New Laptop

[drlizau]

I'm trying to decide on a new laptop. My friend said take along a Knoppix CD and check the laptop before buying. But I have to buy over the net or by mail.
Can anyone name a laptop which will have a DVD drive, network, modem (not essential) and enough grunt and RAM to happily run Knoppix?

[Robert Michel]

Salve drlizau!

>I'm trying to decide on a new laptop.
Must it be a brand new one? A one year old one save money ;)

>My friend said take along a Knoppix CD and check the laptop before >buying. But I have to buy over the net or by mail.
Good friend :)
The trick is, when Knoppix runs, you know that the hardware is
supported by GNU/LINUX.

>Can anyone name a laptop which will have a DVD drive, network, modem >(not essential) and enough grunt and RAM to happily run >Knoppix?
see: http://www.knoppixfr.org/index.php?page=listhardware&cat=1
but consider, that the hardware of same model can be different!

DVD - sorry no experiances, but I can advise a CD-RW for a laptop,
you can also buy a laptop with only CD-ROM and by a tiny CD-RW
for 80 bugs and replace it yourself
network - IMHO is a build in card is better than PCMCIA
modem - Most build-in Modems are Windowsmodems - see www.linmodems.org
grunt - My laptop has 600 Mhz and for a handinstalled Linux it is fast
enough for videos
RAM >= 128 MB is fine, more is more fun

A big difference is how loud the laptop is. I have a 20 GB hd,
but I prefer my 5 GB one, because the 20 GB is ugly loud.

USB?
FireWire?
Wlan is nice, but PCMCIA WLAN good enough
Sound - most Laptops have ugly sound.

See also http://www.tuxmobil.org
And remember, also the best laptop will be an old one in one year,
so spend not to much money ;)

rob

[Loper]

I'm trying to decide on a new laptop. Can anyone name a laptop which will have a DVD drive, network, modem (not essential) and enough grunt and RAM to happily run Knoppix?

It would be easier if we knew where you live. Putting that information in your profile would let me know if I can suggest brands, models, etc. If I'm in the US and you're in Europe (for example), prices and models will vary.

I agree with Robert Michel that a (roughly) year-old laptop is best. Not only less-expensive (you may find one on closeout), but more likely to be supported by Knoppix. There is a harware compatibility list out there, but I don't know which laptops are listed. Remember, too, that it takes less "horsepower" to run Linux smoothly than it does for Windows.

[drlizau]

I'm in Oz, as in au. Models seem the same internationally, prices are high here. No the laptop doesn't have to be new, I want it for certain purposes only, and it will have any windows partition abolished immediately. I use sme server to get on the net at home, so working networking is more important than a modem (so I could put up with a winmodem, or try again to compile a new kernel to support linmodem)
We have a Toshiba satellite 4600 at home, and although the network card was recognised under Knoppix it didn't actually function either with or without DHCP.
The cost is not the most important thing, under a particular tax quirk I will pay about 5% of the cost and the Taxation office the rest.
I looked at the NEC Versa S260 and E120 as they were very light but I have no idea what their Linux compatibility is, and they don't appear on the compatibility lists.
Liz

[Robert Michel]

I looked at the NEC Versa S260 and E120 as they were very light but I have no idea what their Linux compatibility is, and they don't appear on the compatibility lists.
Liz

Well NEC, seems to be smart Laptops (1,3 kg) but I haven't found
information eiter.
Some ideas:
- post a most complete hardware components list, and try to check
if the grafic chip, soundchip, usb-chip, northwestbridge... is
supportet
- Ask NEC
- Find a NEC user and ask him to test Knoppix
- Ask the vendor to test Knoppix for you (send him Knoppix via
snailmail)
- Go into a shop test the NEC and buy somewhere else
- choose a Linux documentet Laptop
- be a player and test it yourself
- ask a M$-friend to buy your NEC if you don't like it
- find a NEC GNU/Linux newsgroup/mailinglist
- ask debian-laptop: http://tuxmobil.org/debian_linux.html


But when you test them, please report about the result in as many places as you can!

Good luck
rob

[god]

www.powernotebooks.com takes about $380(us) off of the price of their laptops if you choose to buy one without windows on it...