From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 3 20:15:47 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D04A8106564A for ; Wed, 3 Mar 2010 20:15:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from frank@fstaals.net) Received: from edu-smtp-02.edutel.nl (edu-smtp-02.edutel.nl [88.159.1.222]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5AE958FC1F for ; Wed, 3 Mar 2010 20:15:47 +0000 (UTC) Received: from FStaals.net (unknown [88.159.208.104]) by edu-smtp-02.edutel.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id C5CF3121E90; Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:15:45 +0100 (CET) Received: from FStaals.net (localhost.FStaals.LAN [127.0.0.1]) by filter.fstaals.local (Postfix) with ESMTP id 88EDB98141; Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:27 +0100 (CET) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on FStaals.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.2 required=5.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, FH_DATE_PAST_20XX,HTML_MESSAGE autolearn=no version=3.2.5 Received: from Rena.FStaals.LAN (localhost.FStaals.LAN [127.0.0.1]) (Authenticated sender: frank) by FStaals.net (Postfix) with ESMTPA id 6496E98140; Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:27 +0100 (CET) Message-ID: <4B8EC348.6000001@fstaals.net> Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:15:04 +0100 From: Frank Staals User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD amd64; en-US; rv:1.9.1.7) Gecko/20100206 Thunderbird/3.0.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Andreas Davour References: In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Suitable laptop for FreeBSD? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:15:47 -0000 On 03/03/10 14:48, Andreas Davour wrote: > > I am thinking of buying a new laptop, and want one which will work > fine with FBSD. Anyone have any suggestions? > > It must have a connector for a external screen (i.e. a projector when > doing presentations), wireless, ~15" screen, lots of memory, and > optical unit, and preferable a long battery time (i.e. CPU speed is > not that important). > > Webpages, own experiences or any other comparisons available? > > Please cc me if answering. > > /andreas > I am running FreeBSD (8-STABLE) on a Dell Latitude D630, and I'm very content with it. The D630 version has a 14.1" display, but I believe there is also a 15" version (which was called D830 if I recall correctly). Out of the box support for wireless (wpi) , wired (bge) , cpu-throtteling (cpufreq), audio (snd_hda) and the display-dimming functionality. When I bought it battery lifetime was over 6 hours (with a 9 cell battery) when just using browser/e-mail client/ word-processor kind of applications. Now (I have this machine about 2.5 years now) it's still about 3 hours, and I use it every day for at least 3 or 4 hours. Suspend/Resume almost works; meaning it does actually suspend and resume, unfortunately both wired and wireless are dead after resuming. Since I never use a external monitor I do not know if that works correctly or not. My version has an intel card but it is also possible to obtain a laptop with a nvidia GPU. For the external monitor stuff I guess the best bet would be an nvidia card. Anyway: the conclusion is that it may be a good idea to take a look at Dell's range of laptops. Good luck & Regards, -- - Frank