[PLUG] Laptop brand recommendations

[Evan Heidtmann]

On Tue, 2005-07-12 at 15:27 -0400, Rogan Creswick wrote:
> On 7/12/05, Evan Heidtmann <clydefrog at adnap.no-ip.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, 2005-07-12 at 14:48 -0400, Rogan Creswick wrote:
> > > The ThinkPad T-series is quite good.  They weigh in at around 5 lbs,
> > > and with extended battery hit 4-5 hours on a charge.
> >
> > That sounds like a very good battery life. How does reality match up
> > with what they claim?
> 
> Those numbers are based on the experience of friends & co workers, I
> don't know what IBM claims -- probably 5.5 hours.

A little googling turned up this wonderful link:

http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/thinkpad/batterylife.html

They list *many* different models. The T42 I priced is listed as 4:25.

> > I've used some old thinkpads (ca. 1998) at school and they're built like
> > tanks. They seem to run forever. Have they kept up their good
> > engineering, and do you expect it to continue under Lenovo? I was biased
> > towards IBM, but after the acquisition I'm not so sure.
> 
> I haven't seen anything to indicate that the quality has degraded, but
> I don't have a lot to base that on.  On the plus side, I'm working at
> IBM research and haven't heard anyone complaining about the newer
> thinkpads (and there are a *lot* of thinkpads around here).

That's good to hear!

One thing that concerns me about IBM is I can't find any way to get my
hands on one before I buy - they don't do retail as far as I can tell.
Do you know how I can get to see one in person before I part with my
money?

> > Can you recommend some reading on understanding the issues involved in
> > power management, and how to test to see if a given machine works well?
> > I have never owned or used a laptop with a working battery, so this is
> > new territory for me.
> 
> I don't have any good links -- I'm no expert here either.  As a
> general rule, the newer it is the less likely it will work
> flawelessly.    As Rich mentioned, the linux-on-laptops site is a good
> start.  I'd also check out emperorlinux.com, the laptops are extremely
> expensive, but if the hardware can be supported, they are probably one
> of the first to find out if and how.

Thanks for the links. I stumbled on this site while looking for
information on the builtin wireless:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_PRO/Wireless_2200BG_Mini-PCI_Adapter

It's a bookmark for sure.

> I'm interested to see what you go with, if you end up with a T-42 we
> should swap configs.

I just priced a T42. I chose the Pentium M 735 (1.7Ghz), the 15"
1400x1050 screen, 60GB drive, 1GB PC2700 DDR, an extra battery, and XP
Pro (I plan to use Debian mostly, but Home won't work on my college's
network and I might as well have a usable OS if I can't skip it
entirely). With the $130 3-year depot contract, it comes out to $2507. 

Is that normal? It seems high to me, even given IBM's good reputation.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions,
Evan

> 
> --Rogan
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG mailing list
> PLUG at lists.pdxlinux.org
> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug