What laptop do you recommend?

[John Goodleaf]

Quick top post.

Is there a FAQ or page where this sort of info is (or becomes) summarized?
J

<quote who="Norberto Meijome">
> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:00:31 -0800
> "Kevin Oberman" <oberman at es.net> wrote:
>
>> > Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:07:32 -0500
>> > From: Parv <parv at pair.com>
>> > Sender: owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org
>> >
>> > in message <20060314113412.3470fde5 at localhost>,
>> > wrote Norberto Meijome thusly...
>> > >
>> > > On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:32:40 -0300
>> > > freebsd at meijome.net wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > I'm looking for a new, gruntier laptop. What laptop is known to
>> > > > work WELL with freeBSD? e.g.:
>> > > >
>> > > > ACPI with no problems (and as many features as possible)
>> > > > PATA / SATA with no problems
>> >
>> > I don't think Thinkpad has [SP]ATA things (yet).
>>
>> From my T43:
>> atapci0: <Intel ICH6 SATA150 controller> port
>> 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0x18c0-0x18cf at device 31.2 on
>> pci0 Since the drives are still PATA, I assume it uses a SATA/PATA
>> chip for the internal drives, but it may make SATA available to a
>> docking station.
>
> yeah, the T60s (available now @ my provider! ) also come with SATA
> drives.
>
>> > If you can, try to get a laptop either without a 802.11g (so that
>> > you can decide which one to buy) or buy one supported by ath driver.
>> > I have T42 w/ Intel 2200BG card, and it using w/ iwi driver
>> > (net/iwi-firmware port).  Here, connected w/ Linksys WRT54G wireless
>> > router/switch/AP, iwi interface|driver needs to be reset just about
>> > every two hours (when i start getting "TKIP ICV mismatch on decrypt"
>> > message.
>>
>> iwi (and its kin-folk) have been betting heavy work in HEAD over the
>> past week or two and, hopefully, things will improve. OTOH, I have two
>> colleagues using this card with Windows and they complain that it
>> locks up periodically and they have to disable and enable it to get
>> it back, so this may not be just a FreeBSD thing. There is also
>> fairly new firmware out (V3.0) which MAY fix some of these problems.
>
> I have a 2200BG on this tosh A2 - some lockups, but couldn't pinpoint
> it to the card (again, i've made the habit of ifconfig down before
> suspend...) . No problems at all while running.
>
>> > > > Looking into either Intel duo Core or AMD64 chips.
>> >
>> > Can't say about Thinkpad on that.
>>
>> I think the only ThinkPads with Core Duo are T60s, although I'm sure
>> other will follow. Don't know if Lenovo will ever go the AMD route,
>> but I sure hope they do. My AMD desktop is one amazing system!
>
> I know :)
>
> What about AMD64 (single or Dual core) cpus for laptops ("Turin" ? ) :
> any good experiences there anyone?
>
>> > > > >From what I've read, IBMs seem to have quite good support, so
>> > > > >do DELLs
>> > > > (though they seem chunkier than other laptops). I usually get
>> > > > Toshiba, but I don't think they are so well supported.
>> >
>> > Boy do those Toshiba's "TruBrite" screen looked amazing (in a chain
>> > store).
>
> yeah, a colleague has a Tecra A5, bright as a CRT.
>
>>
>> FWIW, I have been amazed at the brightness of my T43. It is MUCH
>> brighter than my trusty T30.
>>
>> > > What about DELL laptops? any model I should stick to?
>> >
>> > People generally advise to get one from "business" line (used to be
>> > "Latitude" for some time in past; don't know about the
>> > present/future), not the "home" one ("Inspiron").
>> >
>> >
>> > > Thinkpads are a bit pricey for me atm.
>> >
>> > T4[0-3]-generation should be affordable by now, around USD1[0-2]00.
>> >
>> >
>> > > (Greg Lehey i think was using dells... could well be wrong...)
>> >
>> > Yes, some Dell Inspiron.
>>
>> My wife has not been at all happy with her Latitude. Heavy and still
>> not robust. Unpleasant keyboard and very touchy touchpad. (This is
>> from her as I don't often use it.) I do love the 1600x1200 display,
>> though!
>>
>> For less expensive (and less powerful) ThinkPads, look at the R
>> series. No Core Duos there, but they start at about $800 new. No
>> touchpads (which I consider a plus), but a bit clunky compared to the
>> T series.
>
> yeah.... i'm running the features vs numbers job atm...
>
> Actually thinking of looking into the components of ASUS laptops, as
> well as those from pioneercomputers.com.au - have heard of some great
> experiences with those laptops with Linux.
>
> BTW, thanks everyone for your help :) will keep asking questions as
> needed, of course ;)
>
> Beto
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