David Coulthart wrote:
>
> Hey everyone,
>
> I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a particular
> brand/model of laptop to purchase if I am interested in running SuSE
> Linux (6.0 preferrably) on it. I was considering a Dell or IBM, but am
> open to any suggestions. Going to basically need the works: network
> card, modem, fairly large screen size, etc. No DVD required though.
> Probably going to want to multi-boot with 95/NT/BeOS/BSD possibly.
I just went through the same thing. I was deciding between the same two
companies two. I went with an IBM Thinkpad 770X. Some things to note:
-no sound support. The company that makes the chipset will not release
details about it to open source. Commercial OSS may have a driver, but
I haven't checked. I am hopeful that with IBMs new commitment to linux,
they might lean on the chipmaker for specs.
-X support is still a little funky, but very doable. I have X working
at 1024x800 at 24bit. Some colors come out weird. I haven't had time
to work on this. Accelerated-X for laptops does support the 9397DVD
chipset, and I'm going to try the demo and see if it's worth it.
-If your book comes loaded, IRQs and memory addresses become scarce. I
had to go back and forth with David Hinds (author of the PCMCIA tools)
for a little while to get things working.
-The Thinkpad is a rock. It also weighs as much as one :-) This was
not important to me. I just wanted a sturdy book to run linux on.
-I'm running SuSE 6.0, FreeBSD 3.0 and Win98 on the book right now. IBM
configures the hard drive very conveniently for linux users. Windows is
on a 2GB partition at the begging of the drive and the rest is a 6GB fat
partition containing nothing of importance. I just blew away the second
partition and installed linux and FreeBSD.
-BeOS is a little too much to hope for right now. Win98 is still there
because of the excelent system information tool that IBM provides with
the book. IBM's software turned a month long adventure getting linux
working on that thing into a day's worth for 90% and another week for
the last 10% (PCMCIA/ethernet). I also have used the CD player and DVD
player on windows while I await offerings for the linux world.
When I get more of these details worked out over spring break, I'll make
a detailed page and add it to the Linux for Laptops page. There's been
some issues, but overall, I love the Thinkpad.
--
lunaslide * PGP key->pgpkeys.mit.edu port 11371
* * * * * *
Yep. I have a very active imagination; it's been a personal
condition of mine for years now. * -Bruce Sterling
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