Regular Slashdot readers know from a previous story that they can get a cheap desktop with Mandrake, Lycoris, or Lindows pre-installed from Wal-Mart.com, and the more savvy readers might know about Linux desktops from Pogo Linux or Penguin Computing. But, if you wanted a laptop with Linux pre-installed I only knew of Emperor Linux and their cheapest laptops are about $2000.00, not what your average fiscally-minded geek has in mind. Now, PC Club, who operates retail stores primarily in the Western United States, is offering Red-Hat pre-installed on a laptop that starts at $899. It is rare to hear of a physical retailer where you could walk in and play with a laptop with Red Hat on it and then take it home. In doing research for this, I also found Los Alamos Computers, who will pre-install Debian, Slackware, Mandrake, SuSE, or Red Hat on a Laptop that starts under $1000! They also will deliver your computer running the file-system of your choice, and pre-install Apache and Samba if you request it. Wow! I also found Qli Linux willing to install all of the above, plus Gentoo or Xandros on their laptops. Things seem to be getting better for those who’d like to buy mobile hardware with Linux on it already ready-to-go. I’d be pleased to hear of other low-cost laptops with Linux pre-installed like those from Los Alamos Computers and Qli. While PC Club offers me a local retailer, I get the impression that these other guys are Linux experts and so the service down the road will be much more enjoyable. (This was a Slashdot submission, but they rarely post my stories. They have selected each of these in the past though.)
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