[CS-FSLUG] Laptop thoughts

[Josiah Ritchie]

On Mon, 2005-05-16 at 09:48 -0400, Fred A. Miller wrote:
> On Sunday 15 May 2005 8:53 pm, Stephen J. McCracken wrote:
> > Hi, all,
> >
> > I was wondering if anyone here had any thoughts on buying a Gateway
> > laptop vs a Dell.
> >
> > Anyone?
> 
> Yes, and no. ;) MAKE SURE that the Nic. ISN'T a Broadcom!!! Gateway isn't 
> smart enough to use something compatible like the Intel chipset. Dell has 
> also use junk like the Broadcom so CHECK the specs. of ANY laptop BEFORE you 
> buy it!! There also are laptops make for linux for around the same price as 
> these two makers. Go here for a look: 
> http://eracks.com/products/Laptops?session=1360142017736631

I have some broadcom gigabit NICs in linux servers that work quite well.
In other words, research whith NIC it is before you totally can it for
that reason. I'm very happy with the Dell's I've used. Support, in
general, seems to be solid. Dell might not officially support Linux, but
they have unnofficial linux support groups that include employees. They
also do support versions of Linux on servers. I'm very happy with Dell. 

If you are thinking "personal" notebook, I'd go with PowerNotebooks.com
as the distributor. They are a Christian company, and it shows. They are
very knowledgeable, small and provide excellent support. They give
discounts for paying in full (not on a credit card). A friend of mine
just ordered his second from them. His 4 year old one died finally after
daily use 8-12 hrs/day. There were times when support was needed, but
they handled it very well. Incidently, they have a Linux support forum
right on their site.

JSR/