[lug] Laptops again

[Nate Duehr]

On Thu, Sep 14, 2000 at 11:58:04AM -0500, Michael J. Hammel wrote:
> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/

I just want to ditto what Michael and other have said.  The site above
is INVALUABLE in figuring out whether or not you might want a particular
laptop for use with Linux.

In addition, keep in mind other OS's you may want to use (Free/OpenBSD
come to mind) with their even more strict hardware limitations.  In most
cases, if you can get BSD running on it, you'll definitely be able to
get Linux running on it, but not vice-versa.  So dig through some BSD
laptop web pages and if you see a laptop that you like after doing some
shopping, you're probably in good shape.

I've always had good luck with Toshibas.  Some people don't like the
rubber eraser mouse joystick thing, but I hate hitting my thumbs on the
touchpad-equipped laptops when reaching for the spacebar.

I've had or used Linux successfully running on a Toshiba Satellite 
(forget which model), Toshiba Portege' 3015 (cheaper than the Sony VAIO 
and just as small), Toshiba 8000, and Toshiba 8100.

And if you really don't want to deal with it, check out tuxtops.com, I
think they still sell machines pre-loaded and tested.  However, they're
not very good on pricing.

The super-light Toshiba Portege' 3015 (and others like it with faster
processors... this thing's a couple years old) is wonderful for travel.

I'd love to get the USB CD-RW drive working under Linux, but dual-boot
let's me burn on the road if I want from Windows using Adaptec EZ-CD
Creator.  The heavy clunky Toshiba 8000 from work is a dog to carry
around, but has a gorgeous screen and is much easier on my eyes for long
periods.  It also has mediocre stereo sound from speakers if wanted,
where to get stereo sound from the Portege', you have to add earbuds
(which really isn't a problem for me, but some might be interested...).

The 8100 I've played with is a friend's who has run Linux and FreeBSD
successfully on that hardware.  FreeBSD required an X compile for the
video card to be supported... wheeee...

Consider one other thing when you're shopping... see how QUIET the silly
thing is.  The Portege' is dead-quiet, even with the fan running.  The
8000 is a noisy fan-blowing, beast that I can't comfortably use in a
quiet meeting or in bed for finishing up last minute e-mail answers,
while my wife snoozes... if you put it in ultra-low power consumption
mode, at least the fans turn off, but it's performance becomes unusually
slow if you do that.

Be careful when you purchase your PCMCIA network card also.  SOME cards
are not supported.  (I have an Intel CardBus 10/100 card from work that
probably still isn't supported, but the card runs fine in WinNT.  Ugh.)

Stick to regular old 10 or 10/100 cards from 3com and you'll be fine.
Stay away from multi-function cards.  They're just a waste of power
anyway... plug in only cards you need to use.

-- 
Nate Duehr <nate at natetech.com>

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