Beldon Dominello on Tue, 19 Feb 2002 22:00:59 -0500


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Re: [PLUG] Recommend a Laptop


On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, Paul wrote:

> I checked out emperorlinux.com and qlilinux.com (tuxtops). 
> The laptops are a little pricey for me.  I was looking to
> stay well under 15 Gs.  (I guess it's time to look at used
> stuff.)

I should think a laptop (even a Vaio) would cost less than $15,000! :-)

> Getting an unwanted copy of Windows XP wouldn't be that bad
> if it were on a CD-ROM which I could resell or give away. 
> From what I've seen with Toshiba, the only way to install
> Windows is to use a recovery CD, which only works with a
> limited range of laptop models.  Another rip off.

I am currently writing this to you from the road (as my sig attests) on a 
Toshiba 400CDT, P75 laptop with an 800M disk drive and 24M of RAM.  I have a 
PCMCIA modem and (for those times when I get lucky) a 3COM PCMCIA 10/100 Base 
T Ethernet card.  I purchased the computer used last year at a show and got 
$20.00 off from not taking the Win95 license that came with it (I actually 
formatted the drive via Tom's Root Boot diskette as a sign of good faith right 
in front of the guy).  It's got a CDROM and externally attachable floppy 
drive, sound (out of a piss-poor speaker), microphone, and internal power 
supply (i.e. has only a power cord externally, not a power supply).

Now, I use this exclusively when on the road and only for e-mail, browsing, 
and the occasional console game.  X runs well on it, as does Netscape using 
GNUstep as my window manager.  I'm running RH 7.2.  I have a Linux shell 
account with my ISP (Speakeasy) which has lynx, pine, mutt, irc, ftp, etc, 
etc.

> Another thing the stinks is the added "feature" of a
> built-in winmodem.  Sounds good if you are running Windows
> for which those crappy winmodems are designed to work with. 
> Not so good for me.
> 
> I give up!

Don't give up!  Get yourself a used PII or PIII-- you can get them for a few 
hundred bucks (my whole kit and caboodle costs me $150, plus modem and 
Ethernet card).  If you're fine with console-only (and what self-respecting 
geek *isn't* comfortable with a console?), you can probably get away with as 
little as I spent.  Decide what you want to do.

Wanna play Quake?  Pay up.  Wanna code, e-mail, browse, play 
non-graphically intensive games, etc?  Pretty much everything you can do that 
doesn't involve intensive multimedia can be done on a really low-end machine.  
My next addition to this little beauty here will be a bigger hard drive so I 
can compile my own kernels and apps to get them to run faster.

I can tell you the modem I'm using if you like.  It wasn't expensive (under 
$100 at Microcenter, I think), but I can't give you the exact model number 
because I'm using it now.  It's worked flawlessly since I got it.  I was 
almost disappointed at how easy it was.  when I plugged it in, not only did RH 
detect it, but it created a /dev/modem symlink automagically to the proper 
serial port (and deletes it on removal).

Remember also that the best and most Linux-friendly new machines make the best 
Linux-friendly used machines (to wit, my Toshiba).  Dell, Compaq, and IBM 
ThinkPads are also good choices because of Linux-friendliness and good, solid 
hardware.

Onward, young sprout!  This is the reason we're using Linux-- because we have 
more options.  With more options comes a bit more work, but there's the 
payoff.

<Beldon gets off soapbox>

And, basically, if I managed to do it, I'm sure anyone can.

	-Beldon

---
DISCLAIMER - This text was written on the road and may contain errors of fact,
tact, and decency due to the cumulative effects of cabin fever, emotional
displacement, and restaurant food.


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