I have been watching the Linux laptop market for a while now. I used Linux on a Dell for over six years and was reasonably happy until I discovered EVDO. There simply wasn’t good support for the cards so I switched to Mac OS X.
I got a little excited over the OLPC very cool but limited. Then the Asus EEE was released and that too seemed to be promising but a little limited. Now it looks like Elonex is planning on launching a sub-£99 (about US$195) called the Elonex One with some very cool features including a detachable screen that can be used as a tablet though it’s unclear whether the screen is a touchscreen or includes some other input mechanism. The target audience is education since the performance and hardware is somewhat antiquated by today’s standards.
I personally am holding out for the release of the Lenovo x300 which is supposed to rival the Macbook Air with a small form factor, SD drive, and included DVD drive. I also have high hopes that Lenovo will offer a Linux option as they have with other models. Here’s the latest from their blog. It does look promising but also a little pricey. Then again I always seem to pay top dollar for my laptop.
For more Mark Hinkle, visit his Socialized Software blog.