[Skybird]

This is completly new territory for me: are there any laptops, game-performance compatible, that are optimised or designed to be used with Linux in the first? And have no Microsoft stuff pre-installed? Any brand to look for, any roduct-line? - (I sit in Germany).

Also, my well-proven, good-quality printer Canon iPixma 5200 does not like Linux, because Canon does not like Linux. Drivers I changed, but the one driver has okay picture quality and lousy text print, the other prints text well but you can forget images with it. Any company, brand, product line to look out for that is optimised for Linux (but works with W7 as well if wanted), and that has the option to use cheaper third party ink cartridges?

Printing is one of the few things were Linux with my current hardware really lets me down. My old scanner, also a Canon model (some 8400 name), is not much liked by Linux, too. Canon is said to run an explicit business policy to not support Linux and line up with Microsoft's policies that way. Unfortunately, I feel the sting from that. Which is a shame, both devices are superb quality for the buck. A combined printer-scanner solution running reliable under Linux with good printing results and high resolution scanning (photo negatives) would be welcomed, too.