SLED & R61 - A No-Go

[chagwood]

I purchased my R61 about two weeks ago. Falling short by a few weeks for the official R61/SLED release.

I'd like to have a Lenovo supported version of SLED 10.1 on my thinkpad.

I installed SLED 10.1 myself and was very impressed. I haven't used SuSE since it's 9.x days. I am not new to linux so please don't get the idea that i'm someone who knows nothing about computers and/or linux.

The one big thing that SLED has going for it is it's support and stability. That really draws me to SLED. The $50/year pricetag is well worth it IF the operating system would actually work out of the box (or after a few updates from zen-updater)

I don't want to have to tredge through forums and google looking for solutions to get my hardware working in SLED.

Here is my current configuration:

Thinkpad R61 7743
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.2GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)
Windows XP Professional
14.1" WXGA Display
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
100GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Intel Turbo Memory 1GB
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Enhanced
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)
6 cell Li-Ion Battery

Out of the box the Intel 4965AGN isn't reconized, the sound doesn't work, and the Quadro 140M wasn't reconized properly.

I wasn't able to get the recommended display resolution and desktop effects working until I downloaded/installed a nvidia driver myself. The nvidia/ati drivers supplied from Novell when you register didn't do anything.

Installation was a breeze. But the 3 hardware problems doesn't thrill me to totally switch to SLED (which I'd like to do)

I don't have the time these days to tinker with the OS like I used to. I am a big supporter of the open source movement, but I don't want to have to make things work myself.

So here are my questions..

Will lenovo make a CD-image available for purchase/download so that I can have an official version of SLED 10.1 that is supported by Lenovo?

Will the ThinkVantage utilities be available for the R61? (I've seen them available for the T60's. But not the R61 yet). I'd like the power utilities and being able to hibernate/suspend without crashing the system.

Will I be able to have SLED working on my R61 anytime soon? Or am I just SOL since I purchased before the official release.

I've seen certifications stating that SLED works on the R61. Why isn't it working for me?
- Linux Compatibility Test Report for ThinkPad R61 8933-22U
- Lenovo ThinkPad R61