Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:43:14 -0400 From: Christopher Hilton <chris@vindaloo.com> To: Kevin Oberman <oberman@es.net> Cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Notebook recommendations Message-ID: <F00D3616-2E13-46B4-BE03-4AE3720837C1@vindaloo.com> In-Reply-To: <20060727161919.3D47945042@ptavv.es.net> References: <20060727161919.3D47945042@ptavv.es.net>
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Thanks for the advice. In this case I'm trying to replace my Gateway 450ROG. That had a 1.4 GHz Pentium M and (a 4.5 hour battery life) as well as an ipw driven 802.11b card. Everything worked pretty well but I hated the build quality of the machine. If the new intel wifi chip isn't supported that's not too bad. I would have bought an atheros based card anyhow because that's the only thing I can get to work reliably with kismet. I really should have said that a real serial port is a requirement. I forgot that I don't want to buy a usb GPS when my Garmin 12XL works just fine. Thanks again -- Chris On Jul 27, 2006, at 12:19 PM, Kevin Oberman wrote: >> From: Christopher Hilton <chris@vindaloo.com> >> Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:50:46 -0400 >> Sender: owner-freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org >> >> Well, my notebook was stolen last night so after 3 years with my >> Gateway it's time get something new. I'm looking for recommendations. >> The features I'm looking for are: >> >> >> XGA graphics at a minimum of 1280 pixels horizontal and 960 >> pixels vertical. 1400x1050 is perfect >> >> Pentium M processor for battery life 1.6 GHz ~ 2.0 GHz >> >> Ability to do 3D Video acceleration would be a plus but isn't >> strictly necessary. XDAMAGE would be a double plus. >> >> A real serial port is a plus as I occasionally have to boot the >> odd sun workstation. >> >> Any suggestions are welcome. > > I have not specific recommendations, just some things to be aware of. > > Many new laptops have High Definition Audio (HDA) which is not yet > supported by FreeBSD (although several driver patches have been > floated > that work on some systems and not others). > > Get at least a Pentium-M or, better still, a Core-Duo. Much better > performance and battery life than older Intel chips. I have no > experience with AMDs in laptops, but I believe the newer Turions might > be pretty reasonable, too. > > The odds of a working modem are pretty slim. Wireless is also a > problem > as many systems including any with "Centrino" A/B/G support are > probably Intel 3945ABGs which are currently unsupported. Most > laptops that > are ordered (as opposed to bought at a store) are available with > Atheros wireless which works very well. b/g cards are often > supported by > iwi which requires at least -stable to have a good chance of working > properly. > > Other common wireless cards are Broadcom which can usually be cajoled > into working with ndis. > > Serial is often available on "port replicators" or mini-docks, but is > very rare on the base unit. USB-Serial devices work well and are > fairly > cheap (about $25US.) > > Graphics can be a problem. DRI can be especially difficult on newer > systems. Radeon is pretty well supported, but you need to install > radeontool from ports to deal with turning the display on and off. > nVidia support is a bit less stable and often VESA mode seems to be > the > only good way to use them. > > In general newer laptops are likely to work best with -stable or > -current, but current is NOT for the faint of heart. It just gets new > device support sooner than -stable. > -- > R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer > Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) > Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) > E-mail: oberman@es.net Phone: +1 510 486-8634 > Key fingerprint:059B 2DDF 031C 9BA3 14A4 EADA 927D EBB3 987B 3751 >
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