[TriLUG] Shopping for new laptop...

[Steve Litt]

On Wednesday 11 July 2007 15:20, Tom Eisenmenger wrote:

> 1) I'd prefer going AMD;  is there a problem or caveat if I go with
> one of their 64-bit X2 chips?  Better to stick with single core?  32-
> bit?  Any reason why I should seriously consider Intel instead?

I run Mandriva 2007 32bit on my Compaq with an AMD 64 bit chip. Works 
perfectly. Mandriva 2007 64bit also works perfectly, but unfortunately the 64 
bit version doesn't include several applications I need.

> 3) Graphics chipsets:  if I go AMD it'll probably have ATI (which is
> what my Dell has now).  Is there a compelling reason to look for
> nVidia instead?  Does Linus handle the newer widescreen monitors
> reasonably well (1280 x 800)?

Both my notebooks are widescreens. In one case I had to boot Knoppix and use 
the xorg.conf it created. IIRC, both computers occasionally hang when 
changing between CLI and GUI. I cured that by having them boot into 
framebuffer video.

My Acer notebook cannot correctly drive the projectors I've tried it on, no 
matter what I did in xorg.conf. I haven't tried a projector with my Compaq 
notebook.

>
> 4) Wireless:  It  looks like most of today's offerings include
> Broadcom wireless;  how's its Linux support?  Should I opt for
> something else if it's out there?

IMHO Broadcom really sux. My Compaq notebook has Broadcom, and I wasn't able 
to get Linux to reliably work with it, either native or NDISWrapper. My Acer 
notebook has Atheros wireless NIC, and getting it to work with Linux, using 
the native driver that was packaged with Mandriva, was as easy as falling off 
a log.

Worst case do what I do and carry a Linksys WUSB54G USB wireless network card, 
and plug that in. You can ndiswrapper that card fairly easily. See my content 
at http://www.troubleshooters.com/lpm/200612/200612.htm.

>
> 5) Anything else I should consider?  I'm looking most closely at
> 15.4" widescreen models as I actually do use mine as a laptop on
> occasion - 17" is more of a desktop replacement in my book...
>
> FWIW, there are some great deals out there.  Of particular interest
> is the Compaq Presario F572US (15.4" "Briteview" widescreen, Athlon
> 64 X2 TK-53, 1gig DDR2, 80g 5400RPM SATA (might have to upgrade that)
> $479 at Staples after rebates.  Comparable Turions seem to up the
> price by about $200.  Comments?

I never consider rebates in pricing anything. My experience is that getting 
your rebate is either a full time job, or a game of chance. I don't have time 
for the former, and can't count on the latter.

SteveT


>
> Thanks all,
>
> Tom Eisenmenger

Steve Litt
Author: Universal Troubleshooting Process books and courseware
http://www.troubleshooters.com/