cheap linux notebook

Kenadin · Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2002 6:26 am Post subject: cheap linux notebook

Can anyone recomend a place to buy a notebook that is around $500 that works well with linux. I was looking at the major retailors and they mostly have $1000+. It doesn't need to be very speedy, i would say atleast 700mhz though. Thanks in advance,
Kenadin

janneand · Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2002 4:03 pm Post subject:

Try ebay.

-J

oniq · Guru Joined: 02 Sep 2002 Posts: 597 Location: Connecticut

Your best bet would be eBay or For Sale/Trade forums like on Anandtech.com. For $500 you won't find a 700mhz notebook, but some stores have rebates that will set you close.
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Kenadin · Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2002 5:56 pm Post subject:

yeah, i guess i was a little unreasonable with price. Is there any brands you recommend I should go for, or try to avoid? I haven't bought a computer from a retailer in a long time. Thanks again

oniq · Guru Joined: 02 Sep 2002 Posts: 597 Location: Connecticut

Many people will tell you one brand is better than the other, avoid one and get the other. Personally, I've only had this Compaq Presario laptop to deal with, and I've gotten everything (other than APM/ACPI, but I don't need it right now.) working. Look at http://www.linux-laptop.net for compatible laptops, most of the people will tell you the specs for the laptop. I plan on starting a similar page soon, called linuxonthego.com which will be updated more often.
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perry · Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2002 11:44 pm Post subject:

You shoulda been out shopping today, assuming you are in the US. Best Buy had a Toshiba laptop for $650 after rebates. 1.5GHz celeron, 20GB hd, 256MB RAM, NIC, DVD, 14" screen.. If I had the spare change laying around, I would have picked one up myself.

Sale is good for Friday and Saturday, but I have a feeling they sold out pretty quickly this morning...

gsfgf · Veteran Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 1266

i like sony and apple laptops. I've never use apple w/ linux so i don't kno how big a hinderence the 1 button mouse is. (i assume big).
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OdinsDream · Veteran Joined: 01 Jun 2002 Posts: 1057

I recently bought an IBM Thinkpad T21 from the Refurbished section on IBM's site, it was a little over $1,000, but there were plenty of other deals available, as well as identical models on EBay.

I haven't had any trouble getting anything to work on this system. It's very reliable, and I would recommend it. I also installed Gentoo on a Dell Inspiron 4100, which went well, except for getting the built-in wireless card to work (i didnt try too hard, though...)

pem725 · Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2002 5:49 am Post subject:

Have you checked out pricewatch? I just bought a Dell (PIII-600 MHz) for my cousin's wife and it set them back about $550. After wiping the disk clean of Windows, I had them up and running with gentoo in about 1/2 a day

If I could remember the name of the reseller I'd post it but I know I found 'em on pricewatch.
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Do the community a favor and answer a few stranded messages. I'm off to answer one now...thanks to gentoo!

li1_getoo · l33t Joined: 20 Oct 2002 Posts: 661 Location: Queens , NY

is there such thing as building ur own laptop just like a desktop

gsfgf · Veteran Joined: 08 May 2002 Posts: 1266

pilla · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 4:13 am Post subject:

And the thermal design is not that easy.... you don't wanna your brand new processor to get burnt, I guess.

tortoise · n00b Joined: 07 Jun 2002 Posts: 32 Location: Iowa, USA

If you're like me, you may be surprised at how nice a machine $500 can get you.

I recently bought a Thinkpad 600x for that much, and I love it. I use it more than my desktop, which is quite a bit newer and faster.

When it comes to laptops, it's often things like how nice the keyboard and pointer are, how light it is, how crisp the screen is, etc, are more important than processor speed and the like. A 2ghz laptop won't mean squat if it weighs 9lbs, trust me

$500ish machines are definitely new enough to sport all those niceties if you shop smartly.

synic · n00b Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 49 Location: SLC, Utah

I agree...

I also just bought a 600x. I am actually thinking about selling my AMD XP 2000+ machine and just buying parts to deck this laptop out. I have no complaints about the machine.

One note on the 600x - the old xircom pcmcia cards (16 bit ones that don't use tulip) will cause your system to lock up intermittently (at least they did on mine). The newer 32 bit xircom cards (like the realport) that use the xircom_tulip_cb do not lock my machine up..