[ILUG] Buying a laptop

[James McBoyle - Sun Ireland - Solaris SW - Development Engineer]

> Can I pick your collective brains on laptops, Linux and Dell?
> 
> Question 1: They're all (broadly) Linux compatible, yes?

Probably, though there'll be one or two gotchas you may have to work on :-)

> Question 2: WTF is a Xircom Combo Type III RBEM and its friends?
>             Alternatively, if I want a modem and cheap network
>             connector that work under Linux, what should I order?

No idea, but I'm happy with my Xircom XE2000 pcmcia nic, which only needed a 
newer version of the pcmcia stuff to get working

> Question 3: Is installing Linux alongside WinMe any trickier than
>             alongside Win95?

Yes... but only because WinME comes as a 'recovery' disk not a proper os 
install disk... basically, when I wanted to put linux on my vaio I had to 
choose one of the four preset partitioning schemes WinME allowed, shove WinME 
onto the laptop then install linux in the space left (luckily one layout was 
2GB 'c' drive and 4GB 'd' drive) apart from this 'little' gotcha, and the fact 
this means once you've installed linux you can't re-install WinME without 
wiping your linux install, it's no different to any other dual boot 
winXX/Linux system

> Question 4: Should I be considering Inspiron, Lattitude, other
>             manufacturers? 

Ahh, well... that depends on the deal you can get... the only reason I have a vaio is it was the best deal (533cpu and 64MB ram, all others at the same price point were 32meg boxes) and also what systems you can find on the linux laptop site... http://www.linux-laptop.net Don't be afraid to right your own 'here's how I installed linux on X laptop' page for the site, it's a fun learning experience :-)

Have Fun,
Jim.
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