Ideal Hardware for GNU/Linux Laptop

If you want to push the freedom exigence as far as possible, you would also want a coreboot, U-Boot or PMON BIOS. The best (only?) option, in this case, is RMS's laptop: a Lemote YeeLoong, using PMON. It is however rather small (either 8.9'' or 10'') and underpowered, but very cheap. Check out "Lemote linux PC and Linux laptops"

When it comes to choosing a video card, go Intel. A Free (as in Freedom) driver AND firmware and you will have 3D acceleration.

interesting CPUs to look at are the Allwinner A10 and A20. The entire boot process (outside of true ROM on the CPU itself) can be performed with a maintained and developing fork of u-boot, which is fully-free.

Make Play Live's Improv is a modular enclosed pluggable motherboard designed to someday fit into various hardware, such as tablets, laptops, and entertainment systems. The project borrows from the PCMCIA standard, but uses different pin configurations. They currently offer an A20 model. A laptop may be in the works if the project as a whole is successful.

Note: The "FEL" recovery mode for these chips is generally accessible through proprietary software, but it seems as if using usb-boot from sunxi-tools may take care of any need for that. There are important hardware functions being reverse-engineered, such as the popular Mali 400 GPU by the lima driver people, and the CedarX A/V decoder.

Even if Make Play Live doesn't create a netbook/laptop, the A20 should be a good choice in one, as the Lemote Yeeloong approaches extinction. :-)

Gluglug and other RYF vendors sell laptops running LibreBoot, a free software, microcode-free bios replacement. LibreBoot supports hardware on which it is possible to remove the Intel Management Engine, a small proprietary operating system on modern Intel machines that has been the attack vector of major security exploits.

There is some initial work toward creating a free software replacement for embedded controller firmware, but is apparently not ready for use. SSDs, hard drives and other components unfortunately contain non-free software as well. Systems with the most modern AMD and Intel processors currently cannot be made as freedom respecting as LibreBoot-supported hardware.

It is currently necessary to depend upon non-free software if you want to use a laptop. Libreboot does greatly reduce the amount of critical non-free software required to use laptops, desktops and servers.