My Debian laptop died on me today-- after googling the error messages, I determined that the motherboard finally kicked it.

Tomorrow, I'm going laptop shopping, so are there any good brands/models that you would recommend?


my needs:

-Fast CPU (i don't know if I can afford the latest and greatest dual core, but it should be at least 2 GHZ)
-Wifi and Ethernet capable (Very important that I have both in case i'm far from a hot zone and still need to hook up)
-At least 1 GB of ram (I'm going to be running virtual machines in linux)
-decent battery life (at least 2 hours)


I'm also going to give Kubuntu a try, I'm downloading Edgy Eft right now. How good is the hardware auodetection in [K]Ubuntu these days? The reason why I'm asking is that I was never able to get a wifi card working under Debian on my old laptop, so I was stuck with ethernet, it would be great if all of my connectivity would get itself working out of the box, so to speak.

MacBook Pro

Asus A8JS

I honestly don't think think I could think of anything better if I tried.
-Merom Core 2 Duo CPU. Fast as heck.
-7700go, that's fast, but not so fast it gives off too much heat or kills the battery
-1GB of RAm
-100GB HDD

All in a 1440x900 14inch screen, which IMHO, is the perfect size for a laptop. It seems stupid to lug around a huge laptop, which is basically a desktop with a battery. Also, Asus has fantastic build quality.

Also, 1600$. Macbooks are great, too, if you happen to be rich.

Um, the one you linked to is $1598. That's a lot less than $1600.

Maybe my math's off, but...isn't it a $2 difference?

Forgot the sarcasm tag.

If you can afford the macbook pro I'd recommend it. Also, there's an idiot's guide (not that I think you need it) to getting Ubuntu onto an intel mac at simplehelp.net.

MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo). If you cannot afford the latest and greatest, get a refurbished MacBook Pro (Core Duo) or a refurbished MacBook (Core Duo). Apple refurbs have a good reputation these days and I believe they come with a 1 year warranty. I just worked on a MacBook the other day (LCD panel swap) and I was very much impressed with the design. If you are not willing to use an Apple, get a Toshiba.