I have been looking around the internet for a replacement for my Sony
Vaio PCG-R505ES Notebook, which, unfortunately, performs very poorly
in XFree86. I have had bad luck, so far, as it seems very difficult to
find the specifics I want, in an easily readable format.

-I have a few simple needs and requirements:

12"(+/- 1") Display that can do at least 1024x768 in 32 bit
mode(fullscreen)
Excellent 2d graphic performance(Geforce go and ati mobility come to
mind...)
At least 1.2 GHz CPU
At least 256 MB of RAM
DVD drive
External volume control(I know this sounds odd, but my Sony doesn't
have this, and I find it very annoying)

-Very nice, but not essential:
3d performance
CD-Writing
802.11b
Firewire
Docking station
trackball or eraser-head PS/2 pointing device onboard

Anything I haven't mentioned can be considered unneeded. At this point
I have no price cap. I want to see how much it will cost to get what i
want, if it's possible.

There are very few companies that provide worthwhile Linux support on
Laptops, and finding one from among those that exactly meets your
requirements is a tall order indeed.
It might just be easier for you to get your laptop custom assembled.
However, let me summarize the information I found regarding various
companies and their Linux offerings.

DELL ( www.dell.com )
----
Although Dell has mostly dropped support for Linux on its system, its
website states
" Linux solutions on ... Latitude notebooks may be ordered via Dell's
Custom Factory Install."
Dells custom factory install allows you to customize the hardware and
software that will come preinstalled with your machine.They also claim
to supply Red Hat Linux Certified hardware components for your
machine, so compatibility should not be much of an issue.
  - Dell's Custom Factory Install   
     ( www.dell.com/CFI/ )
  - Dell's Latitude Laptop line ( starts at ~$1200 )
     ( http://www.dell.com/us/en/bsd/products/series_latit_notebooks.htm
)
You should also take a look at user experiences with installing Linux
on Dell Laptops ( http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html )
 Overall, I find that user experience has been pretty good with Dell.
Add to that the various customizations that you can do plus the
cheapest price around, I feel this is the way to go.

IBM
----
Although it does no seem to offer Linux preinstalled with its systems,
IBM provides a very competent Linux certification guide, showing how
compatible each of its laptop offerings is with the various Linux
distributions. The hardware config of the systems for sale can also be
customized to your needs.
   - IBM ThinkPad Line
     ( http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=2035724&catalogId=-840&langId=-1&storeId=1
)
   - IBM Laptop Systems Certification Info
     ( http://www.linuxcare.com/labs/certs/ibm.epl )
   - User experiences installing Linux on IBM laptops
     ( http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.html )

EMPEROR LINUX ( http://www.emperorlinux.com/ )
--------------
This US based vendor provides preInstalled linux on Laptops based on
various brand-name portables available: Sony VAIO's, Dell Inspiron's,
and IBM Thinkpad's etc. The main page claims that "We will not offer a
laptop until we are confident that it is configured to fully exploit
its hardware"
Its BlackPearl R range seems to offer what you need. Prices above
$2000.
Also provide custom configured laptops. Call them for pricing.

- Laptop Range
       ( http://www.emperorlinux.com/laptops.html )
- Customized Laptops
        ( http://www.emperorlinux.com/custom.html ) 


OTHER Vendors
--------------
The following sites will offer links to some more Linux vendors and
also provide you with comprehensive user experience info with the
various laptops on offer.
  - Linux on Laptops 
    ( http://www.linux-laptop.net/ )
    Provides very comprehensive user experience reports on installing
and working with Linux on the different laptop models in the market.
Be sure to check out your model on this site before buying.

  - Linux Laptop SuperGuide
   ( http://lhd.zdnet.com/superguides/laptops.html )
   Provides info on user experiences with various laptops. Also
provides laptop Linux Certification information when present.
 
  - Laptop Manufacturers - Linux Status
    ( http://mobilix.org/laptop_manufacturer.html )
    A survey of ~100 laptop manufacturers and their current Linux
status. Also provides links to non US vendors.

