[ltp] Self-install or commercial install?

[Haines Brown]

I've never used a laptop, and when I read of all the difficulties
getting things to work on a Thinkpad, I get paranoid. I need some
general advice.

I believe the laptop I'll get will be the X61s, and I definitely want
to install on it some version of debian, probably sidux. Any advice as
to hardware options when I buy the x61s would be much appreciated. I
don't make demands on a machine (gaming, major compiling), but I look
for reliability and a snappy responsiveness. For the X61s I would get
the 8-cell battery and expect to rely on WiFi to SSH to my real
machine at home. I'm concerned about the best choice of WiFi options.

Should I do the installation myself (I've many years experience with
Debian, but am also a bull in the China shop who often gets himself
into trouble) or have it done commercially? I'm fairly comfortable
with installation, configuration and tinkering, but am no expert. On
the other hand, I don't mind paying a reasonable premium to have a
commercial installation as long as all systems are tested and working
properly before delivery.

On the commercial side, I don't see any advertisements that suggest a
company that would be willing to put sidux on an x61s, with the
possible exception of Emperor Linux. Based on reviewing the feedback
on line, I hesitate to go to it. Is EL a wise choice; are there
commercial alternatives to it?

Or should I roll my own installation? (which I would rather enjoy, as
long as things work out reasonably well). Since the x61s lacks an
optical drive, I'd put the ISO on a USB-key and install with it. I
don't plan to install any desktop manager or OpenOffice, etc., but
rely primarily on icewm, emacs, mutt, mc. 

Haines Brown