Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 12:48:06 -0800 From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com> To: will andrews <andrews@technologist.com> Cc: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>, mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Latest laptop recommendations Message-ID: <199912072048.MAA25669@mina.sr.hp.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 07 Dec 1999 14:32:26 EST." <XFMail.991207143226.andrews@technologist.com>
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will andrews <andrews@technologist.com> wrote:
> On 06-Dec-99 Brett Glass wrote:
> > So far, the best candidate I've found is the Gateway Solo 9150 -- not their
> > latest model, nor their fastest (the 9150 has a 333 MHz Celeron). But it
> > seems to use supported chipsets. Does anyone have experience with this
> > model? With others that are worth considering?
>
> I like my Dell Inspiron 7000, which works well with FreeBSD (I can even get
> XF86_Mach64 X server working with the ATI Rage Pro AGP card), however, beware
> the modem. You should be able to get Dell to put one in that works with
> FreeBSD; ask about, say, a "Linux-compatible" modem. :-)
While I love my Inspiron 7500, I don't think it meets Brett's
requirements (note: the 7000 is no longer available, and there are
rumors that the 7500 may be obsoleted in January or February). In
particular:
* XFree86 3.3.5 does not work on it "out of the box" (note that this is
for the 7500, and not the no-longer-available 7000). The 7500 uses
the ATI Rage Mobility-P chipset, which isn't yet supported by XFree86.
I've got an hacked-up (*very* unofficial) version of the Mach64 server
working, but it's a bit buggy (the server starts corrupting graphics
after a couple of hours of use, but I think this is an XFree86 bug).
* Sound doesn't work. The 7500 uses the Maestro 2E, which Brett
specifically said he didn't want. FreeBSD-current doesn't support the
Maestro, and even the OSS drivers don't work (on a recent -current,
but that's probably due to the recent changes in -current).
That said, the 7500 is a very nice machine. Other pros and cons:
* The 1400x1050 display is gorgeous under X. Going back to 1024x768 is
like going back to using crayons. ;-)
* Having built-in DVD/CDROM and floppy drives are very nice.
* Suspend/resume works under Win98 and 3.3-RELEASE. I don't know about
-current, as I just installed -current on my 7500, and I'm waiting for
the pccard fixes (pccard has broken suspend/resume in -current).
[ Well, if you take out the pccard drivers in -current, suspend/resume
does work. ]
[ Also, by "suspend/resume" in 3.3-RELEASE, I'm talking about
"suspend-to-RAM". I haven't figured out how to do a suspend-to-
disk under FreeBSD. I'm not sure it's even possible. ]
* The 7500 is a desktop replacement. It's big and heavy (~9.5lbs+).
It's fine for carrying to/from work, but it's probably not good if you
travel a lot. However, if power, power, and more power is more
important than portability, it's the way to go.
* Having a 15" or 15.4" display, the laptop is big, and so it won't fit
into some laptop carrying cases. I've got a nice laptop backpack (one
that looks like a plain jane backpack, and not one of those laptop
cases that say, "steal me"), and the 7500 doesn't really fit. I have
to put the laptop sideways into the backpack, and, even then, it's a
tight fit.
* The laptop can get hot. I wouldn't want to use it on my lap, as the
bottom can get uncomfortably warm/hot. The middle of the keyboard
gets warm (the hard disk is below there), and the area around the
[Enter] key to the top of the keyboard gets surprisingly warm
(probably due to the CPU). For me, the warm area under [Enter] and
[Backspace] can get a bit uncomfortable when typing.
There is a fan to cool the CPU, but, as I'm not doing a lot of
CPU-intensive stuff, the fan hasn't turned on very often.
I don't (yet) have the port replicator, and so I can't comment on how
it affects the airflow.
[ Note: even though it makes the keyboard warm, I don't think the hard
disk gets any hotter than those of the other laptops I've used
(Toshiba 730CDX & HP Omnibook 3000CTX). ]
* If you order the standard modem, you get a winmodem. My "solution"
was to delete the modem from the order, which saved a little $$$.
--
Darryl Okahata
darrylo@sr.hp.com
DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or
of the little green men that have been following him all day.
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