Has anyone tried the Linare LADBS250 laptop?
 

I'm considering buying the Linare LADBS250 laptop for myself. The specs look good -- definitely better than my dad's Dell notebook which cost twice as much -- but since I can't personally try it out before buying, I'm hoping that someone here might be able to answer a few questions I have about it from their first-hand experience.

1. If I got one of these laptops, I would want to replace Linare with a different distro as soon as possible. Linare's customer service doesn't think that would be a problem; are they right?
2. I know that most laptop keyboards aren't the easiest thing to type on, but how does the LADBS250's keyboard compare to others? Do the keys stick or anything like that?
3. I'm expecting to see a couple of dead pixels on the laptop's screen, but is the number likely to be unusually high?
4. Has anyone tried upgrading the RAM? Should I expect to have any trouble finding compatible RAM modules?

Thanks in advance.

I have had one of the Linare LADBS250 laptops on order since 03-03-05 and still have not received it. Every time I would call or e-mail them they would tell me "it will ship this coming Friday or Monday" but it never shipped. One time that I called they did tell me they were trying to fix a technical problem with this unit. I have had to call my bank and claim it as fraud to get my money back from these people. I do not recomend buying from these people.

It's May 2005 and they're still at it...

I ordered a laptop computer from them March 29, 2005. I had to call and email them a half dozen times to determine why they hadn't shipped me anything. I got the "we'll ship next week" BS three times. Then I cancelled my order. I'm still waited for the refund (although my order status finally changed... from 'Paid' to 'Cancelled').

If you'd like more details of my story, email me at josephwalter@yahoo.com

DO NOT BUY A COMPUTER FROM LINARE.

you are not the only ones, read this osnews article: http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=10532 .

~Progster (not been here for a long time, this site sure has matured :D)

From their site:

"Available at Wal Mart"

Okay, now let's just think for a second everything wrong with a computer company that is proud of the fact that their PC's are sold at your local distributor of cheap, plastic crap.

Based on that alone, I'd recommend buying a laptop from somewhere else, but taking into account the rave reviews that go along with it, I think you'd be better off with a Dell or summat. They've got a deal going now at Dell for Celeron M-based notebooks with 256 shared RAM and 40 GB hard drive for $550, and they're actually in the business of getting their products to their customers.

There is some information on Linare at http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/s...s1.html?page=2
It sounds like they are having startup problems but don't count them out in the long run. Their specs of fast AMD processors, tuned for Linux, no Microsoft tax, size & looks sound good. If I could try one in person, get a manual, etc., I might be tempted to buy one. Their US Corporate office is an easy drive from where I live.