1. Which Laptop Should I Get?

Before buying your laptop you should refer to the excellent Linux On Laptops web site, where you will find a list of laptop manufacturers and other user's experiences with specific models from those manufacturers.

Laptops from the following manufacturers, presented in no particular order, are known to work with Mandriva Linux: HP, Dell, Lenovo/IBM, Maxdata, Sony, Asus, Toshiba, Aopen.

[Note] ACER Laptops

ACER laptops have BIOS compatibility problems with ACPI. You might be able to use your ACER laptop without problems, provided you update its BIOS to the latest version available.