[olug] Linux Laptop v/s. Apple Powermac

[Robert A. Jacobs]

Okay...so, yesterday I find out my wife is pregnant with twins!  We knew
she was pregnant...just not THIS pregnant.  Upside:  raising two more
geeks.  Downside:  Losing the home-office to make room for TWO of every
conceivable infant artifact out there.

Upside:  I pretty much get to replace my "office" with a mobile office
-- I'm now in the market for a laptop and wireless SOHO solution.

What to do?  Apple's Powermac looks really awesome but its very
expensive...would love to have one but not sure its "worth" it when I
could purchase an Intel-based laptop for a lot less and install Debian
on it.

So, a few questions to all of you out there that probably have a lot
more experience with these issues than I:

POWERBOOK QUESTIONS

1.  Does Apple's "AirPort" wireless solution play well with non-Apple
base stations?  

Since I'm losing the office, I'll probably convert everything to
wireless -- wife's computer is an Intel machine running Windows 2000 --
so, I assume, I'll need a wireless network card and basestation that are
compatible with Wintel platforms.  Assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that
Apple's AirPort cards are Apple exclusive.

2.  I realize that MHz is not a true indication of processing power and
that Apple technology tends to be higher quality but how do the various
Apple processors compare to Intel/AMD processors?

3.  Having never used any of the BSD's, what is their application
packaging system and how does it compare to the various packaging
systems out there?  If you've got Debian experience, how does it compare
to Debian?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1.  What should I be looking at/for?  More importantly:  what should I 
    avoid?

    This laptop will likely become my main computer.  I'm not a computer
game player (I've got a PlayStation 2 for that) but I am a Java/J2EE
Developer so I'll likely be running web and application server software
to support my developement efforts.

    Things I know I want for sure:  

	* A Wireless solution that is compatible with wintel wireless
          solutions

        * A 15" screen.  Probably will not go the 17" route --
          doubt I can afford one of those.

        * If I go with something other than the Powerbook, the laptop
          should be Linux compatible. 

	* A minimum of 512M RAM.  My current, non-laptop home system has
          1 GB DDR RAM - way overkill at the moment but purchased with 
          an eye towards the future.

        * A solution that will likely meet my needs for at least 3
          years.  If you know of something on the horizon that would 
          affect my purchase decision, I'd love to hear about it.  

	  I'm not a hardware guy; I don't feel like I need the latest
          gadget just because it is available.  I typically purchase new
          components for my computer only when I need them (the last 
          hardware I bought was over a year and a half ago) and then I
          favor quality over "gee whiz".  I try to get the most I can
          out of my systems before I replace them.

          This laptop purchase is actually an "out-of-cycle" purchase 
          for me...  

    Things I would REALLY prefer:

	* No Microsoft Tax!

        * To support businesses local to Omaha (mail me off-list if you
          are a local business owner and think you can help me out).

        * To support small businesses (if no locals are available).

2.  Anyone got references to places dealing in Linux Laptops? Places to 
    avoid?

3.  Budget is not an issue yet.  I haven't decided what I want to spend
    because, frankly, I don't have enough information to go on.  

4.  Anyone had luck with Ebay/Auction sites and this type of purchase?

Thanks for the input, guys/gals.

rob