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 * * * * * - To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>