Ask HN: is anyone solving pg's #4 (Outsource IT) for laptops?

Everyone likes FreeBSD on the server. I also like it for my laptop. I thought for a while I was the only one.

My laptop just dies on startx now...

As a student, there used to be no opportunity cost to re-configuring my workstation. It was kind of the job. Then the opportunity cost slowly crept up over the years, until, well, I cannot take two billable days to play and rebuild. It really will be cheaper to buy an new laptop.

Now, I could do what everyone else seems to be doing, and buy a Macbook Air.

But then I would not be running FreeBSD anymore. At least not the FreeBSD I know and love.

So, I thought of two comments from pg

  1. if you are going to build the next google, 
  you want to build the search engine that the  
  top 10,000 hackers use.

  2. Solve idea #4 - outsource IT

  You can take practically anything users still 
  depend on IT departments for and base a startup 
  on it, and you will have the enormous force of 
  their present dissatisfaction pushing you  
  forward.

What I am asking is - is there anyone building (or just certifying) laptops for the top 10,000 hackers, such that buying a laptop from them is almost a guarantee that I will suffer no more hardware issues than I would with a mac.

I will pay a premium not to sit in front of a black screen with client deadlines approaching. Really a big premium.

Can I outsource my hardware support to them? If they succeed I can see them being well placed to build the development machines for the next 100,000 (and me somewhere below that). And then build the next iPad.

I am not claiming to be a top 10,000 hacker, nor any use to the BSD community, but if these people exist and are certifying laptops / fixing up the drivers they find are spotty, please let me know.

http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html