Laptop suggestions?

[Frank Mayhar]

On Fri, 2008-07-25 at 18:02 -0400, John Nielsen wrote:
> 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).

Turns out the issue is a known problem, although one that Dell is
apparently refusing to own up to, with overheating causing problems with
the power connector on the 5150 and 5160 motherboards and often with
other nearby components as well.  Annoying, and makes me want to stay
away from Dell.

> 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.

After reading all the replies I'm actually taking your suggestion and
going with Fujitsu, specifically the E8420.  I'm getting the NVidia
option and I'll be running in i386 mode until FreeBSD can handle the
nvidia requirements for amd64 mode.  Atheros wireless, WSXGA+ option and
2GB upgradable to 4.  I'll keep my fingers crossed with regard to
working suspend/resume but again I'm not holding my breath.  They claim
that with the 8-cell main and 6-cell modular battery it has a 5:30
runtime; we'll see.
-- 
Frank Mayhar frank at exit.com     http://www.exit.com/
Exit Consulting                 http://www.gpsclock.com/
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