[TriLUG] Shopping for new laptop...

[Roy Vestal]

I'm running FC6 and XP on a Thinkpad T60. Works fine, including the ATI 
Mobile Radeon 9200se running the ATI proprietary drivers, and 2GB RAM 
(I'm also using VMware server on linux). All is fine, including 3D accel  :)

http://www.thinkwiki.org is a good place to start if you are looking at 
the Thinkpads.

Tom Eisenmenger wrote:
> I've been floored by recent price cuts on laptops and have decided it  
> might be time to retire my Dell Latitude C610 (256mb RAM, 40g HD,  
> 1MHz PIIIM).  One of the reasons for my upgrading is that I need to  
> have a machine capable of running Vista (no catcalls, please!) - my  
> work as IT instructor and occasional PC troubleshooter really require  
> that I keep up with the latest software;  sadly, my Dell won't even  
> load Vista unless I upgrade it, then there's the price of the OS  
> itself - I might as well buy new.
> 
> Since I run a Linux distro as the primary OS on my notebook  
> (currently running Mint along side XP and about to try eLive), I want  
> to find a Linux-friendly notebook but knowing how various distros  
> balk at one technology/chipset I want to buy smart as well as  
> cheap.   With that in mind, here are a few comments/questions:
> 
> 1) I'd prefer going AMD;  is there a problem or caveat if I go with  
> one of their 64-bit X2 chips?  Better to stick with single core?  32- 
> bit?  Any reason why I should seriously consider Intel instead?
> 
> 2) Storage:  I'm assuming SATA is a non-issue in Linux?
> 
> 3) Graphics chipsets:  if I go AMD it'll probably have ATI (which is  
> what my Dell has now).  Is there a compelling reason to look for  
> nVidia instead?  Does Linus handle the newer widescreen monitors  
> reasonably well (1280 x 800)?
> 
> 4) Wireless:  It  looks like most of today's offerings include  
> Broadcom wireless;  how's its Linux support?  Should I opt for  
> something else if it's out there?
> 
> 5) Anything else I should consider?  I'm looking most closely at  
> 15.4" widescreen models as I actually do use mine as a laptop on  
> occasion - 17" is more of a desktop replacement in my book...
> 
> FWIW, there are some great deals out there.  Of particular interest  
> is the Compaq Presario F572US (15.4" "Briteview" widescreen, Athlon  
> 64 X2 TK-53, 1gig DDR2, 80g 5400RPM SATA (might have to upgrade that)  
> $479 at Staples after rebates.  Comparable Turions seem to up the  
> price by about $200.  Comments?
> 
> Thanks all,
> 
> Tom Eisenmenger