Re: [PLUG] New Laptop Recommendations

[Eric Lucas <eric@lucii.org>]

I too am a Thinkpad fan (running W2K and Suse 9.3 pro on my X20.)

I've heard the claim of "Titanium" cases before and in fact the X20 was sold
to me as having a Titanium case... but it's plastic.  It breaks (a
friend used a
power seat to drive a mouse into the screen of one so I KNOW they flex and
break like plastic.)  I'm guessing that for the most part the Titanium
is a _color_
choice and not a material choice.  I'd welcome info to the contrary but
have
yet to see it from IBM.
[see, for example:
http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=-840&productId=4611686018425101646&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&dualCurrId=[Ljava.lang.String;@57fa8ad&categoryId=4611686018425039802
] and search on the word "titanium"... it's listed after "color: "

If you believe you have a titanium metal case then you can try this test:  
[Note: the following is entirely at your own risk!!]  On an unobtrusive
area
of the case (bottom?) take a pocket knife and press the point of a small
blade
against the case material.with a small amount of force.  If it's
titanium you will not
be able to see _any_ mark  where you did this.  If' it's  plastic, you
will have created a small dimple
in the plastic.

Oh, and the Intel Centrino ipw2100/2200 wireless (in a Dell laptop in
particular)
is a bitch to get running under RH EL 3 - in fact I see claims that it's
been done
but have not yet seen it work..

Eric

Lee Marzke wrote:

> Joseph,
>
> I have an older T22 Thinkpad and love it,  running both WinXP Pro and
> SuSE 9.3
> DVD+/- writer, with Orinico Gold PC card.  Many internal WiFi chips
> don't work.
>
> Thinkpads have titanium cases, and can often be dropped on concrete
> without
> damage ( except perhaps a disk head crash )  These are pretty
> inexpensive on Ebay.
>
> However, every model and OS distribution has to be researched
> individually.
> If you can't do this I'd suggest buying one pre-loaded with Linux.
>
> See:          http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/
>
> Lots of other models here as well,  check out the
> http://www.emperorlinux.com/mfgr/sharp/meteor/    as reviewed by Linux
> Journal.
>
> Also,  http://www.monarchcomputer.com/  are experts on Linux ( they
> put together the
> Ultimate Linux  Box )  and they are coming out with Laptops soon.  You
> might call
> them and ask.
>
> Lee Marzke
>
> Joseph Sands wrote:
>
>> I'm looking to purchase a new laptop, I'm open to the price but my main
>> concern is that it have 802.11G, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, and be compatible
>> with both
>> Linux and Windows. I would like something smallish; battery life is no
>> concern, as I can always plug it in wherever I am.  I had bad luck with
>> wireless laptops in Linux. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>> Thanks,
>> Joe Sands
>>
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