[SGVLUG] Seeking hardware recommendations (laptops)

[Tom Emerson]

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yes, it's PAST time for me to consider a new laptop -- just read an
article about IBM/Lenovo "T60" series wherein the author points out that
spending $2000 or more means ensuring your laptop last for 5 years, and
only the IBM's were "beating the odds" when it came to usage lifetimes
like that.  Well, "I can't remember" when I bought mine, but (a) it came
with windows98, and (b) I found an old post dated 2002 wherein I noted
my laptop was "already a couple of years old and therefore obsolete", so
I'm pretty sure I've got that 5-year-thing beaten in spades with this
beast :)

What is happening now is that the memory is failing -- at bootup, only
one of the two memory modules seems to be active (and no, I can't figure
out "which one" it is -- I've booted the system with "just one", in both
memory slots each, and it /always/ boots...)  banging on the case or
removing/re-seating the memory seems to help, but now (on at least two
occasions) the system has locked up in mid-mouse-move  (usually a good
indication I've tripped over a bad memory cell...)

So, I'm turning to you folks for your recommendations.  I know all the
basics -- get fastest processor, memory & hard drive space I can afford,
look for nVidia over ATI, etc., but what about the more esoteric stuff?

  -- fingerprint readers: are these supported at all, and if so, do they
really provide the "security" they proclaim, or is this really "just a
gimmick" for windows folks?

  -- networking: 802.11 a/b works fine, and (I presume) "g" as well, but
what is the status of "n" (or ???)  I think I asked this a few months
ago, so has anything changed since then?
  -- "EVDO" (3g) networking [i.e., using your cellphone or a
provider-specific cell-phone modem]  I think Verizon charges $60/month
or more, but it is foreseeable that within the lifetime of THIS computer
that price will drop to "reasonable" [and it would be just so cool to
have "broadband speeds" just about everywhere...]  Of course, "by then",
the 4th generation of cellular/high-speed networking should be commonly
available to again ratchet up the price to $$$/month (wireless speeds of
100 Mbps for "roaming" and 1 Gbps for "local wifi"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G)

  -- multi-drives & raid: I see some configurable options for "raid" on
laptops (that have multiple physical drives -- I've even seen one that
holds three drives and can therefore support raid 5!)  Does anyone know
if this is a "windows raid" or a true hardware raid setup?  [I know that
"software raid" will work under linux, but I'd rather offload this to
hardware if it is supported and works well]

  -- anything else you can think of?  Any recommendations you have in
general that I should be on the lookout for.  Also, and brand/model
specific recommendations would be good.  Be aware I'll likely be putting
SuSE 10.x on this system, so if you had "great success" installing
gentoo/ubuntu/fedora/slackware/whatever, it may not translate to the
same ease-of-installation for SuSE.  (Of course, the converse could be
true -- if installing any of the above is/was a pain, SuSE may handle it
flawlessly or it may fail just as miserably, but in a different way...)

Tom
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