Laptop suggestions?

[John Nielsen]

On Thursday 24 July 2008, Frank Mayhar wrote:
> My old Dell Inspiron 5160 has developed problems that I can't fix, sigh,
> so it's time to replace it.  I'm hoping for some good suggestions from
> this list (cc'd to hackers for the exposure, I know everyone doesn't
> read -mobile).

I haven't played with one hands-on, but the laptop I was going to buy until 
$work supplied a different one was a Fujitsu Lifebook E8410. It has a few 
customization options if you get it from Fujitsu directly. Among these are 
Intel graphics and Atheros wireless, 2 of the main things I was looking for 
for good FreeBSD hw support.

> My criteria:
>       * 3D acceleration.
check ought to work w/ intel(4x) driver on i386 or amd64
>       * MiniPCI wireless (don't care which card, I'll replace it
>         anyway).
AFAIK. I was planning to select the Atheros option and leave it..
>       * At least 15" screen.
15.4 Wide with WSXGA+ option
>       * Decent power consumption.
Unknown, but available 8-cell main and 6-cell modular batteries.
>       * Plays well with FreeBSD 7-stable.
AFAIK.

> Nice to have:
>       * Dual core.
check.
>       * >4GB memory.
=4GB avail. (can you get more on a laptop yet?)
>       * Working suspend/hibernate mode (and no, I'm not holding my
>         breath).
unknown. has any progress been made WRT suspend/resume + SMP on FreeBSD in 
general?
>
> So, suggestions?  BTW, if I get a decent response I'll summarize it for
> the list, along with the one I chose and my experience after
> ordering/installing it.

Best of luck and do post your experiences.

JN