How I Shopped for An Ubuntu Laptop

So, I’ve been shopping for a new laptop for a few months. I’ve got an old Thinkpad T23 that is showing it’s age — both in terms of performance and functionality. It has developed a number of minor quirks over the years, as most well-loved laptops do. Numlock is flaky, the PCMCIA port is flaky, everything is just broken enough to be annoying — but not broken enough to fix.

Well, that changed recently when the optical drive failed. It was time to go shopping for an Ubuntu laptop. Here’s a recap of my decision process.

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Sub-$200 Ubuntu PCs Sell Out

Interesting update from The Debian User, indicating that sub-$200 PCs running a variant of Ubuntu have sold out at Wal-Mart and ZaReason. I was at Wal-Mart Saturday. When I asked about the sub-$200 Linux PCs (built by Everex), the Wal-Mart sales team said they had never heard of it. Bummer.

Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg Gives Ubuntu a Look

Yes, The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg is an influential guy. He can make-or-break products with his columns and product reviews. And he has taken a look at Ubuntu. Before you slam Walt for pointing out Ubuntu’s potential weak points, I think the Ubuntu community has to take a deep breath and admit the Walt has some valid points.

50 Things You Need to Know About Ubuntu (10-1)

Sorry for this belated post. Here is the final part of TechIQ’s five-part countdown, highlighting 50 trends and takeaways from the Ubuntu Live conference in Portland, Oregon. Some of the items are closely related to earlier portions of the list. Here we go…

Getting to Know ZaReason’s CEO

Sure, Dell is new to the Ubuntu PC market. But plenty of smaller PC suppliers have long supported Ubuntu. One prime example: ZaReason Inc., a PC maker made up of volunteers. I reached out to Cathy Malmrose, CEO of ZaReason, to get a feel for the company’s customer base and market position, and to get her views on Ubuntu’s longer-term prospects. Here’s a look at our conversation as it occurred over email.

Will Dell Help or Hurt Rival Linux PC Suppliers?

Here’s some interesting commentary from Cathy Malmrose of ZAreason.com, a small supplier of PCs with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. I asked Cathy if Dell’s move into the Ubuntu market would help or hurt ZAreason’s business.

Sure, I gave her a loaded softball question. Naturally, she thinks Dell promoting Ubuntu is a win-win for the Linux industry and ZAreason. However, take a closer look at what she had to say and you’ll see some interesting perspective. Cathy notes that there might be multiple market niches for Ubuntu desktop systems over the long haul.

Who Preloads Ubuntu on PCs?

Much of the Linux community is waiting to for Dell to introduce PCs with Ubuntu pre-loaded in North America. But if you can’t wait for Dell to deliver the goods, there are alternatives.

Check out PricePC.com, System76.com and ZAreason.com for a look at small PC suppliers that are loyal to the open source community. In some ways, these companies remind me of the mom-and-pop hardware stores that ultimately wind up competing with The Home Depots of the world (in this case, Dell).