This may be of interest to some of the more seasoned folks, too. I recently got a new laptop - splashed out and got an Alienware Area-51M 7700. It has a P4 3.4GHz, SGXA 17" widescreen, 2GB DDR2 PC4200 RAM, nVidia GeForce 6800FXGO w/256MB DDR3, 80GB hard drive (I opted for a single drive, but it can take dual), dual optical drives, and the integrated Intel 5.1 sound. The thing's a monster (and I also got a wheeled case to lug it around - it's a full desktop replacement and my shoulders like the wheels a LOT!! ;))
Just for the heck of it (as I'd really wanted to end up with a system that could run Linux as well as the requisite Wintel) I burned the ISO's for Fedora Core 4 and ran the install (I partitioned the drive the way I wanted it, first). Glory be to god, if it didn't install beautifully, no problems at all!! Now, there IS newer hardware out there, of course. But I'm thinking my specs were pretty darn cutting edge when Core 4 came out 6mos ago! So yikes, I was thrilled that it a) succeeded at all, and b) went so incredibly smoothly - especially after all the doom & gloom I'd been reading about laptop installs. I've been playing / tinkering with it ever since, dual booting and getting a real kick out of it when people at work come over, see the laptop and exclaim over it when they notice it's running Linux. I have only one issue so far. In order to change the screen resolution, I have to have the exact specs for my screen, and Level 1 support at Alienware wasn't able / willing to provide that. Thanks to workloads & flu bugs I haven't had the time or energy to fight that battle yet - but I will. In the meantime, does anyone know of any utilities (Windows or Linux) that can detect monitor / screen hardware capabilities? I know it's probably an unrealistic hope, but I figured plenty of people know more than I do, so why not ask? Dan, I hope this is encouraging to you. If you're looking for a distribution that has good documentation, I've been pleasantly surprised how much Linux docs in general have improved over the past 7-8 years, and the Red Hat stuff (online / RH website / docs CD that comes with the install CD's) is actually beginning to be useful to those of us who need the help. I say beginning, because it's mostly geared towards getting people up & running, not so much for those who want to get beyond that. However, if you're prepared to shell out some bucks, there are some excellent books out there which go way beyond the install, into the realm of system admin, security, etc. I've mentioned, and tended towards in my own exploration, Red Hat; by virtue of it being so ubiquitous, there seems to be more written about it than anything else. Happy Linux laptopping! RHN Dan Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I am a Linux newbie and think I should buy a laptop to learn Linux. It would be a lot easier to carry to install fests. Can anyone provide information about what I should look for in a laptop; (make and model, disk capacity, memory size, processor type and speed, etc.) Whatever you think is important. I am also looking for a distribution with a good book included that will run on the recommended laptop. I have several books and several distributions, but they don't match or won't run on my available hardware. Thank you for any information you may provide, Dan -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-newbie --------------------------------- Yahoo! Photos Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add photos, events, holidays, whatever. -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-newbie
