ideal laptop recommendations?

[andrew morton]

Jesse D. Guardiani wrote:
>>One possible is an IBM ThinkPad A31p. 2 GHz, 15", 1600x1200, does almost
>>everything you ask, but has broken ACPI and ATI Mobility FireGL
>>graphics. APM works VERY well, so ACPI is not too important. You do need
>>the DOS based ps2 utility to set it up, though. (Ugh.) IBM supplies the
>>floppy images for this. Not really pretty, but rugged and reliable.
>>Heavy. Over well 7 pounds or 3 kilos. Awesome display!
> 
> IBMs seem a bit overpriced and underfeatured to me. Still, if that is
> the best suggestion I get, then I might give it a try.

I'm going to put in a vote for IBM. They maybe a bit more expensive but
they build very solid hardware. I've got an A21e with 2+ years of very 
rough usage (it goes everywhere with me) and it works like a champ. The 
only problems are cosmetic (cracked the plastic on the case) and after 
reading Jason Hunt's comments on the ease of getting parts I'm ready to 
call up IBM and order a new case.

While I'm at it I'll bash Dell real quick. In my experience and based on 
an unscientific survey of posts to the list I'd say Dell tends to be a 
good deal but you'll probably end up with warranty issues.

Anyway good luck,
andrew