[CS-FSLUG] Cheap laptop for FOSS experimentation/development/work

[Don Parris]

Michael Bradley, Jr. wrote:
>                                                             JMJ + OBT
> 
> I'm thinking about purchasing a new laptop that I can dedicate to  
> experimentation, development and work with/on FOSS. I want to buy a  
> cheap one, but not a piece of junk that I will spend hours agonizing  
> over in attempts to get it working properly, etc.
> 
> Anyone here made a similar purchase recently? What about the WalMart  
> specials? Something at Best Buy?
> 
> Thanks for your recommendations and warnings.  :-)
> 
> In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
> 
> Michael Bradley, Jr.
> 
> -- 
> [Jesus said] Tell aching mankind to snuggle close
> to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace.
> + Diary of Saint Faustina #1074 +
> 
> My home on the Net ::
>    http://homepage.mac.com/michaelsbradleyjr/
> 
> IC XC NIKA
> 
> 

I believe you can still order Linspire laptops from Wal-Mart's website. 
That's a fairly proprietary distro, but definitely easy for end-users to get 
started.  I purchased a refurbished Dell Latitude C610 (for our ministry) 
for $475 that works very well thus far.  It is quickly becoming my primary 
desktop.  I got it from DiscountPC Int'l.  You can go to my del.icio.us page 
to get to the site (and see some others):

http://del.icio.us/gnuxtian/shopping

Most of their systems come with Windows, but I got an OS-less box because it 
happened to be available.  I can't swear by the other vendors, but 
DiscountPC forgot the power supply, which they subsequently sent on my 
calling them about it.  I feel like I got treated well and a good deal out 
of the transaction.

To be honest, pretty much anythin made by Dell, HP, and IBM ought to work 
nicely with Linux-based GNU systems.  Dell and HP both sell GNU/Linux 
desktop systems overseas.  Check with Tuxmobile (http://tuxmobil.org/) to 
see which laptops work best.  They have a nice listing of articles where 
folks post information about installing various distros on a given model.

Blessings,
Don