From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jun 30 11:13:19 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 604BA37B401 for ; Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:13:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: from main.gmane.org (main.gmane.org [80.91.224.249]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 22E6943F85 for ; Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:13:18 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from freebsd-mobile@m.gmane.org) Received: from list by main.gmane.org with local (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 19X38z-00072d-00 for ; Mon, 30 Jun 2003 20:12:49 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Received: from news by main.gmane.org with local (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 19X38x-00072E-00 for ; Mon, 30 Jun 2003 20:12:47 +0200 From: Jesse Guardiani Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 14:13:12 -0400 Organization: WingNET Lines: 65 Message-ID: References: <005f01c33a9b$34e76e30$0a00000a@eps> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org User-Agent: KNode/0.7.2 X-Mail-Copies-To: never Sender: news Subject: Re: Wich laptop to get? X-BeenThere: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: jesse@wingnet.net List-Id: Mobile computing with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 18:13:19 -0000 Erik Paulsen Skaalerud wrote: > I know, this probably has been asked a million times before, but I thought > I should ask this because of the acpi, or, well, the troubles with laptops > and FreeBSD 5.1.. > > What is a great laptop to buy these days? I'm kind of poor, so I cant get > a expensive one. I need a laptop with: > - a good GFX card (yes, I do play games on windows, I'll dual-boot) > - space for lots of memory (1GB) > - hopefully something faster than a 4200rpm disk. I'm considering getting > a laptop with USB2 interface and a external disk, and just use it via USB1 > in FreeBSD (since it doesnt like USB2 much, yet atleast.) > > Any recommendations would be truly helpful. I'm particularly partial to my IBM A30p. Brand new it's NOT a budget machine, but if bought used, like mine, it's a good deal: IBM A30p - bought for roughly $1350 used on Ebay a few months ago ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1.2Ghz P3-M (usually faster than a similar P4) 1600x1200 screen (beautiful) excellent IBM keyboard largish HD (mine is 40G. They vary.) ATI 32Mb Radeon Mobility LY (working and fully supported 3D video card under X 4.3.0) USB 1.0 TV Out & TV In (Only TV Out works under FreeBSD, I think.) Firewire (working under FreeBSD 4.x & 5.x. Haven't tested, but inits fine.) Built-in 802.11b (Prism 2.5 chipset. Fully supported by FreeBSD 4.x and 5.x) Some models have built-in Bluetooth. Mine doesn't. APM & ACPI. (ACPI is broken. APM is hard to get working well under 5.x, but I'd be happy to give you a howto list.) Serial & Parallel ports. Built-in software modem. (Doesn't work under FreeBSD) Two removable drives. (Floppy & CD-ROM/DVD-ROM on mine) Up to 1Gb of RAM. I currently run 384Mb (1 128Mb, 1 256Mb), which is fine for WXP and FreeBSD. Cons ----- - Relatively large. I consider it a laptop, NOT a notebook. - Poor battery life. I get about 1hr under normal load. Less if playing DVD. However, you can buy a second battery for one of the removable drive bays. - 32Mb of vid ram ain't all that much if you're trying to run 1600x1200. - Modem doesn't work under FreeBSD. - Some models don't have a floppy drive. But mine does. You NEED one to dual boot with confidence. Buy one separately if yours doesn't come with one. Basically it's great for what I do: - Occassional gaming. (TV Out is very cool with Half-life) - Heavy coding and sys admin stuff. - Carry between home & work & anywhere else. (but I'm buff. :-> YMMV) If you need fast external storage, the firewire port is a good option. Not quite as fast as USB2.0, but pretty darn close... -- Jesse Guardiani, Systems Administrator WingNET Internet Services, P.O. Box 2605 // Cleveland, TN 37320-2605 423-559-LINK (v) 423-559-5145 (f) http://www.wingnet.net