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Forgot to mention that there are quadcore laptops on the market.
A CNET NEWS article: "Xtreme Notebooks has released the first quad-core laptop in the U.S. With no mobile quad-core parts in existence, the Xtreme 917V Accelerator turns to desktop CPUs, giving you a choice between the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and the Q6700. Pricing starts at $3,359."

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It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the juice of Arabica that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning.

My first question was, "Is this really worthwhile?" I mean, Xtreme Notebooks has quad core laptops for about half the price of this -- and for that much money, you can get just as good of a video card, 4GB ram, and some beastly hard-drives, too. So what are they charging for? A fancy case-mod?

No-OS, Computers without Operating System (for those who want to install their own Operating System):

  http://www.abestpc.com/laptop.htm Laptops

  http://www.adamant.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.avadirect.com/ Desktops Laptops
  http://www.com4.nl/ Desktops
  http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.goldenelectronics.co.uk/ Desktops
  http://www.hypersonic-pc.com/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.ion-technologies.com/ Laptops
  http://store.madtux.org/ Desktops/

  http://www.laptopchoice.com.au/ Laptops
  http://www.mtechlaptops.com/ Laptops

  http://www.mwave.com/ Laptops
  http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/ Desktops Laptops

  http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/ Laptops
  http://www.powernotebooks.com/ Laptops

  http://www.rjtech.com/ Laptops
  http://www.topmicrousa.com/laptops-notebooks.html Laptops

  http://www.unitedmicro.com/ Desktops Laptops
  http://xnbs.com/ Laptops

  http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/ Laptops
  http://www.zepto.com/ Laptops
 
  http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/

I don't know... this one looks decent (courtesy of PriceWatch)

http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/index.php?section=c atagory&include_type=14_inch

It's an AMD64-3700 w/a Radeon 9700

Have you tried places like this one?

http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/

You can get an Athlon 64 3700+ with 2GB of memory, a 128MB Radeon 9700 Pro and 15.4" display for $1800. No OS.

Pro-Star also seems to be taking this path.
http://xtremenotebooks.com/index.php?section=specs &model_id=680

Damn, now this means my 8834 isn't the best laptop anymore.

1. A full desktop replacement with little/no need for battery
2. A portable desktop replacement, to simply "plug in" wherever you are, but some battery to allow for standby
3. Strong battery, with adequate processor power for usage on the go (centrino/ibook)
4. Full battery-powered operation, with little/no usage while "plugged in", and minimal processor power

Now, since #2 and #3 are the "sweet spot" (due to business usage), and #1 can be fulfilled by a #2 class laptop, and #4 is pretty much a high-end PDA/palmtop, that leaves little room to have a #3 that can fulfill roles of both #2 and #4. Thus, a strong #2 is the clear "sweet spot" of functionality, since it can play all the roles (esp. since people who are serious about battery life carry spares).

You should realize though that most of these companies purchase the hardware from companies like Sager (Linux forum) and Compal, and those companies also supply the big-name guys like Compaq, HP, Dell, and Toshiba. So when you find some no-name laptop, it is usually equivalent to some branded laptop that never touched the hands of HP/Compaq/Toshiba/Dell. (And figuring out exactly *which* brand-name laptop it is equivalent to can be extremely difficult) Some of the below claim to manufacture their own notebooks, but what this means is that they buy them from Saeger/Compal or someone else, and put in a hard drive/CPU/RAM, which is why you will find identical looking cases at several of these vendors.

If you find a HP/Compaq/Toshiba/Dell/IBM/Sony branded laptop that has linux preinstalled, it means that the vendor paid for windows and removed it. I do not list them below because I think this is a despicable and deceptive practice. These manufacturers do not (yet) sell no-os or linux laptops. (But please, call them and ask!! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!) Also if you order a no-OS laptop, please request linux to be installed anyway, and tell them you'll pay for it! Let them know there is demand!

1. Linux-preinstalled laptops
2. ASA Computers
3. ASLab (Linux Forum)
4. American Computer
5. Cyclox
6. Kachina Tech (positively ancient laptops -- K6 and PII)
7. QLI Tech
8. Workstation 2000

1. No-os laptops
2. ARM Computer
3. Chem USA
4. Mtech Laptops (these guys outright lied to me about what they could deliver, in order to get my order, were not able to deliver the laptop, and I had to cancel my order -- which took 3 months to process and they kept $5 for the priviledge -- do not do business with them)
5. PC Torque
6. Power Notebooks (very good customer service according to Reseller Ratings) (Linux forum)
7. Xtreme Notebooks

-- Bob

(Can anyone comment on the quality?)

Which reminds me that this week I realized that the coming commoditization of the laptop market is approaching very quickly. Check this $799 laptop out. Apple has done very well and remained competitive in the laptop market, but not for long now!