help me find a laptop to meet my specs

[Soybomb]

So I want a new laptop and am having trouble finding exactly what I want so if you're familiar with something that fits almost everywhere, please point it out to me

Budget: $1500 or less
cpu: prefer pentium m for battery life but open to others if I can't find what i want
screen: must be 15" or larger and nice, I want a really crisp and at least somewhat large lcd
I would like for it to have a powered/6pin firewire port but that doesn't seem common.
I would prefer something with an ibm style pointer-stick but I guess I'll adapt to something without.
Onboard gigabit ethernet is a perk but not required.
built in wireless and sound thats linux/freebsd compatible is strongly prefered but even that seems kinda like a gamle

Know anything that might be close? The dell inspiron8600 is a strong contender but I have some concern over its build quality. Experience? Thoughts?

 

[ai42]

I would like for it to have a powered/6pin firewire port but that doesn't seem common.

Are there any outside Apple laptops?

Perhaps Latitude D600 or D800? I know the D600 dosen't have the 15" screen but with SXGA+ screen why do you need a 15" screen?!

 

[squirrel dog]

Soy , thats the one product that I would want to buy after a whole lot of research,maybe even buy local and the reason why is the trouble rate for laptops in general . Sure there are many who have bought online and had great success.Also there are many who have spent more time shipping their laptop back and forth as those who are actually using one.Me,I would try bb/comp/om/od and look and see in my own hands.You also might not want to over look a local shop.At least you will have a place to take it back if there is a problem.Good luck and post back your findings.I am headed in that same direction.To me the ibm's and the toshibas look good.I have a hd toshiba tv and I am impressed.

 

[Soybomb]

ai42: nope actually haven't seen it on anything but an apple yet....oddly enough i only want it to charge my ipod on the go without having to carry the charger......15" is small........i'd have that 17" toshiba if i could afford it, i want a lot of stuff on the screen but I still don't want it to be small

squirreldog: Actually I have a thinkpad 600e that needs retiring now and I don't think I'd buy an ibm again. It seems sturdy but the prices are so much higher than most others but the main thing is the batter. The 600 series is notorious for having a battery problem where the batteries just die and quit accepting a charge in a really short period of time. There was even a slashdot thing on it not too long ago. IBM never acknowledged the problem or tried to do anything to correct it. If I pay that much for a laptop I want a company that will stand behind it.

The writeups for putting linux on the 8600 make me cringe....I can't bear to think what freebsd must be like