[Gllug] Notebooks...

[Robert Postill]

Dylan,
I've used IBM for a while now with SuSE (or is that SUSE now?) and my
impressions are pretty positive.  The T-Series that I have (a T23 to be
exact) is pretty chunky so it does have space for serial, parallel and a
single USB port (Check the Reg Cash & Carrion store at
http://www.theregister.co.uk for a little 4-port hub that does not
require a separate power supply).  The cons are it runs a little hot so
don't leave it next to your ice-cream :) and they're not cheap. 
All-in-all it's a decent machine and there are people who've even
managed to kick the IBM winmodems into life.

The other thing I'd say is that Toshiba's sometimes come with a dongle
for serial ports and whatnot.  I can imagine that's not going to be easy
to deal with but they cost a lot less than the IBMs on average.

HTH
Robert.
On Fri, 2004-02-27 at 04:18, Dylan wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I'm looking to buy a notebook machine in the near future, and would 
> welcome any advice, pointers or horror stories...
> 
> I will be using ti to watch DVDs when away from home, and to control my 
> telescope 'in the field.'
> 
> My requirements are:
> Serial port (or a USB to serial adaptor which is supported by Linux)
> WIFI and wired LAN port (wifi could be a PCMCIA card)
> External keyboard and pointer-device connection (could be USB, of 
> course, but with a possible USB-serial adaptor, and the essential 
> pen-drive, we're running out of USB sockets and a powered hub ain't 
> gonna cut it on a hilltop...)
> Bluetooth (for connection to mobile phone if this is supported)
> Modem
> Full install set for Windoze (sorry about this, but the data upload 
> s/ware for the 'scope is Windoze only, although xephem controls the 
> thing once the catalog is uploaded. - there are *nix projects to do the 
> job but they're all 0.2 releases max and I'm not risking them on £1000 
> of kit!) I don't want restore disks because I'll only ever use it to 
> upload to the 'scope, so OS free would probably be OK and I could use 
> the dusty Win98 I've still got (assuming the CD still reads and it can 
> drive the machine.)
> 
> So, what experience does the group have to offer...?
> 
> TIA
> Dylan
> 
> -- 
> "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little 
> temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." 
>                                   -Benjamin Franklin
-- 
Robert Postill
robert at grinning-cat.com
Tel:07968 801326
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