On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:14:58 +0000 Mike Williams wrote: > Hey all, > > I need a laptop. But the requirements are slightly odd. > This is for a machine to stay in our colo cage for use as a barcode > scanner, serial interface, basic GUI, and ssh server management > console, etc. It needs to have USB for an eToken, PS2 for a barcode > scanner, serial to manage PDUs KVM etc, on-board ethernet, and not be > flimsy, big, or expensive. > > Obviously we can easily get a USB to serial adapter, meaning we'd > need at least 2 USB ports, but a PS2 keyboard port seems a rarity > now-a-days. > > Battery life isn't really important. Doesn't need to be a properly > ruggadized, just sturdy. 15" or so screen, with a decent resolution > to fit webpages and OO documents etc, 17" is too big. 512-1G of ram, > so-so CPU (this P4M 1.8 I'm using is way more than powerful enough). > > Can anyone recommend a laptop that does all these things, runs Linux > happily (Gentoo of course), and isn't a Thinkpad (I was forced to use > one a few years ago, and hated it).
Have you thought about a PS/2 to USB adapter? I'm presently using a PS/2 keyboard _and_ a PS/2 mouse connected to a single USB port (with a "Y" adapter -- dual PS/2 inputs and USB output). Also a USB hub might work to connect multiple USB devices to a single port. HTH, David -- gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org mailing list
