trefall

Folks,
Hi. New to the forums and Linux.
I need to buy a new/used laptop. My Dell Inspiron has served me well for 7 years [and 3 HDDs] running 16 hours a day minimum. Apparently parts for my Dell are next to impossible to get now. I've read and heard that the quality of Dell died after Michael left a few years ago. Even though he returned I'm still not sure of the quality. There seem to be MANY used Dells on the market which begs the question, 'why?'
For consistently high build-quality IBM apparently can't be beat. They were always too expensive but remanufactured seems to be a viable option for me. I don't play games, but I surf the net ALL THE TIME. I've used Firefox for years but never Linux.
I'd like to have something in duo core for 64-bit Linux on my new laptop. Any suggestions for older, affordable IBM models that have duo core? I understand a Google search to find used/remanufactured computers is easy but haven't found anything that fits my needs and wallet [$700 max]. Maybe you all know about some model that I haven't found. I live in MX and there's a Lenovo factory, but their prices are still IBM insane.
As far as Linux distro to use, Suse seems to have the best hardware support. Although I don't like their deal with Windows. I'm trying to get away from Bill Gates.
As I have been a Windows user for so long, are there any programs when surfing/using multimedia on the net, that aren't supported by something 'similar' in Linux? I've used Abiword with limited success. Could be Windows conflicts or something. I don't know.
Well, that's enough for now. Thank you in advance for any help.

rokytnji

I run 2 IBM Laptops. 32 bit single core though. I run Mint 7 Fluxbox RC1, Antix 8.2, and just installed Xubuntu Karmic on a older IBM A22. All run sucessfully on my gear. For a cheap dual core all I can suggest is

EBAY

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D-cat

You could try hitting the factory up for one of its "seconds" that they intend to throw away... or a last year's display model?

For distros, SuSE's deal with the devil is actually relating to inter-support contracts between MS and Novell, not much to do with OpenSuSE. You'll find that most mainstream distros have about even hardware support. What sets them apart is how to set it up. SuSE has Yast, which is a central "Control Panel" of sorts that allows a user one place to set up nearly every facet of the machine. I like it, even if it is, as some put it, bloated.

For having the most hardware working out-of-the-box, a blessing for laptops, I have to give the prize to Linux Mint (an unofficial fork from Ubuntu which includes the restricted goodies a corporate backed distro legally cannot). I'm not particularly impressed with the setup tools in the *buntus; they rely heavily on accurate auto-detection, but it's great when it works as planned.

If you end up with a really old laptop, you might end up with a light-weight distro. I've never run a laptop on a lightweight, so I don't know which are most suitable (I'd think most critical would be wireless). You might let us know what you get for your new portable multi-communications hardware platform, we can then have a better idea what we're working with.

Luck to you good sire, may you be blessed with good fortune.

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trefall

Thanks for the advise from the posters. I found an excellent deal on a year-old T61. I haven't received it yet but I went over the specs and I 'm pretty sure all hardware is supported by Suse [although I'm going to look at Mint].