[tlug] Ubuntu Laptop Assistance Please + Rant about Akihabara

[Jawaad Mahmood <jawaad.mahmood@example.com>]

In short: I want a laptop that is guaranteed to run with a version of Linux, preferably Ubuntu (although I'd be happy with a Debian laptop).

Requirements:

- Decent monitor (1600 x something)

- Complete compatibility

- Portability (IE: not too heavy)

- Functional monitor outputs (At least one, but two is ideal).

I know there was a thread about this a few months back but I wasn't able to find it despite repeated searches.  (Maybe it is time for me to volunteer to improve the search on the TLUG archives - that can happen after I get a laptop so I can work ;))

I was thinking about the ASUS Zenbook UX31; I prefer the look of HP's ultrabook, but I can't be bothered with a laptop that apparently has issues installing Linux.

As for my rant...

Sitting on the train, it is hard not to be inundated by desperate Yodobashi camera signs that tell you about the benefits of buying from a brick-and-mortar store.  #3 on the list is a knowledgable staff. And they also had something about a wide variety of computers.  You'd think that meant that in nerd-capital Akihabara, we could get a Linux laptop without much effort.

First, "wide-variety" is more-or-less Pravda-worthy Newspeak. Every store has the exact same models from the exact same manufacturers.  The specs are all the same.  The monitors are the same resolutions, the chips are 95% the same.  With the exception of the Alienware laptops, there is no difference.  Ok, that's understandable; same underlying components after all.  Let's run with it.

However, the staff is _never_ knowledgable about _anything_ related to computer software. At the Dell store, I was informed by the salesmen that "Dell does not sell anything but Windows branded PCs".  (Android mobile phones?  Linux server boxes?  Project Sputnik for laptop-based developers?)  At Yodobashi, I was told "Oh, we never had Linux computers", as they ushered me by Android (read: Linux)-branded touchpads.

If this is the world's second or third largest economy in a world that is going to be dominated by information technology, given that most servers are running Linux, why is it so hard to stock a _single_ Linux laptop model in a store that is otherwise filled with generic boxes from the same companies?  Even if preinstalled linux is a pipe dream, why can't there be at least one person on staff who is knowledgable enough about PCs that *he could let me know which laptops have generally decent Linux support?

I can build my own desktop.  However, it's a different story with laptops and I am willing to pay extra as it is a business tool, not a god damn toy.  Instead, they are playing commodity hardware chicken with Softmap and Yamada Denki. 

*  There are no females in Akihabara PC stores. That is not very PC.  Har har har.

--
Sincerely yours,

Jawaad Mahmood
http://www.jawaadmahmood.com
080-4204-7198