From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Dec 21 04:51:23 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1DDFC16A4CE for ; Tue, 21 Dec 2004 04:51:23 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mail3.panix.com (mail3.panix.com [166.84.1.74]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9797B43D2D for ; Tue, 21 Dec 2004 04:51:22 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from fj@panix.com) Received: from panix5.panix.com (panix5.panix.com [166.84.1.5]) by mail3.panix.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id DB84A981C8 for ; Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:51:21 -0500 (EST) Received: (from fj@localhost) by panix5.panix.com (8.11.6p3/8.8.8/PanixN1.1) id iBL4pMv05339 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:51:22 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:51:22 -0500 From: Joe Altman To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20041221045122.GA12435@panix.com> Mail-Followup-To: Joe Altman , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <9a.1c2fb899.2ef7d0f7@aol.com> <200412200454.09343.algould@datawok.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200412200454.09343.algould@datawok.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.1i Subject: Re: installing bsd on a laptop X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 04:51:23 -0000 On Mon, Dec 20, 2004 at 04:54:09AM -0600, Andrew L. Gould wrote: > On Monday 20 December 2004 12:53 am, NathanKelly31@aol.com wrote: > > hello, do you know of any laptop brands that can run freebsd or > > openbsd that is available to purchase??? > > I was unable to get a Compaq's pccard working under FreeBSD 5.2.1 using > either the new or old pccard systems. I had no problems on a Dell > using FreeBSD 4.10 or 5.3. Not following up to Andrew, in particular, but to point out the "...a Dell (or Gateway or HP or whatever)..." is not very exact; and it may be helpful to indicate a model and /or number for any recommendation. For instance: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs shows several possible notebooks. Let's take this one: Inspiron 1150, with various features, including: Memory 256MB Shared DDR SDRAM, 1 Dimm which means that video fills its needs from system memory. Now, the issue here is that for lower end laptops that use shared memory and the Intel integrated graphics chip with a bios lock on memory allocation, you may end up w/o the ability to display in 1024x768 in X. So it may pay for anyone to check to see that the available memory is sufficient to provide a minimum comfortable resolution. Another example: http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/prodDetails.asp?system_id=m275x&seg=hm Midway down, you'll see this: Integrated Intel. Extreme Graphics 2 What does that mean, WRT resolution in X? I can't find out, easily (it's a JavaScript thing). It is likely that it has enough memory for 1024x768 or even a finer resolution; but it would be a good idea to make sure, IMO. In short, I would recommend that you get as much detail from the vendor as you can; and don't assume that because it is a modern machine and some models in a brand do work very well with FreeBSD that any given model will work well with FreeBSD.