I really appreciate all the discussion that this thread generated. It really helped me decide. So, here's what happened for me. <br><br>I went to MicroCenter, and almost bought the ASUS, but they didn't have it on display for me to play with or see. They did have it in the box in back. We went through the specs one more time and it's all Realtek, and Jason's comments about that really came in to play, and I ended up walking out of the store. I decided at that time that I was going with System 76. Their machines look like they are probably Thinkpads rebranded, what with the Ultrabay option. They are about the same price as a Thinkpad, and with my purchase I'm putting my money where my mouth is in not paying for Windows when I'm not going to use it. I know that absolutely every single piece of hardware on that machine will be supported by Ubuntu, as that's what's coming with it. So, the moral value, for me, in the end made it worth going with a Linux based distributor.<br>
<br>Again, everyone, thanks for all the input. You changed my mind. Several times. I'll give a report on the System 76 machine when I get it.<br><br>Gazelle Professional<br><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody><tr class="dataTableRow"><td class="dataTableContent" valign="top"><small> <i> - Car AC Adapter: no car AC adapter</i><br></small><small> <i> - Display Resolution: 15.6" Full HD LED Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)</i><br>
</small><small> <i> - Extra AC Adapter: no extra AC adapter</i><br></small><small> <i> - Extra Battery: no extra battery</i><br></small><small> <i> - Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory</i><br>
</small><small> <i> - Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm SATA Hybrid Hard Drive with 4GB SSD</i><br></small><small> <i> - Hardware Warranty: 1 Yr. Ltd. Warranty and 1 Yr. Technical Support</i><br></small><small> <i> - Laptop Bag: no bag</i><br>
</small><small> <i> - Memory: 4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 2 X 2GB</i><br></small><small> <i> - Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) 64-bit</i><br></small><small> <i> - Optical Drive Bay: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive</i><br>
</small><small> <i> - Processor: 2nd Generation Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.00GHz )</i><br></small><small> <i> - Recycle Your Old Computer: no, thank you</i><br></small><small> <i> - Wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module</i></small></td>
</tr></tbody></table><br><br>Thanks,<br>Jim<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 7:49 AM, Jim Herrmann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kclug@itdepends.com">kclug@itdepends.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">I'm buying a new laptop really soon. What do the members of KCLUG recommend for a Linux only laptop. Pre-installed or no OS is fine with me, I just don't want to pay for something I'm never going to use. I'm willing to spend in the neighborhood of a grand, give or take a few hundred. So, I want a fairly nice machine, light weight for travel, but durable and reliable. And, it goes without saying, Linux friendly. You guys are super resourceful, so I wanted to tap into the vast knowledge base on this list.<br>
<br>Thanks in advance for your input.<br><font color="#888888"><br>Jim Herrmann<br><br>
</font></blockquote></div><br>