Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 8:57 AM, Manish wrote: I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Thanks to everyone who responded. I have purchased Thinkpad R61, for better or worse. Keyboard light, trackpoint, excellent keyboard and solid construction swayed me. Sending this email from Ubuntu 8.04 Live CD. Still wondering if I should install Ubuntu or Debian. I do not want to get caught up in upgrade cycles but the work that has gone in to simplify/beautify Ubuntu is definitely attractive. Debian may require some homework before it is fully tuned to my choice but may be less work in the long run.. Sorry, I just got lost in thought. Definitely do not wish to start any distro wars. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? I started this experiment today. -- Manish ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
in infinite wisdom Manish spoke thus On 04/21/2008 10:46 PM: First, I thought it's kinda like a toy and then I found out that people installed Debian on this and that it runs Firefox and Emacs, has WiFi and boots very fast.. what else does one need? screen space. 800x600 sucks -- raj shekhar facts: http://rajshekhar.net | opinions: http://rajshekhar.net/blog Yoda of Borg are we: Futile is resistance. Assimilate you, we will 'Borg? Sounds Swedish.' - Lily, Star Trek First Contact ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Mayank writes: [snipped] Mayank I'd suggest any laptop with a Nvidia graphics card, Mayank Creative Soundblaster audio and maybe a Conexant Mayank modem. nVidia is also not doing any FOSS drivers, though ATI initiated FOSSing. There is no FOSS Conexant HSF PCI modem driver AFAIK. Intel Graphics is better, as you'll get all latest Xorg features (including Kernel modesetting) implemented in 'intel' driver. HTH - -- Ashish Shukla आशीष शुक्ल http://wahjava.wordpress.com/ ·-- ·- ·--- ·- ···- ·- ·--·-· --· -- ·- ·· ·-·· ·-·-·- -·-· --- -- -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFIDbBwHy+EEHYuXnQRAgkyAJ4l+8xlY2gT54byf9be9JeGpU4ReACfYk/v +HHJBzyvnrU7GNwP3KcSg0Y= =SCEw -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? if you choose Dell latitude series machines, they give you the option not to have M$ at all. they give the machine with freedos installed. not tax here. ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 3:08 PM, Nagarjuna G. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? if you choose Dell latitude series machines, they give you the option not to have M$ at all. they give the machine with freedos installed. not tax here. ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/ @Ashish, I've never compared FOSS drivers of ATI and Nvidia, it's just that as far closed proprietary drivers are concerned, Nvidia seemed far better to me as compared to ATI. Yes, you are quite correct in stating that ATI has been ahead in FOSS development and I've also learned that they've taken initiative to make all their drivers open or are planning to do so. Also with Nouveau (http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/) project going on it would be real nice to see these two graphics chipset giants performing against each other :) Regards, Mayank ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
Ashish Shukla आशीष शुक्ल wrote: nVidia is also not doing any FOSS drivers, though ATI initiated FOSSing. There is no FOSS Conexant HSF PCI modem driver AFAIK. Intel Graphics is better, as you'll get all latest Xorg features (including Kernel modesetting) implemented in 'intel' driver. The flip side to this is that the best intel integrated graphics you can get today give you the same performance as the mainstream ATI / nVidia cards did about 5 years back. So you can forget about running any 3d graphics intensive app on there. -- Karanbir Singh : http://www.karan.org/ : [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
[ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? Thank you, -- Manish 1. http://www-604.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=1356catalogId=-356langId=356categoryId=4611686018425111790seriesid=2137107referer=4611686018425096212productId=4611686018425530312 2. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_notebook4?c=incs=indhs1l=ens=dhs 3. http://www.sony.co.in/product/vgn-cr35g/sku/vgn-cr35g%252Fl%2Be1?site=hp_en_IN_i ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? Thank you, -- Manish I have Lenovo R61 and FC8 x86_64 is installed in dual boot with Vista Business. I have observed that in FC8 the Fn+F5 combination does not start the inbuilt bluetooth. However, if I keep the Bluetooth module in on position while shutting down the Laptop in Vista and then boot it in FC8, the bluetooth works fine thereafter. Regards, Pawan Sood ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Pawan Sood [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? Thank you, -- Manish I have Lenovo R61 and FC8 x86_64 is installed in dual boot with Vista Business. I have observed that in FC8 the Fn+F5 combination does not start the inbuilt bluetooth. However, if I keep the Bluetooth module in on position while shutting down the Laptop in Vista and then boot it in FC8, the bluetooth works fine thereafter. Asus Eee PC 900 seems to be a great deal if you really serious about Linux as the OS value for money. I have no idea when it would hit in Indian market, but appears to be promising, comes with 20GB (Solid State Disk, read more about SSD ), Intel processor, 1GB RAM preloaded with Linux. