What computer/OS are you using?

[Kami-Tux]

well. in Gentoo you can format partitions fastest because you do not need to waddle through an installer. so you need Gentoo if you assume he'll take the laptop out of your wings.

[C-Chan]

Well if he's more of an eyecandy buff, would you still recommend at least Gentoo-based Sabayon? ^___^'

http://www.sabayonlinux.org/

[Kami-Tux]

That one has an installer?!?! HERESY!

Seriously, I never tried it. I wouldn't use it because it contains unfree software but if you do not mind that, it is surely neat.

[C-Chan]

Well now that you mention it, I wouldn't recommend it either.  ^^'

Because of said non-free software, the installer automatically loads (without an obvious option to do otherwise) ATI's proprietary fglrx driver during the LiveDVD session, which on my AMD64 computer has the nasty habit of blanking the screen and disabling keyboard support (so no CTRL-ALT-F1 or CTRL-ALT-DEL).  

Hence I've yet to see Sabayon's GOBS of eyecandy yet, and by now I'm too busy with other distros to care.... Curse you ATI and your schizophrenic Linux support,....  -v-

Added after 1 minutes:

Oh, and touching back on the concept of cheap flash laptops....

TADA...!!!  ^v^

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9292516116.html

The future is coming...!  ^___^

[NejinOniwa]

YATTAI! Finally! I think we have a prophet amongst us...

[Icelilly]

My home has two computers. The family computer is a 98SE, which is the only computer with Internet and hardly functions anymore, and my personal computer is an XP MCE.

[CaptBrenden]

*protecticly covers his dell XPS M1710 special edition red*  dont listen to them.. the kid cant get you baby... shushh...

[Gummster]

He talks to his... computer? How strange is that.

Na, Violin-kun?

[Silentbob]

Well, I like to talk to the hand.  

Anyhoo...  The guy doesn't seem to mind spending a fortune on something and then just grow tired of it right afterwards.  He just bought and sold his second car this past year.

Been meaning to get a cheap laptop of my own, just gotta find one that has the best specs for the least moolah.

[Gummster]

In that case you should check out Acer laptops. They're way cheap compared to specs.

[Bella]

Been meaning to get a cheap laptop of my own, just gotta find one that has the best specs for the least moolah.

I'd say HP. They're reasonably priced, well equipped, and have very good hardware. DY, my family's HP laptop, is two years old and hasn't had even ONE problem hardware (or software)-wise. Whereas K8, my eMachines, had gone though an A/C adapter, motherboad, and a set of hinges before the age of two!
My friend also has an HP laptop, a higher-end one w/ a built in camera (a la Mac XD), media center software, BluRay DVD player, it's very thin and light, and he loves it.

The only thing I dislike about HP is their software suite, they often ship TONS of game and program trials...but I've only seen lots of trial software on desktop models, for some reason...so with a laptop, you wouldn't have much of a problem (not that it's much of a problem, just have to do a lot of deleting).

[C-Chan]

Yep, buying from the big computer manufacturers will inevitably invite a lot of initial crapware into your system, but it's certainly nothing that can't be purged.  Certainly not a problem for a Miggy user, who knows the meaning of the word "persistence" more than any other computer owner.  ^___^

I hate to offer a plug for HP given I have other reasons for not liking them,... but admittedly, my own HP laptop is running on 5 years now and is still alive and well.
The only flukes have been a dead battery (which I've replaced), a CD/DVD drive that only wants to read when it wants to (not as important in today's world of LAN and USB sticks) and a squeamishness for memory upgrades past 512MB (a problem with that particular model range apparently).

There was a terrible case of inoperable keys under XP (5,7,9,0,.-,[ and others), but interestingly-enough this has alleviated tremendously after installing PCLinuxOS.  ^^

In any event, that's my plug for those "old-school" laptops.  -v-

Going  forward, I will not recommend anything else but this bold new direction.... ^.^

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/114773/asus-stuns-computex-with-100-laptop.html

I believe the proper wording here should be "Flash-based storage, FTW!".  ^v^

[redrackham]

I'm using Toshiba Sattelite A-15....old but reliable Laptop.
It have Intel Pentium 4 M 2,2 Mhz, 512 MB of RAM, and it runs more faster than my friend's new Acer Laptop (well, mine have higher RAM and Processor clock though).

BUt since its age is more than 4 years....it possess several problem....nearly dead battery, high temperature when using heavy programs, and the DVD-Rom now only able to read CD.

BUt i still love my laptop....and i have no plan to replace it until it really die.....

Hmm...fo OS, i'm using Windows XP Professional Sp1....Great OS but really memory consumig...it consume almost half of my RAM when active....

[NejinOniwa]

Yah allssu! We just got back our old media compy from the shop - the HDD had burst up in flames, literally, so it had to be fixed for a while. Well, now it's back and we've installed Moseko on it, so it'll be perfect for goin' round with our TV. It's got kartloads of disk space too so we won't be running out of that for a while...

[Bella]

There's also my Compaq Presario, circa 1998, running Windows 98, and on liveCD, Puppy Linux, and sometimes Zenwalk.