[lug] Looking for a laptop...

[Mike Stanczyk]

Well, I'm in the market for a used laptop again.  My new job is needs me to
have a linux laptop but it's a startup and the money situation is *wierd*.

So I have HP branded Compaq NC8000 running Windows for games.  No problem,
I'll get off my lazy butt and install that linux partition I've been meaning
to.

To make a very agravating story short:  They put a drive size limit in the
laptop.   The laptop will only recognize a 160 Gig Disk.  So what right?

Well, it's not a drive geometry limit.  It's a limit on the size of the 
partition on the disk.   I put a 250Gig disk in the laptop and clonezilla-ed
the windows partition over.  If the windows partion is over 160Gig, the laptop
will not boot, "disk read error".  if the partition is under 160gig, the laptop
runs flawlessly.  #^#$&@$#%& me!

So it's gotta go.   I'm not gonna give this thing another chance to back 
stab me.

My requirements for a used laptop:
1 Ghz processor
expandable to 2 gig of memory
support for 250gig hard drive.  ;-)
Support for running Windows XP and Ubuntu 8.x via dual booting.
touchpad.  (I can't use a touchpoint worth a damn.  It's ok to have both)
graphics better than 1024x768.

My budget is around $500.  I'd like to go new but I have other priorities
and I need something in the next week or so, not the 3-4 weeks a new one
would take.

So please, share your horror stories of hardware I should avoid.  If you
have a laptop you'd like to sell, I'd like to hear that too.  8-)

And yes, for the record, I did send my mother my old laptop when I bought
the Compaq.  *sigh*

Mike