HI Joel,

  There are a lot of off-lease IBM Thinkpad T42s on various retailers for ~300.  Some Thinkpad models haven't fared so well, but, if I recall correctly, the T42 is pretty solid.  I had a used Thinkpad 600x running Linux for almost 6 years, so a decent Thinkpad can last quite some time.  Also, I find T-series Thinkpads easy to fix, since almost everything replaceable has its own faceplate on the bottom and Ebay is full of parts.  Driver support for older laptops tends to be better than for brand new ones, as well.  If you do want a new Linux model with minimal hassle, Dell sells Inspiron 15n with Ubuntu for ~600.  We have been quite happy with our Ubuntu Dell Mini 9 for the past year and half.

-Adam

On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 12:48 PM, joel d <joelgroup@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,

I am considering replacing my old broken screen laptop (Pent 350 &
256MB) with a replacement.

Does anyone recommendations on $400 to $600 laptops for Linux with a
regular 15" or so screen  and at least 2-4GB RAM.  I am going with a
low-spec (and low cost) as I have used the laptop an hour or two a
week in the past as for daily use my eyes prefer my desktop's 24"
widescreen LCD.

In this price range I am mostly finding Netbooks and the occasional
low end Acer (newegg).  I could handle the speed of a netbook but my
older and poor eyes would protest (and the additional RAM cost makes
them spendy-ish for what you get).

Any recommendations for a new,  regular 15" or so standard notebook on
the cheap for Linux use (prob. Ubuntu or KUbuntu)?  I am thinking my
concerns here and hardware compatibility and cost.

Thank you,

Joel
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