From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 31 07:16:10 2004 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 0CAC216A4CE for ; Wed, 31 Mar 2004 07:16:10 -0800 (PST) Received: from yoda.anything-inc.com (adsl-068-153-193-053.sip.bct.bellsouth.net [68.153.193.53]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3B51F43D49 for ; Wed, 31 Mar 2004 07:16:09 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from "") Received: from /spool/local by anything-inc.com with [XMail 1.17 (FreeBSD/Ix86) LMAIL Server] for from <>; Wed, 31 Mar 2004 10:17:14 -0500 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 10:17:13 -0500 From: Bob Collins To: Dag-Erling =?iso-8859-1?Q?Sm=F8rgrav?= Message-ID: <20040331151713.GA48687@yoda.anything-inc.com> References: <40686157.3020902@cs.uiowa.edu> <20040330201107.GA95453@empiric.dek.spc.org> <20040330220947.GA45392@yoda.anything-inc.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.4i Comment: No comment X-Cuse: I have none X-Editor: vi X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-4.5 required=3.5 tests=IN_REP_TO,QUOTED_EMAIL_TEXT,REFERENCES,REPLY_WITH_QUOTES, USER_AGENT_MUTT version=2.55 X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.55 (1.174.2.19-2003-05-19-exp) cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: The Best Laptop X-BeenThere: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Mobile computing with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 15:16:10 -0000 On Wed, Mar 31, 2004, Dag-Erling Smrgrav clacked the keyboard to produce: > Bob Collins writes: > > Wow, considering that, I had no issues other than having to use > > OLDKERNEL to get my pcm slots working, my TP600X runs 4.9 perfectly. So > > much for the above. > > I've had three ThinkPads, including a 600E. All of them had problems > running FreeBSD. The 600E even had problems running Windows 2000 and [snip] > I have seen the battery issue, however under warranty IBM was generally pretty good about replacing them. The BIOS issues seem rather odd to me, as I have never seen or heard such until now. That does not mean it does not happen, I just have never heard of it. YMMV. > That's disingenuous. Both IBM and Dell have a variety of models, some > designed for performance and others designed for low weight. The > Latitude C and D series belong to the former category, as does the > ThinkPad 600 series. My ThinkPad 600E and my Latitude D600 both weigh > slightly less than 6 lbs, while a Latitude X300 weighs less than 3 lbs > according to Dell's website. > I am not trying to be disingenuous, but rather pointing out from my somewhat limited actual use/empirical evidence, the Dells, even in the lightweight configurations (albeit none of the latest models) have always been a trouble too me and never really all that great for portability. And yes I understand about the system specs and all that, but my personal experience has been that the TPs tend to be lighter and better packaged. And I am quite bummed to read from you so many issues with TPs. I guess we all gravitate to the hardware that we know works well for each of us. [subjective mode on] And another thing, as a licensed Architect, I find the physical design of the Dells and most others excluding the Thinkpads and Apples, to be quite poor. Now that comment is purely subjective as all design is subjective. I think the flow of the machine in the older Dells and such is not there, it looks like the case was an afterthought while the TPs and Apples try to encompass the hardware with a rather sexy case. Admittedly the new Dells are getting better in design. [subjective mode off] As a side note, I am replacing my 600X with a very nice pre-owned T22. I look forward to installing FBSD on it and using the heck out of it. -- Bob "Play is the work of children. It's very serious stuff. And if it's properly structured in a developmental program, children can blossom." -Bob Keeshan aka `Captain Kangaroo'