Re: [OT] Looking for advice on buying a new laptop
>>>>> "Hugo" == Hugo Santiago Carrer <hscarrer@gmail.com> writes:
Hugo> Hi list: So, basically I'm about to buy a used Thinkpad T23 from
Hugo> IBM. I really like the little thing, I have used one before and
Hugo> liked the feeling. But the questions are, Are the Thinkpads
Hugo> really worth the extra buck or is it just the brandname? Are they
Hugo> really that linux/debian friendly or they are just like any other
Hugo> laptops?
I had an R30, which ran Linux, but was somewhat reluctant to do that --
there were some issues. (AFAICT, the R series is much better now.)
Before that, I had a Toshiba, which seemed to play with Linux better.
Right now, I have a ThinkPad X31, which runs Linux almost flawlessly.
(At least as much as I have tested it.)
For ThinkPads, it seems to me that higher-end models will have less
trouble running Linux than lower-end models. (Or maybe the R30 is just
an anomaly.) My guess is that a T series should be fine. But the best
thing to do is to go to linux-laptop.net or tuxmobil.org, and check out
the user reports for your model, and see how much fiddling people had to
do to get it to run.
As for ThinkPads vs. other brands, I don't think that an IBM label is
necessarily a seal of Linux-worthiness. But it's probably easier to
find help if you go with a brand that more people have. And ThinkPads
seem to be quite well supported by the user community. But there are
other good brands too. If your *only* criterion is Linux-compatibility,
my opinion is that the price difference between an IBM and some other
brand is probably not worth it.
(But pay attention if people tell you to avoid certain brands. Some
labels *can* be a seal of Linux-un-worthiness.)
There are certainly plenty of other reasons to choose one brand of
laptop over another too. I love my ThinkPad, and wouldn't want anything
else. (Although I might consider a PowerBook is someone told me how to
rig one up with a TrackPoint. ;-) ) Linux compatibility is one reason,
but it's not the only one. My suggestion is to pick out some models
that you like, and check out linux-laptops.net or tuxmobil.org to see
how Linux-compatible they are. You shouldn't have to go too far down
your list before you find one that has good Linux compatibility.
--
Hubert Chan <hubert@uhoreg.ca> - http://www.uhoreg.ca/
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