[NTLUG:Discuss] Linux-friendly laptops

[Kelledin]

On Tuesday 12 March 2002 01:37 pm, you wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good laptop for Linux?
> My boss is paying, so money is not an issue:)
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

The most cost-efficient laptops tend to be Compaq.  The absolute best laptops 
(for any operating system) tend to be Dell.  I personally use a Compaq 
Presario 1700T.  It's a bit quirky, but it gets the job done and runs Linux 
fairly well.

For video, you're generally better off going with an ATI chipset in your 
laptop.  nVidia's Linux support isn't that great, and Geforce2Go support is 
hit-and-miss.  ATI mobility cards generally have good 3D and DVD 
acceleration, with most features supported via open-source drivers.

For sound, many laptops come equipped with something from the ESS Maestro 
series.  Maestro 1, 2, 2E, and 3 cards all work well in Linux, as do most 
other ESS Technologies products.

As far as CPU goes, the two to stay away from are the Athlon and the Pentium 
IV.  Both are extremely power-hungry chips and will eat up battery life like 
mad.  The best laptop CPUs are either Transmeta Crusoe chips or .13-micron 
PIII-M chips.

Most laptop manufacturers favor either an Intel 8255x chipset or a DEC/Intel 
21x4x chipset for built-in Ethernet.  Both are well-supported in Linux.

For some reason, a lot of OEMs favor the old Phoenix BIOS of yore for the 
system BIOS.  Intel uses it on their reference motherboards, and Compaq puts 
it on all their systems.  The Phoenix BIOS is quite frankly a crap BIOS with 
no tweaking options and an APM layer that Linux often doesn't recognize.  
Crappy as it is, you might not be able to get away from it for a laptop, but 
I'd at least try for an Award BIOS.

_______________________________________________
Kelledin
"If a server crashes in a server farm and no one hears it, does it still cost 
four figures to fix?"