Which laptop computer would you recommend?

[cousinlucky]

A female clerk at the store today asked me about laptop computers. I know that they exist and that is the full extent of my knowledge.

I thought that there would be a laptop thread here at LinuxForums but I did not find any. I know that some of you have had extensive dealings with laptop computers and know which of them are the best available and which laptops to never purchase.

Can you give me a helping hand here, Please!! Thanks!!

[techieMoe]

I've had good experiences with Dell laptops. They sell some with Linux pre-installed. Also consider a smaller company like System 76. I've never owned one, but I've read good reviews on them.

[cousinlucky]

Thanks TechieMoe!

Her desktop is twelve years old and all she and her co-workers ever hear or talk about is malware and viruses in windows. They never hear me complaining about computer problems anymore so they figure that I must be onto something!!

The mention of Dell laptops brings these images to mind.

[elija]

My main laptop is a Toshiba (this one) which although being three or four years old has proved completely reliable and able to handle any Linux distro I put on it. Currently it is running Slackware.

[nujinini]

Thanks TechieMoe!

Her desktop is twelve years old and all she and her co-workers ever hear or talk about is malware and viruses in windows. They never hear me complaining about computer problems anymore so they figure that I must be onto something!!

The mention of Dell laptops brings these images to mind.

Hey Cuz...Are those fire and explotions for real?!

[techieMoe]

Thanks TechieMoe!

Her desktop is twelve years old and all she and her co-workers ever hear or talk about is malware and viruses in windows. They never hear me complaining about computer problems anymore so they figure that I must be onto something!!

The mention of Dell laptops brings these images to mind.

Well, I can say for sure that none of my laptops have exploded recently. My father did have one of the infamous "bulging Mac batteries" a few years ago though.

[cousinlucky]

Nijinini, I can not say one way or the other if the pictures are for real or faked!

[rokytnji]

Just as a note. IBM Laptops work well with Open Suse also.

IBM developerWorks: Wikis - Linux for Power Architecture - openSUSE

[elija]

Nijinini, I can not say one way or the other if the pictures are for real or faked!

I remember that happening, I think it was dodgy batteries

[D-cat]

Dell, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba all have good support in Linux, either out of the box or with tools available in the repos.

I have had very good results with Dell laptops. Acers seem to have okay support in running Linux. I booted a modern Acer up with a Mint 7 SD card and everything worked right away, including wireless.

The exploding computers was a LiIon battery issue, and it wasn't only Dells that were affected, a bunch of Sony's got a bad batch of batteries too. The problem was the chemical separation film was extruded too thin in these defective batteries, so when they heated up enough, the film could actually break down just a little... even just a small pin hole would create a run-away electro-chemical reaction that would quickly overheat and burst into flames...

Laptops were not the only victims either... some cell phones suffered the same fate. The problem was identified and assumed resolved, since I haven't heard of a case involving exploding batteries in over a year.

Also note: this was a physical hardware issue that had absolutely nothing to do with Linux.