If you're interested in buying Thinkpads with Linux pre-installed and fully tested, please sign up here - http://giniji.com/ubuntu_laptops.html
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This is a tiny first step towards making a new computer company. Just need some love from hackers.
Btw, we will offer free shipping :-)
Can you offer the lower price point on your and a higher price on amazon?
I'm curious, what does selling Thinkpads with Linux pre-installed involved? Does Lenovo sell in bulk as an OEM, OS-less? Other companies have sold Thinkpads running Linux for years (Emperor Linux, IIRC) but at a large markup, such that I assume they're buying in tiny quantities, maybe even retail one at a time, unboxing/installing Linux/boxing/reshipping (pure conjecture, I've never looked into it). Also, any nonfree drivers required?
edit: I should've looked before speculating about Emperor. I gather that they order a machine from the manufacturer when a customer orders http://www.emperorlinux.com/quality/?page=configure but they have some kind of relationship with the manufacturer, not just retail http://www.emperorlinux.com/why/ (see warranty at bottom).
I know of System76 and etc, but their hardware doesn't inspire me much (spoiled by Apple).
We want to build the best computers for programmers at the best price with the OS most programmers run on their servers and dev machines anyway.
All the issues you mention and others relating to graphics continue to exist because there is no single organisation focusing on the full hardware+software stack. [1] It is really hard to get everything working on such a huge range of hardware with software that keeps moving so fast.
So we are starting by focusing on just getting everything working on some of the best existing machines - Thinkpads.
If you have any ideas or requests for your ideal setup, please share them here or email me at hrishi@giniji.com.
[1] I don't want to take any credit away from System76 and other similar companies. They've done a great job, but they don't seem to be proactive in pushing things forward.
I have nothing but good things to say about Dell computers. Of course, I am a bit careful not to choose ATI or Nvidia graphics or anything that seems designed to run only Windows. The v131 I'm using now works perfectly (and came with Ubuntu preinstalled). Having a version that comes preinstalled with Linux is a good indicator the machine will work properly with it.
The specs on the Vostro 1440 don't seem much different than the Inspiron 1420N I bought with Ubuntu 5 years ago.
The most common problem is the battery conking out after a year or so, and then the replacement choice is either a ridiculously expensive one from Dell (which costs a third of the laptop itself!) or a cheap Chinese gamble from ebay. The screen hinges also break sooner than later.
Still, I think on the cheaper end, Dell laptops are better than Acer and Toshiba. Their keyboards are not amazing but at least they don't try to do any cute stunts with them. The Vostro is surprisingly well built.
Shame the Ubuntu version is not available in the UK (or maybe I just failed their website easter egg hunt).
I don't think they are available in Brazil either and, in any case, the keyboard layout is not to my taste.
We're doing the Thinkpads because the keyboards are by far the best and the build very solid. The X1 is the closest to an ultrabook we could offer.
Here's the fix: http://askubuntu.com/questions/125428/grub-complains-of-no-s...
It's ironic that the top voted comment in this thread is about how wonderful Ubuntu is, followed by how we no longer need "ops" for linux, while further down we have problems like this bootloader update failure that no normal user could surmount.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/668415/comments/2
There are some unofficial plugins which allow you to do it, but that will break future bug updates.
I understand the need for a clear vision, but I have no idea why they cannot (and refuse to) allow a configuration option for this. Even if it's a line in a config file.
I miss the NeXT feel of having it on the right.