[lug] new laptop

[Nate Duehr]

Ted Logan wrote:
> On 3/29/06, Jason Davis <mohadib at openactive.org> wrote:
>> Damn... any thoughts on Asus laptops? Can anyone recommend
>> a laptop or laptop distributor that is decent.

Some people seem to like them.  I think they're too cheaply built... too 
much plastic.

> Around these parts, you'll find plenty of Thinkpad fans. They're not
> cheap, but they're sturdy, reliable, and run Linux well. I got an
> older T21 off eBay a year ago and have loved it ever since.

Agreed.  IBM, er.. um.. Lenovo makes nice gear.  With real metal hinges 
that are large enough you can actually see they're overbuilt.

New ones can be a bit too much $ for what they are, performance-wise, 
though.  At Lenovo's pricing, I'd buy a Mac.  But the company machine is 
an IBM/Lenovo, and it just purrs along.

IBM is also kind enough to provide a number of extra goodies if you 
happen to be stuck in Windows-land working from time to time:

- nicely done automatic network roaming app that has all the various 
wireless types I can think of, including odd-ball authentication schemes 
like Cisco LEAP or EAP-FAST, that some companies use -- never seen any 
other laptop vendor provide a more comprensive wired/wireless 
auto-roaming tool

- the "flylight" built-in LED above the LCD display that lights up the 
keyboard in the dark (Mac's Powerbook backlit keyboard is better, but 
IBM's works too)

- fingerprint reader (kinda interesting)

- better power management tools than Windows has built-in

- their "Active Protection System" -- the little acceleration sensors 
that stop drive access if the laptop is seriously jarred or dropped and 
accelerating toward the floor at a good clip

- Great app for switching screen res, dropping your desktop background 
temporarily (presentations), setting up multiple screens when docked, etc

- (my favorite) a very good drive binary imager that creates boot CD's 
and image CD's to back up the entire hard disk (haven't had a chance to 
see how well this works with grabbing other partitions -- like your 
Linux partition -- or if it even can, but it's flawless for a 
disaster-recovery plan for the laptop drive under Windows

- And my final one -- has both touchpad AND joystick nubby thing.  I got 
used to the joystick nubby eraser thing way back when Toshiba laptops 
all had them, and like not having to move my fingers off the keyboard 
home row to do a little mouse excursion around the screen!

> --
> Ted Logan
> Finally-employed Engineer

CONGRATS!

IBM/Lenovo laptop fan-boy, have had two of them and a couple of Toshiba 
machines, a Dell, and a Micron in my possession either as mine or 
company hardware over the last many years... IBM machines seem to fit 
the "darn near indestructible" bill nicely and also tend to run Linux 
just fine... R31 for the first one here, T43 for the second.  Haven't 
put Linux on the T43 yet.

Nate