======================================================
Linux on laptop is in a state of very rapid change. Luckily, its
mostly for the better. As such it is very hard to keep up with the
everchanging laptop models available, although I hope that the above
answer will provide you with the relevant help.
If you have any questions, just ask.
:)

---

Request for Answer Clarification by bahua-ga on 31 Oct 2002 06:29 PST

I guess I didn't really state very clearly what I'm after. All I want
is a laptop with the specs I want, with well-supported hardware. I
plan on getting said laptop, then I plan on wiping the de facto MS
operating system from it, after which I will personally install
gentoo. No pre-installed solution will do exactly what I want, and
that's fine with me.

What I need help with is finding a system with the specs I want. The
company's support structure/stance on linux makes little difference to
me.

---

Clarification of Answer by theta-ga on 01 Nov 2002 03:07 PST

I would still recommend that you try out EmperorLinux or some other
Linux specific vendor. Since their whole business  centers around
Linux, it is very likely that the hardware they sell is selected such
that it well supported by the Linux community. Also their high level
systems semm to have what you want.Without any info on the external
volume control, of course. :)

 In case you decide to go the assembled way, or want to find out the
compatibility of certain hardware components under Linux, check out
    The Red Hat Linux Hardware Compatibility List 
    ( http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/genpage2.cgi?pagename=hcl )

Happy Laptop Hunting !

Thank you very much for your effort, but I think I might be asking the impossible.

I recently purchased an Apple Powerbook G4, which is running Debian.
Although this is not an Intel box and doesn't precisely meet your list
of requirements, I would strongly suggest that you consider the
iBooks/Powerbooks, especially as gcc 3 is in ports now so you can
compile the system with altivec optimisation and other bells and
whistles. I am in the process of writing a review for a journal - drop
me a line if you'd like a link when it gets published. Also, a friend
recently got a Vaio but we've had no end of little problems with that
lovely quirky hardware Sony insist on sticking in their machines. Feel
free to ask me questions though.

Hello bahua

I spent a while researching your question before coming to the
conclusion -- which you've probably discovered yourself -- that this
is a considerably harder question to answer than would be expected.
The one part of your "must-have" specification that I kept running up
against was the external volume control -- it's not that modern
laptops don't have this, but that the ones that do rarely advertise
the feature in their online specifications.

That having been said, here are a couple of resources I found that
might prove useful to you. First of all, if you think you've found the
perfect laptop but want to know how well its hardware is supported by
GNU/Linux, the single most important resource is the "Linux on
Laptops" website at http://www.linux-laptop.net/

I also started trying to compile a list of laptops matching your
criteria but rapidly ran into the above-mentioned problem that I
wasn't able to definitively verify whether or not they had an external
volume control. To meet all your other specifications was not
difficult as all the major laptop vendors had machines that met or
exceeded those requirements.

I know this isn't a full and complete answer to your question, but I
hope it goes some way towards helping you.

Regards
iaint-ga (long-time user of GNU/Linux on a Dell laptop)

Well, as for those models you found, tell away! I am currently looking
at an IBM rig, and the apples piqued my curiosity a few months back.
One problem with those, however, is that I think it would be a shame
to install linux over such an intriguing operating system as Apple
has.

theta, I'm going to give you the $15, but I think I've just been
disappointed by the truth. It would seem that what I'm looking for
just isn't out there.

Hello again Bahua

OK, the only model I found which *definitely* appeared to have the
external volume control (as well as meeting all your other criteria)
was the Acer TravelMate 270 series. A basic overview of the laptops
can be found at http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/tm270.htm
from where you can link to your local regional Acer site. In the USA
this range seems to be between $1500 - $2000, in Europe from about
€1700 - €2300.

This isn't to say that other manufacturers' machines don't meet your
criteria. I basically started going through the websites of the larger
notebook manufacturers trying to find machines that met your criteria
in alphabetical order, hence Acer was one of the first I checked. I
rapidly became aware that I wasn't going to be able to find the
information you needed purely because of the external volume control
issue, so stopped before getting onto many of the "big guns" such as
Gateway, IBM or Toshiba.

Good luck with your quest!

Regards
iaint-ga

The thing is, i keep looking at the specs for these recommended
laptops, and keep seeing video chipsets that have very poor drivers,
and one of the requirements for me is excellent 2d performance, in a
small machine. Intel's 830MG, and anything from SiS is out of the
question. This unfortunately seems to narrow the field down
considerably, especially when coupled with the desire for a
smaller(12") form factor. Unless I see differently(which I have't
yet), I will have to assume, for now, that such a laptop does not
exist.