[Preston] some quick questions about a linux laptop

[Matthew T. Atkinson]

'ello there,

I am thinking of getting a laptop to run Linux. It will mainly be used for
taking notes in lectures (as I'm visually impaired it would be a great
benefit to have one).  I have not got a great deal of money to spend on it
(£700) so I'd need a second hand one or a really low-spec new one.  I would
probably prefer a new one because I need at least 2 batteries (I have 4
hours of lectures in a row on one day - *argh*).  USB would be a requirement
too. FireWire would be nice but I know I haven't the budget for it, LOL.

I've been searching around on http://www.linux-laptop.net/ and Google for
answers but haven't really found any helpful ones so far.

My questions are:

1). What's the minimum spec you'd recommend? It needs to run GNOME2 and the
screen reader/magnifier "Gnopernicus" (when released - I estimate, as a
worst case, that this will add a significant overhead; probably about 30-50%
CPU usage and 32-64MB of RAM if its anything like its M$ Windows
counterparts). It needs to be able to run OpenOffice.org so I can read the
PowerPoint slides of the lecture. I imagine using OpenOffice.org Writer or
Math to write my notes. Could I get away with XFree86 3.36 (I expect not)?

2). I want to be able to connect it to my desktop to transfer files. I don't
need anything fancy (yet)  - just file transfer.  Is this easy to set up?
Would I just set up a DHCP server on my desktop's "internal" network card (I
have 2 NICs) and let the laptop get an IP that way?  How would I transfer
files after they've 'connected'?

3).  Does hibernate (i.e. save memory to disk and switch off to save the as
much power as possible) work on Linux?  Are there any power-saving tips that
I should know (as I am really concerned about power consumption/battery
life)?

Thanks very much for any suggestions,


bye just now,




matthew