Recently I've been thinking about buying a laptop. I've been thinking about an Apple 17" G4 Powerbook but I figure that's just a little to far from the flock... ie, I'd have to find replacements for too much software I currently use. For serious stuff I currently use Linux (Fedora Core 1) and it's associated apps. For "play" I use Windows XP. On XP I mainly use things like DVD Decrypter, PowerDVD, etc. Media playback and storage utils basically. Occasionally I play some Windows games but I'd be happy enough with just my consoles for that. There are some things about buying a laptop that concern me. One is unsupported hardware in Linux. The others are screen size (I use a 21" CRT at the moment) and speed (current PC's is a 2.6Ghz P4s). Anyone here have any suggestions regarding desktop replacement Laptops that have very good hardware support on Linux? Regards -- Oliver Jones » Director » oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 Deeper Design Limited » +64 (7) 377 3328 » www.deeperdesign.com
Anyone here have any suggestions regarding desktop replacement Laptops that have very good hardware support on Linux?
No-one ever got fired for buying IBM. Check out the Thinkpad T42p for a serious piece of (carryable) grunt. Strictly speaking, the A series are desktop replacements. Craig
Oliver Jones wrote:
Anyone here have any suggestions regarding desktop replacement Laptops that have very good hardware support on Linux?
FWIW I have a compaq presario 2132. I wouldn't say it has good hardware support but I got it working. Mandrake 9.2 installed and ran on it reasonably smoothly out of the box, except for having to disable pcmcia. I had to build the dri graphics driver from cvs to get 3d accel and a custom kernel to get the power management stuff going. It has a connexant modem that I believe I could get going if I needed but haven't bothered since I don't need it. g -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz
At 13:13 25/08/2004, Glenn Ramsey wrote:
FWIW I have a compaq presario 2132. I wouldn't say it has good hardware support but I got it working.
Personally I'd avoid Compaq laptops, I've seen far to many weird hardware issues with them. Also very picky when it comes to RAM. Had one here at work recently that didn't even like Kingston RAM. As far as a 17" Powerbook goes, it will easily do all the "play" things you mentioned using Windows XP for, but yeah, it's different software and it will take some time sampling those to find ones that work exactly how you want. That said, the MacOS X version of VLC is very nice and will handle half of what you want. I can't comment on what Linux support is like on the 17" G4 but I would expect Yellow Dog Linux to support the currently shipping Macs out of the box. Matt
Personally I'd avoid Compaq laptops, I've seen far to many weird hardware issues with them. Also very picky when it comes to RAM. Had one here at work recently that didn't even like Kingston RAM.
As an aside, we had problems with Kingston RAM in an IBM Thinkpad that was tracked down to "the RAM has a conductive surface, and the flap of the case that the RAM sits under does too." When you pushed down on the computer, it would sometimes conduct and cause lockups. You could either put something nonconductive between the RAM and the case, or you could use IBM RAM. IBM don't warrant non-IBM RAM in their machines (I assume Compaq are the same.) Craig
participants (4)
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Craig Box -
Glenn Ramsey -
Matthew Browne -
Oliver Jones