My Netbook Project
Hi Folks
I have decided that I need (or would like) a netbook. My ThinkPad is a
desktop replacement, very heavy, gets very hot, has short battery life,
and spends its time connected to many cables including an external
monitor (xinerama with the laptop panel,) keyboard and trackball. In
short, it's not very portable or suitable for on-the-lap stuff.
None of the netbooks on the market appeal to me particularly; I want a
decent-sized screen and a low price - this is why I am building my own.
I am starting with an old ThinkPad 560. This is a very light, slimline,
laptop with no CDROM, floppy, or any other hardware "bloat" - but a
nice, clear 12" screen (1024x768 pixels.)
I will be removing the 4Gb hard disc and replacing it with a 4Gb Compact
Flash card and CF to IDE adapter. This should cut my power consumption,
heat wastage, and improve shock immunity.
There is either 92Mb or 96Mb of RAM (can't remember which,) this being
the fully expanded amount.
The only minus is the fact that networking will be via a PCMCIA card,
thus I have a bit sticking out all the time. The card I am going to use
is a Netgear WG511 v2. I believe that I might have to much around with
Ndiswrapper for this which is a bit of a nuisance since all the
documentation on the Ndiswrapper site has disappeared!
Add to that a new battery and some fairly serious cleaning of the
keyboard and I think I'll have myself a handy little machine.
The big question at this stage is whether I should install the
Debian-derived DamnSmallLinux (which sounds like it should "just work")
or go for regular Lenny. Whilst I'd like to go as mainstream as
possible, I don't want to have to do too much messing about to get the
system working on what might be considered fairly limited hardware.
Comments? Suggestions?
Cheers
M
--
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Blog/personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy
Skype: msmiffy
Twitter: @smiffytech
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