This fall I'll be starting computer science at university, so I need a laptop -a linux one.

Now, I have no idea where to buy a laptop, not to mention all of the choices...toshiba, hp, dell etc

I want this to be a linux-only laptop, so is barebones a reliable choice in terms of quality? Are there any places to buy barebones at a good price (I'd like to install && customize the distro myself)?? If so, where do I go to buy it?

What features should I seek? (ie screen size, type (wth is TFT?))

Basically, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I'd like to learn from the experiences of my linux elders If you have any particular suggestions for a laptop model or store (online or otherwise!) I'd love to hear about them.

-thanks in advance

check these folks out:

http://www.emperorlinux.com/

even if you don't wanna buy one from them, you'll get a good idea of what to buy direct from the manufacturer...

by the way, TFT means "thin film transistor", it's a technology used in lcd displays...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ft&btnG=Search

=)


there's also these folks, but i've heard they're not so hot:

http://www.linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html

I'm using an Acer TravelMate 290 with no problems at all. Currently it's dual boot but it's had both Suse (command line) & SlackWare(KDE) with no installation grief.
It's a Centrino unit and my kernel doesn't support that but I connect via wired LAN anyway so it's no bother. I'm sure a PCMCIA WiFi card would work okay if I really needed it to.

Bought it online direct from manufacturer...very reasonable for what it is.

Recommended.