Update: Re: [ale] eMachines AMD64 notebook

Wed Feb 4 10:56:37 EST 2004

The cheapest Rhino also comes in at just under $1000 more than the
eMachines M6807:  "Rhino D800 7.0 lbs. 1.6 GHz (p-m) 1920x1200 (15.4")
30 GB 256 (2048) MB $2,530.00"

One of Emperor's cheapest machines, the Auk G40 at "7.9 lbs. 2.4 GHz
(p4) 1024x768 (15") 40 GB 256 (1024) MB $1,750.00", is $200 more than
the M6807 and has half the RAM, has 2/3 the hard drive, is half a pound
heavier, and has slightly less screen resolution.  

What Emperor does is valuable, but I don't know if it's THAT valuable,
at least not when bang/buck is a big consideration (my spousally-set -
and spousally-ENFORCED - limit is $2K).

- Jeff

On Wed, 2004-02-04 at 09:39, Dow Hurst wrote:
> Laptops are moving so fast that the hardware really does 
> take a few months to be covered by the kernel and/or other 
> open source projects.  The Dell I8500 we purchased almost a 
> year ago still doesn't have full support with totally free 
> software.  However, the OpenGL support on the Nvidia Go 
> chipset has made it worth it for when we needed high powered 
> graphics on the road.
> 
> The Dell high end line would go up to 2Gb RAM and with swap 
> defined for another 2Gb, you would be able to manipulate a 
> +2Gb file.  Certainly, swapping is not great but it would 
> make your operation possible.  I'd check to see if 
> hyperthreading comes on the Inspiron line in the versions 
> with the Nvidia Go video.
> 
> If you haven't talked to EmperorLinux about your needs, I 
> would definitely do that now.  They might have some options 
> that your not aware of as they write kernel level code to 
> accomodate hardware that isn't supported yet.  It would give 
> you a six month edge on supported laptop models.  They 
> submit their changes to the kernel development teams but 
> there is a time lag even there.  The Rhino from Emperor 
> would work for your needs, I think.
> Dow
> 
> 
> Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> > Chris -
> > 
> > That's very good to know, because it's starting to look like the
> > eMachines M6807 AMD64 laptop wouldn't be a bad idea (recall that I am
> > allowing for the possibility that I may have to manipulate very large
> > {>2GB} files).  High-end P4 laptops are considerably more expensive. 
> > 
> > Granted, I may have to live life as a dual-booter for some amount of
> > time, but it looks like there's enough forward velocity in the
> > Linux-on-Athlon64 space that things won't just stagnate (the existence
> > of this very laptop will certainly help to drive that).  
> > 
> > And, hey, all this Gentoo installation experience may pay off yet,
> > although it'll be a head trip to be able to do it in an afternoon; I'm
> > used to doing it on Pentium Classics (P/60, dual P/133,P/166-MMX).
> > 
> > - Jeff
> > 
> > On Wed, 2004-02-04 at 07:09, Christopher Fowler wrote:
> > 
> >>It reminds me of the Cablevision guy that came to my house to install my
> >>cable modem years ago.  He saw that I was running RedHat and asked
> >>questions.  I gave him a copy on CD.  As a thank you he went out to my
> >>cable box and hooked me up with all the channels.  
> >>
> >>As far as BB goes I've been pleased with them.  I purchased a ZE1250 HP
> >>from them in August of 2002.  I usually do not purchase extended
> >>warranties on anything but if it is a piece of equipment I carry like
> >>camera or laptop I buy them.  Since then I've only taken my laptop to
> >>the shop twice.  Once was for a new battery.  They let me keep the old
> >>one and it still had 50% of its life.  The laptop is now in the shop for
> >>a busted DVD/CD-RW and the hinges of the LCD are being tightened.  So
> >>far all this has been covered by their warranty.  I'll probably end up
> >>purchasing my next laptop there.  
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>On Tue, 2004-02-03 at 23:55, Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> >>
> >>>Today I took Knoppix and Slax (http://slax.linux-live.org) CDs to Office
> >>>Depot and Best Buy to evaluate laptops.  I wasn't disturbed at Office
> >>>Depot but a succession of blue-shirted goons stopped me for questioning
> >>>at Best Buy.
> >>>
> >>>I didn't have time to try Knoppix on the AMD64-based eMachines laptop
> >>>but the Slax one booted up only so far and froze.  
> >>>
> >>>At Best Buy, concern was expressed that they have to keep their demo
> >>>software on the machines; once I assured them that I wasn't affecting
> >>>the hard drive, they were cool.  Actually, there was a blond fellow
> >>>(Mike?) who actually spoke with me with interest about what I was doing
> >>>and what I was having to deal with in selecting laptops.  He said he had
> >>>messed with Linux a tiny bit and he had a roommate who messed with Linux
> >>>some.  I gave him my CDs. :)  
> >>>
> >>>Knoppix seems to ignore the "screen" parameter when you pass it at boot
> >>>time (I've had this happen on other machines too) but Slax believed me
> >>>when I told it to give me 1200x800 and it gave me a
> >>>properly-proportioned display on a Compaq at Office Depot, and
> >>>touchpad-tapping and touchpad-scrolling both Just Worked.  This at least
> >>>gives me hope.
> >>>
> >>>It is SuSE that offers an AMD64 Linux distro that is anything like ready
> >>>to roll.  Gentoo support seems to be underway
> >>>(http://dev.gentoo.org/~brad_mssw/amd64-tech-notes.html).  None of htese
> >>>efforts, I believe, specifically address the eMachines M6807.  For the
> >>>time being, at least as far as the aforementioned Gentoo link says,
> >>>accelerated video for the built-in Radeon 9600 can't be had.  
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 06:04, Geoffrey wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 - Linux-usable?  Closed driver?
> >>>>
> >>>>For laptops, ATI generally refers you to the manufacturer of the laptop, 
> >>>>but this link might provide some hope:
> >>>>
> >>>>http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html?type=linux&prodType=graphic&prod=productsLINUXdriver&submit.x=11&submit.y=10&submit=GO%21
> >>>>
> >>>>It's long and ugly, but a link to ati closed driver for the non-mobility 
> >>>>9600.  Also check out the gatos project.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>1280 x 800 screen - how sucky?  I can dig the aspect ratio, but not
> >>>>>because of DVD-watching - it's more a matter of having things like a
> >>>>>browser window up on one side and an OO window up in the other.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>It says "Built-in high-speed wireless networking (802.11g/b-compliant);
> >>>>>integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN; V.92 high-speed modem" - can I expect
> >>>>>that none of these will necessarily work under Linux?  I do plan to use
> >>>>>the 802.11 part of the time, even if I need to buy a known good PCMCIA
> >>>>>802.11 card.
> >>>>
> >>>>the nic and modem could well work, the wireless is more likely going to 
> >>>>be an issue.  It all depends on the chipsets.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>"Pointing Device:  Touchpad with vertical scroll zone" - I'm likely to
> >>>>>pick up a real mouse (awesome if there's a way to do that wirelessly)
> >>>>>for my laptop but it'd sure be nice if this functioned, especially the
> >>>>>scroll pad and the tap/double-tap for mouse clicks.
> >>>>
> >>>>I've seen a couple of different wireless mice designed for laptops, 
> >>>>haven't tried one yet though.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>Related questions:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Would I be happier if I got one of the hyperthreading P4s instead, to
> >>>>>include one with better screen resolution even if it's 4:3 ratio?
> >>>>
> >>>>Can't help you with that one. :(  Although I think the need for a 64 bit 
> >>>>processor is still questionable.
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
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> >>Ale at ale.org
> >>http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
-- 
Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at comcast.net>