Update: Re: [ale] eMachines AMD64 notebook

Wed Feb 4 10:12:55 EST 2004

Laptops are moving so fast that the hardware really does 
take a few months to be covered by the kernel and/or other 
open source projects.  The Dell I8500 we purchased almost a 
year ago still doesn't have full support with totally free 
software.  However, the OpenGL support on the Nvidia Go 
chipset has made it worth it for when we needed high powered 
graphics on the road.

The Dell high end line would go up to 2Gb RAM and with swap 
defined for another 2Gb, you would be able to manipulate a 
+2Gb file.  Certainly, swapping is not great but it would 
make your operation possible.  I'd check to see if 
hyperthreading comes on the Inspiron line in the versions 
with the Nvidia Go video.

If you haven't talked to EmperorLinux about your needs, I 
would definitely do that now.  They might have some options 
that your not aware of as they write kernel level code to 
accomodate hardware that isn't supported yet.  It would give 
you a six month edge on supported laptop models.  They 
submit their changes to the kernel development teams but 
there is a time lag even there.  The Rhino from Emperor 
would work for your needs, I think.
Dow

Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> Chris -
> 
> That's very good to know, because it's starting to look like the
> eMachines M6807 AMD64 laptop wouldn't be a bad idea (recall that I am
> allowing for the possibility that I may have to manipulate very large
> {>2GB} files).  High-end P4 laptops are considerably more expensive. 
> 
> Granted, I may have to live life as a dual-booter for some amount of
> time, but it looks like there's enough forward velocity in the
> Linux-on-Athlon64 space that things won't just stagnate (the existence
> of this very laptop will certainly help to drive that).  
> 
> And, hey, all this Gentoo installation experience may pay off yet,
> although it'll be a head trip to be able to do it in an afternoon; I'm
> used to doing it on Pentium Classics (P/60, dual P/133,P/166-MMX).
> 
> - Jeff
> 
> On Wed, 2004-02-04 at 07:09, Christopher Fowler wrote:
> 
>>It reminds me of the Cablevision guy that came to my house to install my
>>cable modem years ago.  He saw that I was running RedHat and asked
>>questions.  I gave him a copy on CD.  As a thank you he went out to my
>>cable box and hooked me up with all the channels.  
>>
>>As far as BB goes I've been pleased with them.  I purchased a ZE1250 HP
>>from them in August of 2002.  I usually do not purchase extended
>>warranties on anything but if it is a piece of equipment I carry like
>>camera or laptop I buy them.  Since then I've only taken my laptop to
>>the shop twice.  Once was for a new battery.  They let me keep the old
>>one and it still had 50% of its life.  The laptop is now in the shop for
>>a busted DVD/CD-RW and the hinges of the LCD are being tightened.  So
>>far all this has been covered by their warranty.  I'll probably end up
>>purchasing my next laptop there.  
>>
>>
>>
>>On Tue, 2004-02-03 at 23:55, Jeff Hubbs wrote:
>>
>>>Today I took Knoppix and Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org) CDs to Office
>>>Depot and Best Buy to evaluate laptops.  I wasn't disturbed at Office
>>>Depot but a succession of blue-shirted goons stopped me for questioning
>>>at Best Buy.
>>>
>>>I didn't have time to try Knoppix on the AMD64-based eMachines laptop
>>>but the Slax one booted up only so far and froze.  
>>>
>>>At Best Buy, concern was expressed that they have to keep their demo
>>>software on the machines; once I assured them that I wasn't affecting
>>>the hard drive, they were cool.  Actually, there was a blond fellow
>>>(Mike?) who actually spoke with me with interest about what I was doing
>>>and what I was having to deal with in selecting laptops.  He said he had
>>>messed with Linux a tiny bit and he had a roommate who messed with Linux
>>>some.  I gave him my CDs. :)  
>>>
>>>Knoppix seems to ignore the "screen" parameter when you pass it at boot
>>>time (I've had this happen on other machines too) but Slax believed me
>>>when I told it to give me 1200x800 and it gave me a
>>>properly-proportioned display on a Compaq at Office Depot, and
>>>touchpad-tapping and touchpad-scrolling both Just Worked.  This at least
>>>gives me hope.
>>>
>>>It is SuSE that offers an AMD64 Linux distro that is anything like ready
>>>to roll.  Gentoo support seems to be underway
>>>(http://dev.gentoo.org/~brad_mssw/amd64-tech-notes.html).  None of htese
>>>efforts, I believe, specifically address the eMachines M6807.  For the
>>>time being, at least as far as the aforementioned Gentoo link says,
>>>accelerated video for the built-in Radeon 9600 can't be had.  
>>>
>>>
>>>On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 06:04, Geoffrey wrote:
>>>
>>>>Jeff Hubbs wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 - Linux-usable?  Closed driver?
>>>>
>>>>For laptops, ATI generally refers you to the manufacturer of the laptop, 
>>>>but this link might provide some hope:
>>>>
>>>>http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html?type=linux&prodType=graphic&prod=productsLINUXdriver&submit.x=11&submit.y=10&submit=GO%21
>>>>
>>>>It's long and ugly, but a link to ati closed driver for the non-mobility 
>>>>9600.  Also check out the gatos project.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>1280 x 800 screen - how sucky?  I can dig the aspect ratio, but not
>>>>>because of DVD-watching - it's more a matter of having things like a
>>>>>browser window up on one side and an OO window up in the other.
>>>>>
>>>>>It says "Built-in high-speed wireless networking (802.11g/b-compliant);
>>>>>integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN; V.92 high-speed modem" - can I expect
>>>>>that none of these will necessarily work under Linux?  I do plan to use
>>>>>the 802.11 part of the time, even if I need to buy a known good PCMCIA
>>>>>802.11 card.
>>>>
>>>>the nic and modem could well work, the wireless is more likely going to 
>>>>be an issue.  It all depends on the chipsets.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>"Pointing Device:  Touchpad with vertical scroll zone" - I'm likely to
>>>>>pick up a real mouse (awesome if there's a way to do that wirelessly)
>>>>>for my laptop but it'd sure be nice if this functioned, especially the
>>>>>scroll pad and the tap/double-tap for mouse clicks.
>>>>
>>>>I've seen a couple of different wireless mice designed for laptops, 
>>>>haven't tried one yet though.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Related questions:
>>>>>
>>>>>Would I be happier if I got one of the hyperthreading P4s instead, to
>>>>>include one with better screen resolution even if it's 4:3 ratio?
>>>>
>>>>Can't help you with that one. :(  Although I think the need for a 64 bit 
>>>>processor is still questionable.
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Ale mailing list
>>Ale at ale.org
>>http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale

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Dow Hurst                  Office: 770-499-3428            *
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