The big news in the Linux realm for the past few months has been Dell's introduction of Ubuntu-preinstalled computers. The systems themselves are a little low on the quality scale, but so is everything else that Dell makes these days. At least they aren't expensive. A cheap computer can be worth the money it costs if you adjust your expectations accordingly. Dell's not the only game in town, though -- there are also some Lenovo (which bought IBM's PC division a while back) machines that are certified to work with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. You don't need assurances and certifications to get a good laptop system that will work with Linux, though.
People frequently ask me which laptop computer they should buy. I give them two answers: either buy the cheapest one that will work, or buy a Lenovo ThinkPad T series (even an old one). One is a low-cost option, the other is the "money is no object" option. Most points in between tend to be unsatisfactory once the machine is bought and delivered.
There are a lot of notebook computer manufacturers, but few of them make high-quality machines. Expect problems with keyboard and touchpad durability, broken screen hinges, power connectors that break off from the motherboard, and driver problems with every operating system, especially Windows 2000 Professional pre-SP2, Windows XP pre-SP1, Windows Vista and "totally free" Linux distributions that don't have or easily support proprietary hardware drivers. High-quality machines minimize these problems, and if you do have trouble, a good manufacturer will have spare parts you can buy directly from them for at least the term of an extended warranty. Cheap manufacturers don't offer or make spare parts available.
You don't need to buy a Linux-blessed Dell or Lenovo machine in order to have a good experience with Linux on a laptop system. In fact many of those systems that are supposedly certified for Linux have peripheral hardware in the form of internal analog or cellular modems, fingerprint readers, Bluetooth transmitters, or even wireless network devices that won't work with Linux. Either the machine has been stripped down so that it does not have options that don't have Linux drivers, or the fine print warns that not all internal devices will work in Linux. That's pretty much the experience you are going to have with any laptop computer and Linux, so Dell and Lenovo's talk -- be it loud or soft -- about supporting Linux doesn't have much substance. The only real benefit to buying Linux-specific machines is that you escape having to buy Microsoft Windows with them.
All laptop video chips, most wireless chips (except the really super cheap ones, of which there are few anymore), motherboard components like the drive and memory controllers, and sound chips are supported in Linux or have decent proprietary drivers available. So it really comes down to the same old issues of price and quality, and that puts us back to the same two choices of low-end Dell machines for low price with adjusted expectations of life expectancy and performance (with the option of buying spare parts), and Lenovo for high-quality at a premium price. Odd that these are the two companies that offer Linux machines, isn't it?
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