Which laptop for red hat

[jsethi]

I need to create/buy a cheap laptop to play with rhel5/6. Can I buy any good laptop that normally comes with windows 7 home edition, scrap it and install rhel6 or is there any better recommendations
Jay

[Irithori]

I have no experience (yet) with rh6, but this is a enterprise linux, geared towards server usage.
That means, you will most probably have issues with the graphic/sound/wlan of a laptop (generally speaking, there might be exceptions)

So, if you absolutely need to install rh6 on a laptop, then I would recommend one with virtualization support (aka no atoms..), at least dualcore, 2GByte better 4GByte and some harddisc space.
Install a desktop linux like fedora, ubuntu, etc
then create a virtualmachine to run rh6.

[jsethi]

These are the 2 available, which is better (Will there be any issues?):
Presario CQ61-420US Laptop Computer
For those who want everyday computing capability at a great value, the Presario CQ61-420US Refurbished Laptop Computer delivers in style. Balancing mobility and performance needs at 5.90 lbs, the Presario CQ61-420US Refurbished Laptop Computer is powered by AMD processor and ATI graphics technology.
Specifications
Color High Gloss Black Lid, Black/Silver Base, Black Keyboard
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) II Dual-Core Processor M320
Processor Speed 2.1GHz
Level 2 Cache 1MB Level 2 Cache
Front Side Bus Up to 3.2 GT/s
RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported 3GB DDR2 RAM (Expandable to 4GB)
Memory Configuration (1) 2GB SO-DIMM Memory Module; (1) 1GB SO-DIMM Memory Module
Memory Slots Available (0) Available 200-pin SO-DIMM Slots
Hard Drive 250GB 7,200RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Multimedia Drive LightScribe SuperMulti 8x DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Display Type 15.6" Widescreen High Definition Brightview Display
Internal Max Resolution 1366 x 768
Video Card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200
Video Memory 1534MB Total Available Graphics Memory
TV Tuner/Personal Video Recorder (PVR) None
Sound Card High Definition Audio Chipset
Sound Output Mode Stereo Audio Output
Audio Input Integrated Microphone
Modem/Communications Device High Speed 56K Modem
Network Features 10/100 Fast Ethernet Network
Wireless Network Features 802.11b/g/n Wireless Network
Memory Card Reader 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader
Supported Flash Media Secure Digital, MultiMedia Cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Cards
Ports and Connectors (1) VGA 15-pin Port; (3) USB 2.0 Ports; (1) RJ-11 Modem Port; (1) RJ-45 Network Port; (1) Headphone Out; (1) Microphone-in
Built-In Devices Altec Lansing Speakers, Microphone
Security Kensington MicroSaver Lock Slot, Power-on Password, Accepts 3rd Party Security Lock Devices
Input Device Keyboard, Touchpad, Numeric Keypad
Included Power Supply 65 Watt AC Adapter
Included Battery 6-Cell Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
Dimensions (WxDxH) 14.89" x 9.93" x 1.38"/1.62"
Weight 5.9 lbs.
Manufacturer Warranty 90 Day Limited Warranty
and
Gateway
NV53A24U Laptop Computer
Hit the town in style with the Gateway® NV53A24u Notebook featuring Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit and AMD Athlon™ II X2 Dual-Core Processor. Take advantage of impressive graphics, thanks in part to integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4250 Graphics, and AMD M880G Chipset. Watch movies in crystal-clear HD on the 15.6" widescreen LCD, boasting a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Specifications
Color Velvet Blue Lid, Blue/Black Base, Black Keyboard
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) II Dual-Core Processor P320
Processor Speed 2.1GHz
Level 2 Cache 1MB Level 2 Cache
Front Side Bus 1066MHz Frontside Bus
RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported 4GB DDR3-1066 RAM
Hard Drive 320GB 5,400RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
Multimedia Drive 8x SuperMulti Double Layer DVD±RW Drive
Display Type 15.6" HD Widescreen Ultrabright(tm) LCD Display
Internal Max Resolution 1366 x 768
Video Card ATI Radeon HD 4250
Video Memory Up to 256MB Total Available Graphics Memory
TV Tuner/Personal Video Recorder (PVR) None
Sound Card High Definition Audio Chipset
Sound Output Mode Stereo Audio Output
Audio Input Built-In Microphone
Network Features 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless Network Features 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED®
Memory Card Reader Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
Supported Flash Media Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Multi Media Card, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Card
Ports and Connectors (1) VGA 15-pin Port; (3) USB 2.0 Ports; (1) HDMI Port; (1) Headphone/Speaker/Line-Out Jack
Built-In Devices Stereo Speakers, 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera, Microphone
Input Device Keyboard, Touchpad
Included Power Supply AC Adapter
Included Battery 6 Cell Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
Average Run Time 3 Hours, 42 Minutes (Based on Mobile Mark 2007 - actual battery life may vary based on product setting, usage patterns and environmental conditions)
Dimensions (WxDxH) 14.99" x 9.96" x 1.22"/1.34"
Weight 5.72 lbs.
Manufacturer Warranty 90 Day Limited Warranty
Included Software Adobe® Reader®, Adobe® Flash® Reader, Gateway MyBackup Solution, Gateway Recovery Management, Norton Internet Security™ 2009 60-day trial

[Rubberman]

RHEL 5+ != laptop

RHEL and its derivatives are NOT suitable for laptop installation EXCEPT in a virtual machine. Run a distribution that is solid on a laptop (Ubuntu, Mint, FC, etc) and run RHEL in a virtual machine on the laptop if for some unknown reason you absolutely MUST run RHEL on the system. Current laptop hardware (WiFi, webcam, bluetooth, etc) are NOT well supported in my experience. My wife runs Scientific Linux on a couple of her laptops (she is a physicist and uses SL at the lab), but keeps having problems so that she reverts to Ubuntu. FYI, Scientific Linux is a rebranded version of RHEL with updates to Kerberos and other security systems.

Myself (a professional software engineer and consultant), I run CentOS (RHEL) on my server/workstation, but I run Ubuntu on my laptop.

So, my professional recommendation is to purchase a good laptop to run Ubuntu, install RHEL in a virtual machine, and be done with it. Either use KVM or VirtualBox as a virtual machine manager.

[aretudeetu]

Run a distribution that is solid on a laptop (Ubuntu, Mint, FC, etc) ...

Is Mint actually a decent distro as a server? I currently have Mint fluxbox but am looking for a lightweight distro to run on my laptop for testing purposes. I never really figured Mint as a server distro.

Many distros crash on my laptop like Slackware, PClinuxOS, and Fedora.

If so, which Mint do you recommend?

[Rubberman]

Actually, Mint is an Ubuntu derivative. They should behave much alike. You can try Ubuntu Server edition, though you can add the packages for that to regular Ubuntu or Mint without issues. I'd start with a vanilly Ubuntu distribution and make sure all the hardware works OK. Then I'd add software until it was configured as I need.