[GLLUG] Hi all.. question about hardware purchasing..

[Bilal Qayum]

Hi all... I've been using Linux (in particular Ubuntu/Debian variants
for a couple years but only recently became aware of GLLUG, yup, I'm
pretty lazy like that.

But I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of decent hardware options for
someone looking to run Linux with minimum fuss and hassle. There are
some vendors who do ship hardware with Linux pre-installed but seem to
be based stateside with high shipping rates, or only stock a fairly
limited and pricey range. I'm just looking to get a feel for what
people locally tend to do, do most people on here find something to
fit their needs and then trust device drivers and support exist or
does anyone have any good recommendations for a trustworthy vendor
with a decent range of laptops that are not overpriced or
underpowered?

I know device support is pretty good compared to even a few years ago,
but the little things do frustrate me, never being able to rely on
suspend/hibernate working correctly on most of the laptops I've owned,
odd quirks with wifi and graphics chipsets especially and I'm really
looking forward to a machine that will be able to mesh my OS perfectly
with the hardware.

Many thanks to anyone who has some tips, I'm pretty interested in
hearing in general how people purchase the hardware they run Linux
OS's on anyway.