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minus-sign
03-26-2008, 07:36 PM
I’m in the market to buy a new work laptop. My AT&T is—shall we say—outdated. Considering they stopped making computers (to my knowledge) almost or over 8 years ago, its very outdated.

The laptop I want is a barebones system with minimal specs that can run OpenOffice and (hate me if you want, but I need it) MSWord well(edit: sry, the new OO can open .docs so i won't need Word per se...until M$ does it again). I don’t need a powerhouse (got one, gonna build another soon) for gaming or next gen graphics. Video streaming (hulu/Joost, etc) on vacations, etc, is more than enough. A DvD burning is a nice add, but not required. CD-R is, however, for backup hardcopies.

OS is intended to be Linux (not DSL, but small and efficient; I do like a GUI …almost all I hear are good things about Ubuntu)

“Hoopla” is something I want to avoid in this laptop if at all possible. I don’t want it to impress me every other time I turn it on; I just want it to run on battery for a long time, save my files and not eat my energy bill. I also want the monitor to have a long life if possible with little pixel death over time.

I’m searching Newegg and Tiger atm to see what they have, and looking into having Dell build one for me (maybe). Any suggestions? Has anyone had success with a model they’d like to advertise here ;)

I can’t think of anything else to add. Hope to hear some good responses. Thanks for your interest.

EDIT: sorry. BIG DEAL! I need a keyboard with a good feel. don't know how to describe it...clacky keys. This requires a "fat" book, most likely, by todays constraints. Its a personal preference and a b\personal tic. I don't like these keyboards with giant Enter keys but tiny backspace keys either.

Ajmukon
03-26-2008, 09:16 PM
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

have fun :p

classicsoftware
03-26-2008, 11:18 PM
You can get one like this for around $800.00. With the kind of keyboard you like.

1 Year Depot Warranty For Notebooks
1024MB DDR2 667 SODIMM Non ECC
Free DOS V.2.0.28
Memorex Single DVD-R 16x 4.7GB
Intel Core 2 DUO T5250 1.5GHz 2MB
WD 80GB 2.5 inch internal SATA 5400 RPM 8MB
SuperMulti DVD-RAM DVD-R DVD-RW 8x Dual
15.4 WXGA LCD Mobile Intel® GM965
Intel PRO Wireless 4965 ABGN

minus-sign
03-27-2008, 10:57 PM
Thanks for the replies thus far. Ajmukon, I'm afraid that a trip to the Dell website would not be fun for me. Thats putting it mildly; lets just say I'm not one of their fans. If push comes to shove, I may go that route...but it'll need to be a hard push.

I'm still waiting for--I dunno what really--something to spark the interest. I hope continued posts will follow.

Side-topic: I know that for a short time a manufacturer (I think ASUS) was advertising barbones laptop kits to build your own setup off of. I think I'd greatly prefer that route, to insure that everything that CAN be installed on the board will be of reliable quality...and is put on properly. It'd also let me cut the bloatware at the source;)

Does anyone know if such a monkey is still swinging through the trees? Or am I chasing a golden banana?

Again; thanks for your replies and your interest.

Ajmukon
03-29-2008, 09:59 PM
the only site that i know that warranties Ubuntu and FREEDOS laptops is DELL

i have not heard HP offering those solutions.

And DELL "ubuntu" offerings is very good.