[ILUG] Trying to buy a ThinkPad

[Niall O Broin]

On 4 Feb 2006, at 13:46, Timothy Murphy wrote:

> This seems an extraordinary approach to me -
> a bit like buying a wife from a catalogue

Quite popular in Russia / Far East from what one hears.

> Incidentally, I'm thinking of selling my wife and buying a T60.

Sounds like a good deal.

> What is all this dual-core stuff?

The wave of the future. CPU manufacturers were having a hard time 
making their processors faster, because power consumption was 
increasing too. A dual core cpu is effectively two CPUs packaged on one 
die. You don't get higher absolute speed so e.g. your Dhrystone 
benchmark won't run any faster, but the real world performance of your 
system will be faster as the numerous processes running get to share 2 
CPUs instead of 1.

> Will it work with Linux?

It certainly should - Linux has had support for multiple processors for 
years.

> I see they are available in the UK,
> but was told they would not arrive in Ireland for 6 weeks or so.

You see, to get them from England to Ireland they attach waterwings to 
them, and use a little bit of ducting to turn the fan at the back of 
the box into a screw. It's a very small screw, so it progresses through 
the water rather slowly.

There are some English vendors who have had the rather bright idea of 
selling directly from their websites and using delivery companies which 
bring the goods in trucks rather than making them propel themselves, so 
they get here much more quickly.

> Or should I get a cheap R-series machine?

This is definitely a case of you pays your money, and you takes your 
choice. The R-series is pitched at those who would like to own a 
Thinkpad, but considered the other ranges too expensive.

> Choice is a greatly over-valued commodity.

It certainly can be. Unfortunately, in this world, the economic models 
which evolved either provided no choice at all, or a confusing amount 
thereof.



Niall