High Quality Linux Notebook

If you go with the Dell, get the 24 Hour On-Site warranty. Number one reason to go with them. Lenovo is still a very good brand from what I hear so that might not be a bad choice to go with either.

Honestly? There are fanbois yes, but in general if you know what you are doing you can pick them out and ignore them anyways. As someone that has used Linux for a while, to tell the truth, you probably have a better idea about what goes on in Apple's OS than they do(Speaking as someone that knows some of the Apple Employees at his local store), so long as you have a good idea about Linux. Linux and BSD are not too different, though there are certainly some differences.

I personally have a Powerbook and a MacBook Pro. I like the build quality of the Apple laptops, though ABF should be showing up sometime now to say you can get the same quality out of the high end ASUS laptops since they are all made by the same group. I also tend to like having Mac OS instead of Windows as an alternative to my Linux. I would rather run Mac OS than Windows, one I like the OS better, two it is a bit more stable, three more of my software runs on it than on windows.

Other possibilities? I would recommend you research any laptop you look at very well really. Check tuxmobile.com and see what does or does not work before you buy it.

Seablade

Asus only makes the MacBooks, Quanta makes the MacBook Pro (last I heard).

Regarding which brand to look into, I'd personally recommend Lenovo. They've got a reputation for high build quality and have OS choices available. Apples are decent but are still overpriced (although they have gotten a lot better within the last couple years in that regard). Dell has OS options, but their customer support and product quality seems to be very inconsistent (look at the Dell section for examples), so some folks will have fantastic experiences and some will have horrible ones. Asus does make well-built notebooks, but all their ensembles come with Vista, which you said was a non-option.

I believe you are correct, thank you.

Seablade

They mainly do ODM stuff for other companies. They don't have very many whitebook/barebone options. Of the major ODMs, Compal seems to offer the most unbranded whitebooks. To be fair, all Clevo's products are essentially whitebooks, but the vast majority that you see online are pre-branded as Sager, Alienware, Eurocom, etc. However, I wouldn't recommend buying a Clevo-made notebook anyway, as they've had some fairly significant problems with some models.

For 2006, the top ODMs were:

• Quanta (33% of all notebooks sold)
• Compal (21%)
• Wistron (11%)
• Inventec (7%)
• Asus (5%)
• Mitac
• FIC
• Arima
• Uniwill
• ECS
• Clevo

http://www.physorg.com/news98005202.html

hmm.. I know they used to have that option. I just double-checked, though, and I don't see it anymore..

actually, strange as this may sound, you might be able to get a machine cheaper with a low end version of Windows and a bunch of crapware on it then with no OS. manufacturers use money from the companies which make the crapware to subsidize the costs to consumers, allowing them to sell machines for really cheap. sometimes getting it no OS comes out cheaper, but usally its cheaper to get it and just wipe it clean

It is sad, but Anaconda is correct.

Part of the reason you find more and more crapware, to the point where people stayed away from certain manufacturers, Dell most notably, until they cut down on the amount on their default install.

Seablade

This is something that most of us who plan on using non-Microsoft OSes on our laptops have to deal with, I guess. The bottom line is that unless you're happy with something like the BTO Asus C90s, (or smaller Asus S37S), then the higher quality laptop you want, the chance that it will come pre-loaded with at least Vista today, tends to be higher as well. (Or OSX as you've pointed out..)

I think that it's generally true of the laptops that provide Linux OS options as well. I tend to view the Linux Lenovo, or Dell, options, as their lesser laptops. Here are the models that Lenovo provides, and it doesn't include all Lenovo models. (I haven't even heard of anyone who offers a laptop with OpenBSD). These guys actually offer Asus, and sometimes other, laptops without OS options, and these guys provide configurable options on BTO Asus, as well as Ensemble Asus laptops.

In the end for me, I just bit the bullet and got the Asus model I wanted based on features, and not on included OS. So that means I have a Vista license for this laptop, but I've never loaded it onto the HD, once I reformatted the original install.

Good Luck..

check out powernotebooks.com

they can come without an OS and most of them work really well with linux.

I know PCTorque machines (Cleve/Sager) can be ordered without OS's. I don't know if all of the hardware in their machines is compatible with Linux however.

Maybe someone from PCTorque could say one way or another if their machines are 100% compatible with Linux.

www.system76.com

An Ubuntu laptop retailer so good that it has an official subforum on www.ubuntuforums.org.

Hmm nice link, how is the build quality?

Seablade

Not OS-less, but there's no Vista or XP on the Thinkpads with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop version 10 preloaded.