Re: Best "new" laptop
On Fri, Feb 02, 2001 at 11:58:00AM -0800, Heather wrote:
> > On Thu, Feb 01, 2001 at 05:38:56PM -0800, Heather wrote:
> > > * video chipset that is -actually- supported by X 4. I'm strongly
> > > interested in moving that direction, but since my current systems
> > > work, I'm not terribly interested in half measures or putting up
> > > with bleeding-edge vendor bull. Wish me luck. I think this is
> > > my pickiest feature request.
> > Hmm, my Dell Inspiron 5000e has ATI Rage Mobility M3 16 MB (r128).
> > Works rather well in XF4 (@1400x1050), although I get some weird
> > "desynched" "burning" LCD screens when switching back to text mode
> > in certain modes.
>
> Ah, I know that system. Really nice box, a bit large for me though.
> They solve the sound driver for Maestro3i yet?
NOPE. Not 3i, 2E. :-)
There's a 3 driver after 2.2.18preSomething, though.
A colleague of mine has the Maestro 3, and that driver works great
for him, even with MIDI and stuff.
> which modes?
>
> Hmm, does using a kernel with framebuffer text modes fix that? (that
> should give you a proper graphic reset; framebuffer text modes are really
> graphical states.)
>
> > And if using frame buffer on bootup, then the same weird thing happens.
>
> Oh. ouchy! Is this a custom kernel? I think you have to go in and tag
> something special in the framebuffer section for ATI cards when building it.
Hmm, could try that...
Note that my XF4 is fully accelerated with DRI support.
I'm running tuxracer, and it's fairly usable (30 FPS), even windowed
in a 1400x1050/16 screen.
800x600 fullscreen should be perfect.
> > > * it has to have decent onboard disk space. ...
> > > btw: best 9 mm drives, anyone? criteria - well behaved, then
> > > capacity, then price. I might just buy one of these
> > > and not bother with a new laptop yet.
> (trimming; DELL's support is good, the drives aren't so hot.)
> > My 20GB Fujitsu drive just failed on me after only 7 weeks.
> > IBM drives are said to be rather "clunky", and it seems Dell has *frequent*
> > problems (... clunking [ouch], high pitched noise) with big HDDs
> > (many brands, but also IBM).
> > Somebody said Toshiba drives were more quiet in general, but I don't know
> > much about this.
>
> Yeesh. I think I can settle for 12Gb then.
Hmm, maybe that's a valid decision.
One thing, though: don't buy an old IBM 15 GB model. They seem to be known
to develop an awful extremely high-pitched shrieking sound.
> > Actually I don't let the IBM spin down any more at all.
>
> seems wise...
>
> > In short: bigger drives seem to be VERY fragile !!!
> > But OTOH the 6.4 GB IBM in my very old Acer notebook already grew
> > much louder, too :-\
>
> Well, they do get old eventually :(
True. But maybe that's because I used some spindown timeout, too.
I'm very suspicious with HDD spindown now...
(as the bearings of notebook HDDs just seem to be worse than desktop HDD
bearings)
Andreas Mohr
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