From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Dec 23 09:20:32 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 E2E7F16A4CE for ; Tue, 23 Dec 2003 09:20:32 -0800 (PST) Received: from mail.pcnet.com (mail.pcnet.com [204.213.232.4]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E7ED43D2F for ; Tue, 23 Dec 2003 09:20:31 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from eischen@vigrid.com) Received: from mail.pcnet.com (mail.pcnet.com [204.213.232.4]) by mail.pcnet.com (8.12.10/8.12.1) with ESMTP id hBNHKSiw022686; Tue, 23 Dec 2003 12:20:28 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 12:20:28 -0500 (EST) From: Daniel Eischen X-Sender: eischen@pcnet5.pcnet.com To: Martin Cracauer In-Reply-To: <20031223120425.A56684@cons.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Notebook recommendations and/or barebones kit experience? 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: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 17:20:33 -0000 On Tue, 23 Dec 2003, Martin Cracauer wrote: > Hi, > > Here is what I want: > - quiet when not under load > - must operate in warm rooms when compiling kernels > - NVidia chipset if at all possible Not sure why you want NVidia, but under -current and using NVidia drivers/OpenGL you won't be able to use libkse and/or libthr. All the notebooks that I have access to and which run FreeBSD have ATI chipsets. > - More than 1024x768 *or* working dual-head > - Firewire, USB 2.0 and/or at least two PCMCIA II slots > - $1200 - $1500 for a current model but would take a $1000 refurbished > with slower CPU > > Some Dell Inspirons fit that nicely, in particular since you can get > as much display as you want. But a friend has 4 in the office and all > 4 had to be sent to get parts replaced already. What are your > experiences with them? I bought a refurbished Dell Inspiron thinking I'd save a few hundred dollars. The keyboard was a bit sticky when I got it, but it wasn't really that annoying so I let it go. A few months later the system would no longer power on and I sent it back (I also bought Dell support). Dell claimed that I spilled something on the keyboard and the entire motherboard needed replacing. I argued that that was the way I got it and never spilled anything on it (which I didn't!), but still had to pay $600 to get it fixed. It ended up costing me $200 more than buying the system new instead of refurbished. I never had any problems with Dells until then, but now I don't think I'd ever go back to them. YMMV -- Dan Eischen