over.

Mel

[1rudeboy]

I'm looking for a laptop with the following minimum specs:

OS: Windows Vista
CPU: Intel Pentium® IV 2 GHz or AMD XP 2000+ MHz
RAM: 2048 MB
HD space: 8.0 GB
Video: 256MB GeForce 7950 or higher, ATi Radeon X1900 or higher and Similar chips from other manufacturers
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Drivers: DirectX® 9.0c (included) and latest video drivers
Screen resolution: 1024x768.
Audio hardware must be Direct Sound compatible.

I don't know squat about any of this stuff, except to know the graphics card makes this rig almost impossible to find for less than $2K, if at all. Yes, it for a game (not a first person shooter, but a game nonetheless). I can load the Office-type software later.

[Spktyr]

It’s only slightly more than your price ($2K) and you’d have to install Vista on it, but:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FB075LL/A

If you want to go “cheap”, http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1500?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=bundlestab

But you’ll have to up option everything and in the end it’ll be almost as much.

[Hyzenthlay]

Apple actually has this nice thing called ‘boot camp’ that’s specifically designed to make it possible for your computer to run Mac OS X and whatever else you can install on an intel-based computer. OS X Leopard also has a nice system-backup application, and although it might be a little more on the expensive side everything runs so smoothly, I can’t ever remember having any hardware or software issues with my Macbook.

[Michael Barnes]

Well, I ended up with an HP Pavillion dv9000. I simply could not pass up the deal. Came with everything I wanted (plus a few bells and whistles). I upgraded to 4GB RAM.

It came pre-loaded with WinVista. I played with it for a few hours today, what a totally convoluted OS. XP or 2000 is far more superior. Best I can tell, all Vista does is hog up resources trying to look pretty. ugh. Took about 2.5 hours to create the recovery disks (in case I ever decide to sell it). I got RHEL up and running on it very quickly..Only problem was with my installation number. So, gotta work on that..For the time being, it will be back to SuSE until I have all the functionality with RH.

All in all though, I am very impressed with this laptops capabilities. Price wise, I walked out the door (with accessories and extended warranty) a little over $1100.00

Thanks to everyone for their input!

[Chickensoup]

Bill, I also need to purchase a laptop. I need one that will run windows, and essentially the xp suite as well as dictation software. I am putting my case files on line and want to do it with dictation. I read that Dragon needs up to four gig of RAM to run efficiently. The only thing I see out there are gamer laptops with more than I need. Any ideas?

[Chickensoup]

bump

[The South Texan]

Macbook.

Skip the Redhat and Windows nonsense.

[Billthedrill]

If you're using the current version of Dragon (9.5), don't worry about 4GB of RAM - the only platforms it runs under (Win2K, XP, and Vista) don't address more than 3 GB of RAM anyway (unless you're running a 64-bit version of the OS, which presents its own challenges and isn't necessary according to Dragon's blurbs). I'd go with at least 2 GB, though.

There are a lot of good models out there. I'm running a Dell Latitude at the office - Dell Small Business Site - which I like a lot. It's a reasonably priced, middle-of-the-road model that provides a benchmark for the others. At home I'm running a slightly pricier Sony Vaio which has been a workhorse for several years. A good friend swears by his Toshiba Satellite. I'd consider any one of them and there are a lot more out there that are probably even better that I haven't any direct experience with.

I mention Dell because right now you can still get XP with it, but you have to specify that when you buy it. You can also purchase it separately from half a dozen vendors. Don't be too put back by all the negative press on Vista - I'm running it on the Latitude and it runs just fine. If you do get it on your box and want to replace it with XP, slick the disk and do a fresh install from media is my advice.

I really like the new Mac laptops a lot. Dragon says it doesn't run on Mac computers, which is probably not entirely true anymore but takes a bit of kludging with XP as a guest OS. I'd leave that to hobbyists and geeks. If you had to call tech support and admit you'd levered it onto a Mac they might not be very helpful.

For your application I'd also recommend dropping a hunnert buckaroos or so on an external USB hard drive. Throw a copy of your case files on there and you have instant backup that you can attach to anything you want. You laptop gets ripped off or dropped from a roof at a wild all-night orgy, no problemo.

Well, I have to think about that stuff, anyhows... ;-)