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Apple-Quality Intel Laptops?
arashiakari asks: "I have to buy a new laptop soon and I am having trouble settling on a brand or model except one that I cannot use. Apple's iBook laptop is beautiful, functional, lightweight, and made of high quality materials. I would buy one today except that I am a professional programmer and MUST use the same platform my compiler targets: Intel. So far each Intel-based laptop I have looked at is both grossly over-decorated (Compaq, Toshiba) and made of cheap flimsy materials (Dell), or has the combined problem of being overpriced and under-powered - with external bays for everything (Sony). IBM is expensive, but they are as close as I've found to "right" ... with Toshiba in second place. It seems like Intel-based laptops are either hot ugly tanks or oversized PDAs, there seems to be a scarcity of balanced well-thought-out and produced machines. Does the Slashdot have any suggestions?"
Get a job developing for macs.
Problem solved.
Well, cripes. My cheap Toshiba 486 is a Beowulf Cluster, if I just plug it into that big bunch of machines over there in the next room.
If someone wants a laptop for travel, it's likely they won't want to plug in external widgets for basic functionality like a pointing device.
We got rid of the guy where I work who insisted on using a Mac on his desktop. Because, while that alone really wasn't an issue, it was a symptom of a contrarian crank, who was never going to be easy for anybody to work with.
Think Different indeed.
After all, just like the Slashdot ad says, Oracle makes laptops unbreakable.