[TriLUG] Which laptop to buy

David McDowell turnpike420 at gmail.com
Tue Dec 20 22:35:13 EST 2005 

I used this method of cloning taught to me by other TriLUG members:
http://www.turnpike420.net/linux/Knoppix_Uses.txt

Worked fine for me!  So clone yourself before you wreckity wreck
yourself.  :p  If you don't like what the new stuff brings, re-image
your drive from the .img file.  Make sure you use the command in the
Clone section, not Blank section.

David McD

On 12/20/05, Corey <ohkeepah at gmail.com> wrote:
> oops, didn't see that you are running 5.10 as I'm still on 5.04.  I haven't
> upgraded yet, my system is tweaked perfectly and so I'm a little reluctant
> to switch.  I've been looking for a good way to save an image of my current
> system (another topic for another day)
>
> Good thing to know, however, when I am running 5.10!
>
> On 12/20/05, David McDowell <turnpike420 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I have a 30GB drive I think.  I left the last 6GB of the drive empty,
> > unpartitioned.  I made a 24GB partition for WinXP and installed that,
> > did all the updates and hundreds of reboots, then shutdown completely.
> > I then booted from an Ubuntu 5.10 CD and did that install.  Grub
> > handles the boot menu.  So once Ubuntu was completely updated, I
> > shutdown.  Now I have 2 OS's on the box.  I powered up, I get the grub
> > boot menu, I choose WinXP, boot, login, and do whatever it is you
> > booted to WinXP to do.  Then when it is time to hibernate, choose
> > Start > Shutdown > "h" (h for hibernate).  When you choose Start >
> > Shutdown on a XP installation that is not a member of a domain, you
> > get the 3 pretty colors, green, yellow and red??  Hold "Alt" I
> > believe, and you should see one of these switch it's function to
> > hibernate.  I just learned hitting "h" worked for shortcut purposes.
> > Once WinXP is in hibernation, you can turn the power back on, and the
> > grub boot menu comes up once again.  The option you need for Ubuntu
> > (if you do Ubuntu as your linux distro) should be the default option
> > if grub times out.  Ubuntu 5.04 did not hibernate (and even standby
> > was a pita) but it appears Ubuntu 5.10 does hibernate properly, though
> > I've only used this feature once so far.  You can hibernate each OS
> > independently and power on, use the boot menu and resume whichever OS
> > you want.
> >
> > Tip:  Most people say if you are going to dual boot with any Microsoft
> > Windows based system to install it first at the beginning of the drive
> > and complete that before installing linux on the empty space you left
> > behind.
> >
> > Note:  If you still have the default WinXP install on your Thinkpad,
> > make sure you burn the System CDs before you re-partition your
> > drive... and of course backup all your data!  :)
> >
> > hope that helps,
> > David McD
> >
> >
> > On 12/20/05, Corey <ohkeepah at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > David, I have the same setup as you and am interested in how you
> > hibernate
> > > xp and then switch between O.S's
> > >
> > > On 12/18/05, David McDowell <turnpike420 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > You can get a T42 with 1400x1050 no prob.  I love mine (I have the
> > > > 1024x768 model though) and there is no built in firewire, but I have
> > > > an Adaptec pcmcia iEEE-1394 card... 3 port firewire 400 and it works
> > > > perfectly with WinXP, CentOS 4.x and Ubuntu 5.x.  Nice fast laptop,
> > > > solid hardware.  Can't be bought without an XP license on it though.
> > > > They signed a deal with the devil.  :)  Make sure that you burn the
> > > > system CDs BEFORE you reformat and repartition the drive, b/c that's
> > > > the only chance you get.  Support will not send you a set if you don't
> > > > burn the CDs for yourself.  Trust me, I know... :)  It's $45 for the
> > > > set, or you can spend half a day online like I did and finally finding
> > > > their XP based tool for downloading ALL the M$ drivers and software
> > > > which came on the box, except one, the soft DVD player.  I fixed that
> > > > problem by using VLC.  http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
> > > >
> > > > I have WinXP and Ubuntu 5.10 dual boot, I can hibernate the XP, boot
> > > > into U 5.10 (I think it even hibernates successfully now) and then use
> > > > grub to quickly un-hibernate whichever OS I want to use.
> > > >
> > > > The Adaptec firewire card I have is model AFW-1430:
> > > >
> > > >
> > http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/proddetail.html?sess=no&prodkey=AFW-1430&language=English+US&cat=Products
> > > >
> > > > good luck.
> > > > David McD
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 12/16/05, kevin at flanagannc.net <kevin at flanagannc.net> wrote:
> > > > > I have a Thinkpad T42 at work, it's really nice, doesn't do the
> > screen
> > > > res
> > > > > that you wanted, just 1024x768 on the screen, but the external port
> > runs
> > > > > nicely at 1600x1200.  It's not the fastest, or the sexiest, but it's
> > a
> > > > > great system.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I just saw a co-worker bought a compaq AMD Turion based system, he's
> > > > > really happy with it, but I didn't get a good look.  He did say that
> > it
> > > > > was only $850, that's something that the Thinkpad can't claim.
> > > > >
> > > > > Kevin
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > Which laptop to buy, that is the question.  The requirements are
> > built
> > > > > > in Ethernet (gigabit would be nice), IEEE-1394 (FireWire) and a
> > large
> > > > > > (as in pixels) screen (1400x1050 minimum).  I must be able to boot
> > > > both
> > > > > > Linux and some other well known OS.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I do not care who makes the CPU as long as it is x86, sorry no
> > Macs
> > > > for
> > > > > > this one.  I have had less then happy experiences with Dell, and
> > would
> > > > > > like to stay away from them.  I also find Dell's Linux support to
> > be
> > > > > > about worthless.  I have bought my last Sony anything because of
> > their
> > > > > > DRM shananagains.  I have been happy with my IBM a20p Thinkpad and
> > > > > > before the my Digital HiNote II, but both are just a bit under
> > > > powered.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Any suggestions on what to buy and where would help.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks
> > > > > > Charles Fischer
> > > > > > --
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