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/16/asus_launches_eee_900/ Hardware specs goes here http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/04/15/asus_releases_eee_pc900_specifications_and_uk_prices.html People in a couple of linux mailing list are desperate to get a copy of it! Regards Yashpal ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:37 PM, Yashpal Nagar wrote: Asus Eee PC 900 seems to be a great deal if you really serious about Linux as the OS value for money. First, I thought it's kinda like a toy and then I found out that people installed Debian on this and that it runs Firefox and Emacs, has WiFi and boots very fast.. what else does one need? I have no idea when it would hit in Indian market, but appears to be promising, comes with 20GB (Solid State Disk, read more about SSD ), Intel processor, 1GB RAM preloaded with Linux. This is the key question and I need to get a laptop in a hurry. I wish I could wait for it. :( -- Manish ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 3:20 PM, Pawan Sood wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Manish wrote: Hello, I am on the lookout for a laptop that plays nice with Linux and have zeroed in on three choices: Lenovo Thinkpad R61 [1], Dell XPS M1330 [2] and Sony Vaio CR [3]. I am not sure how compatible they are with Debian. Some web-search does suggest that almost all of them can be made to work but I would appreciate advice from the real world as well. Web search also did not come up with any instances of anyone ever having `reclaimed' the M$ tax in India. Has that ever been attempted? Thank you, -- Manish I have Lenovo R61 and FC8 x86_64 is installed in dual boot with Vista Business. I have observed that in FC8 the Fn+F5 combination does not start the inbuilt bluetooth. However, if I keep the Bluetooth module in on position while shutting down the Laptop in Vista and then boot it in FC8, the bluetooth works fine thereafter. Thanks for the tip. I am also leaning towards R61 (7734A17). It's good except in the looks department. Earlier at one workplace I have used T61 and I think R61 shares it's trackpoint with three buttons, light on the monitor with excellent keyboard. Has WiFi been a problem for you and does hibernation work? -- Manish ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 10:46 PM, Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:37 PM, Yashpal Nagar wrote: Asus Eee PC 900 seems to be a great deal if you really serious about Linux as the OS value for money. First, I thought it's kinda like a toy and then I found out that people installed Debian on this and that it runs Firefox and Emacs, has WiFi and boots very fast.. what else does one need? I have no idea when it would hit in Indian market, but appears to be promising, comes with 20GB (Solid State Disk, read more about SSD ), Intel processor, 1GB RAM preloaded with Linux. This is the key question and I need to get a laptop in a hurry. I wish I could wait for it. :( -- Manish You can think of some other alternative. Check out here: http://www.linux-wizard.net/index.php?id_blog=202 -Sudhanwa ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~~ www.sudhanwa.com ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:37 PM, Yashpal Nagar wrote: Asus Eee PC 900 seems to be a great deal if you really serious about Linux as the OS value for money. First, I thought it's kinda like a toy and then I found out that people installed Debian on this and that it runs Firefox and Emacs, has WiFi and boots very fast.. what else does one need? This is the key question and I need to get a laptop in a hurry. I wish I could wait for it. :( You must see the HCL MiLeap L laptop then, it comes with Edubuntu, 900Mhz processor, 30GB HDD, 512MB RAM, 16K and locally available. Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax
On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 4:24 AM, Mani A [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Re: [ilugd] Advice on buying a laptop and reclaiming M$ tax Manish [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:37 PM, Yashpal Nagar wrote: Asus Eee PC 900 seems to be a great deal if you really serious about Linux as the OS value for money. First, I thought it's kinda like a toy and then I found out that people installed Debian on this and that it runs Firefox and Emacs, has WiFi and boots very fast.. what else does one need? This is the key question and I need to get a laptop in a hurry. I wish I could wait for it. :( You must see the HCL MiLeap L laptop then, it comes with Edubuntu, 900Mhz processor, 30GB HDD, 512MB RAM, 16K and locally available. Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/ Yeah HCL MiLeap L laptop seems to be a good bet as it's quite cheap on pocket and has decent features as well. As a matter of fact one can choose any laptop available around and install Linux on it. Also as far as my knowledge of licenses of Microsoft goes, you can even claim the money back from OEM vendors if you don't intend to use the Microsoft's Operating System and/or other applications on the machine. However it's the OEM vendor who will refund the money and not Microsoft. Just check that the hardware in your machine is compatible with HCL of Linux, I found myself in real trouble sometime back when I bought a new laptop and found that the sound card and modem are on a single PCI chip and till date the problem is not resolved. So just see that you get a laptop which has graphics card, sound card and modem on separate PCI chips and drivers for them are freely available on Linux. ATI is a bad example of proprietary drivers based graphics card. It just works sometimes and at other times it will irritate me to extreme. I'd suggest any laptop with a Nvidia graphics card, Creative Soundblaster audio and maybe a Conexant modem. Rest of the components don't make much of a difference as far as compatibility with Linux is concerned. Wifi still gives troubles so choose appropriate distribution or make use of NdisWrapper. Hope the suggestion helps you in making good decision while purchasing your laptop. Regards, Mayank ___ ilugd mailinglist -- ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Next Event: http://freed.in - February 22-24, 2008 Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org/
