[Wylug-discuss] linux laptop

[Mischa Oliver Altmann]

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 14:11:41 +0000, Tim Fletcher wrote:
> On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 13:49 +0000, Dave Fisher wrote:
> > On Thu, Dec 15, 2005 at 07:19:42PM +0000, Mischa Oliver Altmann
> wrote:
> > > Also -- I am *not* disinclined to take an Apple -- any ideas?
> >
> > For what it's worth, I'm in a similar position, but I'm waiting
> > for the release of the Mac on Intel laptops (speculation suggests
> > Jan/Feb 2006), before making a decision.

just about everyone owning a mac (and even some stores!) will tell you
that the first generation products are not worth playing around with.
If you are speculating a pricedrop on the current G4 Powerbook then --
so i am told -- you are waiting in vain as Apple generally sells to the
last minute and the few laptops that remain after new product
introduction go very quickly.

Or do you simply want an x86 architecture? (why? e.g. which packages
would you mind recompiling for PowerPC architecture -- that is if they
aren't available already?)

> > I'm told that MAC educational discounts are significant.

yes, but really HE discounts are the thing to go for ;-) it seems to be 
between 14-20% (!). If you are a student, you can access the store via
http://www.nusonline.co.uk > specialoffers > computers (even from home)

> > If the Mac on Intel price/performance proves disappointing, I'm
> > inlined to go down the relatively safe IBM/Lenovo Stinkpad route
> > (again).

that seems to be one of the few alternatives -- apart from toshiba the
only one i am currently looking at (though acer does have a couple nice
offers). To  be honest though: IBM carries as much a premium as Apple
except that you get to botch your linux distro whereas otherwise you
get one that works out of the box (probably unfair but for my case very
true).

> If people want to look at the Apple education pricing there education
> store can be found here:
> http://store.apple.com/Catalog/uk/Images/routingpage.html

the HE link doesn't work from Austria (HTTP 403.6 - Forbidden: IP
address rejected) as "access to the dedicated Apple Store can only be
gained from within your institution’s network or from another
recognised IP address."

I also found an different interesting option: refurbished (w/ full
warranty) @ http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/refurb/uk/
the models on here seem a bit older though.

ciao,
  Mischa

--
Mischa Oliver Altmann
ABCIT Level 5, Elec.Engineering
Union Council Representative for Ethical & Environmental Issues
The University of Leeds (United Kingdom)

personal website: http://www.altmann.at/~mischa (in terrible state)
E: m.o.altmann02 at spam-me-not.members.leeds.ac.uk [remove spam-me-not]

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