[Gllug] Notebooks...

[Dylan]

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

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temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." 
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