[lug] Linux on Laptops

[jafo at tummy.com]

On Tue, May 01, 2001 at 02:45:20PM -0600, Gary D Plewes wrote:
>I am considering buying a laptop and I wish to run Linux on it. I was

I had pretty good luck with the IBM ThinkPad 240s that we used.  They
aren't available new though, but you can find them used on ebay for under a
grand.  The "240X" doesn't have a very well supported graphics chip-set.
The 240s are the mini-laptop, under 4 pounds, but no CD.  I used one as my
primary box for 18 months, and was quite happy with it.

IBM is supposedly shipping Caldera on the T21, which is a full-feature
laptop that weighs only 5 pounds.  All the features of the ones that weigh
8 pounds, but less weight.  I wonder what exactly they're doing to get this
Linux support though.  I just recently bought one, and I must say that I'm
somewhat disappointed in it.

The S3 video chipset has problems with the latest XFree driver (won't play
video or anything with SDL at all, just hangs the apps unless you turn off
acceleration, and you can't ever go back to a VT once you've gotten in X).
Plus, the battery life is fairly pathetic -- just over 2 hours with the
display turned all the way down, under if you turn it up.  With the second
battery installed, it's around 5.  I haven't found any obvious APM settings
that I have wrong.

Oh, and the exhaust for the CPU fan is on the left hand side of the unit,
if you do a compile with the thing actually sitting on your lap, it'll cook
your leg.

The display is nice though.  14.4" 1440x1050.  The audio seems to be
supported.

Kevin has a Dell which has basically the same parameters as the T21, but is
a couple of pounds heavier.  It's also got a couple of hours battery life,
and is about a grand (30%) less expensive.

Eric Raymond had a ThinkPad X20 (the new version of the 240) and he was
pretty happy with it.  It's a little bigger, has a 1024x768 12.5" display,
and runs between $1k and $2.5k.  They use the same chipset as my T21, but I
think that running at the lower resolutions the driver is fine.

>if possible proprietary hardware such as built in modems sound cards

The Lucent WinModems are mostly what you're going to find in a laptop, and
they're actually quite nice.  I think they're probably better than just
about any modem out there today, and with the new third-party driver they
seem to work fine with newer kernels.

I'd recommend using the built-in modem for home, and getting a PCMCIA card
for the office.  Or, get a wireless card, and set up an AP at home and at
the office.  I know they have APs with built in ethernet routers for
talking to DSL modems, maybe they have some for talking to analog modems.

Wireless is fantastic.

Sean
-- 
 Give me immortality or give me death!
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python