[PLUG] Trying to buy a new laptop (sigh)

[John Jason Jordan]

So at the Clinic yesterday a fine fellow brought in a brand new
Zareason laptop. Very impressive machine. Comes with Ubuntu (among
other options) pre-installed, which it boots in 15 seconds. My appetite
whetted, I checked their website and they offer what I want, except
that I really must have a docking station, and they offer none. A phone
call today confirmed that there will never be a docking station for any
of their computers. Crossed Zareason off my list. But I'm still
shopping.

Why do I want a docking station? Because I have three USB 2.0 devices
and one USB 3.0 device that I want attached at all times when at home,
plus an ethernet cable. The USB and ethernet ports on every laptop I
have ever seen are on the sides, meaning I would have five cables strung
down the sides of the computer interfering with the papers I have on
the left side and the mouse on the right. This is not acceptable.

There exist universal docking stations, but they connect via a USB 3.0
cable, so I still have one cable down the side of the computer, plus
they do not power the computer.

I am spoiled by the mini-dock that I use with my Thinkpad T61. And if I
buy a new Thinkpad I can get a similar docking station for it. My first
question here is: Are there other laptop manufacturers out there who
offer a real docking station other than Lenovo? 

My second question is: Are there dealers in Portland who sell high end
laptops, e.g., with blue-ray burners, 512 GB SSD drives, Intel i7 CPUs,
and stuff that will probably cost me ~$2000 or more? I bought my
Thinkpad from a company downtown close to PSU, on Clay or Jefferson
west of the freeway, but they no longer sell Thinpads. Are there any
real Thinkpad dealers in town, i.e., not the big box stores?