[GLLUG] New notebook purchase advice requested

[Marr]

On Friday 01 October 2004 04:53pm, Brian Hoort wrote:
> Friends,
>
> My laptop broke.  :(  I'll have to buy a new one.  :)
>
> I'm interested in their basic, least expensive, entry-level model.  Choices
> like Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony are obvious.  I'll look into those
> myself.  However, I don't really need Windows, and I'm thinking I can save
> ~$80 going with a manufacturer that will allow you to not purchase Windows.
> Any experience with other manufacturers?  Any advice

Brian,

I know you said you'd look into "Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony" yourself, but 
I'm going to comment on my experiences, FWIW (to you or anyone else)....

I've been very happy with my Toshiba Satellite 2100CDT laptop. It's old 
(bought back in Mar 2000) and slow by today's standards (AMD K6-2 400 MHz 
CPU) but I run Slackware 10.0 (the latest) on it quite nicely. 

Although I've (very) recently upgraded the RAM from 64 to 192 MB (which I 
should have done earlier, given how cheap it was) and the hard disk drive 
from 4 GB to 20 GB, I have been happily running Slackware (and W98) on it 
from the day I bought it, even with just 64 MB RAM.

The audio (Ensoniq ES1978 'Maestro 2E') has always worked fine and even the 
built-in Lucent-chipset (IIRC) 'winmodem' works fine under Linux. 

I take this thing on long road trips under somewhat-harsh conditions and it's 
held up fine. I've never needed to service it, so I cannot comment on 
Toshiba's customer service or repair.

I realize that data on such an old laptop isn't very useful compared to 
someone's newer purchase, but when it's time for my next laptop, I'll be 
looking very favorably at another Toshiba.

--------------------

I also have a newer (circa Sep 2002) Sony VAIO PCG-GRX560. It's not mine, but 
I use it on behalf of the owner. I don't use it that often, but it's worked 
very well. It's got a 1600x1200 dpi LCD screen which I love.

Like my Toshiba, the Sony laptop runs Slackware 10.0 quite nicely. The Sony's 
built-in FireWire port didn't work at all in earlier kernels (2.4.x), but it 
seems to work fine now with Slackware 10.0's 2.6.7 kernel, as tested with an 
external FireWire hard disk drive. The built-in Ethernet port works perfectly 
and always has.

The Sony is definitely a nice machine, but I don't think I'd buy one myself 
having heard lots of stories about Sony's poor reputation for reliability of 
laptop hardware. And "low price" has never been a selling feature of Sony 
laptops!

Aside: If you're interested in wireless PCMCIA, I've used a Netgear WG511 card 
(54 Mbps, 802.11g) in both laptops (under Linux, of course) with good 
results, using the 'Prism54' driver.

--------------------

This site (already mentioned by another poster) sells a bunch of Linux laptops 
(customized versions of common manufacturers' laptops) last time I checked:

   http://www.emperorlinux.com

I seem to recall that they were rather pricey, and I suppose you're still 
paying the "Windows tax" even if they wipe out Windows before delivering, but 
maybe you can use their list of laptops (for which they describe exactly what 
hardware works under Linux -- often that's "everything") to decide which 
manufacturers and models are highly Linux-compatible.

--------------------

Lastly, some Linux-on-laptop links:

   http://www.tuxmobil.org

   http://www.linux-laptop.net

   http://linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html

   http://mcelrath.org/laptops.html

That last link includes some "no-OS" laptop sellers too.

Pardon any Linux assumptions on my part here. I guess if you're going to use 
*BSD, it's still useful to know about Linux compatibility (???).

HTH....

P.S. Please keep the list posted on your successes/failures with whatever 
laptop you eventually buy. I might be in the market myself soon. :^)

Bill Marr