On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 08:41:09AM -0600, Jorge Biquez wrote: > > I guess my best bet is top have a used one. Is not that it "has" to > be new but I wanted to invest in something new that last some years, > my last lap has 7 years but it is short on memory and won't accept more. > I will use ebay I guess for used equipment and ask my friend to bring > it if possible. If you have good suggestions for places to buy used > equipment please let me know (on ebay I has bought in the past > equipment that was dead already or that has problems immediately > later). Of course sometimes I have bought very good equipment also.
In my experience, ThinkPads are among the highest quality laptops on the market. I keep an eye out for notable drops in quality, in case things change, but so far they are still easily the best new laptops for general use, where their configurations are suitable to one's needs (as opposed to cases where a Toughbook might be more appropriate, for instance). They have some of the best keyboards for touch-typing on the market, too, even including high-quality keyboard peripherals for desktop systems. You could try getting in touch with someone at Lenovo about ordering a laptop with no MS Windows license. I seem to recall hearing that's an option, or at least was an option at one time, but I have not really investigated it. You can also check Lenovo's "outlet" for prebuilt ThinkPads that suit your needs, put together for someone else's order that got canceled; they discount these laptops, even though they have never even been shipped to a customer. They also have laptops that were shipped and returned unopened, returned opened, and refurbished, for varying levels of discount and newness. Of course, the "outlet" ThinkPads come with MS Windows, but you at least get a discount greater than the markup for the Windows license that way. Be aware that the "outlet" sales are more prone to errors, though, as my girlfriend discovered when she bought an unshipped, prebuilt ThinkPad a couple years ago that had a license sticker and an installed MS Windows version that did not match. She just wanted to run something Unix-like on it, so it was not a big problem, but we found the mistake somewhat interesting. . . . and, of course, be aware that if you get a laptop with Intel HD Graphics, you'll be stuck with the vesa driver at 1024x768 on FreeBSD at least until Konstantin's work fixes the problem with the Intel drivers. Be careful about the hardware in your laptop, whatever brand you get, so you'll be sure to get the best FreeBSD user experience reasonably possible. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
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