>On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:51 AM, Bret Busby
<bret@busby.net> wrote:
>I have basically given up on the idea of buying a new computer to upgrade from what I have now.
>
>If the computer manufacturers make it clear to us that they want us to not buy their products, then I suppose that we should, in that regard, respect their wishes.
>
>Apart from HP's apparent new hostility toward Linux, I had approached two local computer shops regarding desktops that have quad core CPU's and 8GB RAM, that they have advertised.
[snip]
FWIW, I reached a similar conclusion recently. My solution: bought a 5 year old Dell (laptop) from ebay for $180, the type with ATI not nVidia graphics card in it and an Intel wifi card. I have found, in general, Dell's hardware (excluding nVidia and Broadcom) to be pretty Linux friendly, particularly on the 5-year old type machines. Plus, you can buy their netbooks and some cheaper laptops now with Ubuntu instead of Windows. While it isn't Debian, at least they aren't actively anti-Linux. Maybe they are preparing to be more Linux-friendly with the impending Google OS "Chrome" scheduled for release later in 2010.
That is the newest machine in my house. The oldest is from 1997.
My $0.02, keep the change.
Mark