At $3K+, Lenovo's Linux-laden laptop debuts

IDG New Service's Steven Schwanker reports:

Lenovo Group announced on Tuesday the availability of the ThinkPad T60p, its first laptop computer preloaded with the Linux operating system.....The new ThinkPad will use Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10....The suggested retail price for the 14-inch model is $3,099 and $3,199 for the 15-inch.

I still think it's time for the industry to move on from such expensive notebook computers.  I recently gave Fujitsu a hard time for the same thing (see $3K for Fujitsu's new notebook? Gimme a break!). That said, part of the deal here with Linux on Lenovo's notebooks is that you get the same great driver download support that Thinkpads are known for with Windows (I routinely check for new drivers for my Thinkpad and they're easy to find on Lenovo's Web site). Why is this important? Notebooks in particular are pretty sensitive to the driver issue when it comes to Linux.

For most notebooks, there's almost always better support for Windows and if you've take it upon yourself to load Linux onto your laptop, then you're often on your own when it comes to getting all the hardware properly "driven" given that native Linux drivers are often not available from the notebook or component manufacturers.  Checking Lenovo's Web site, they have new drivers for the T60p that are specifically for Linux, some of which are dated yesterday and today including that all important one for power management.