Re: Linux on a Sony Vaio Notebook PCG-F580

["Robert G. 'Doc' Savage" <dsavage peaknet net>]

Robert,

Your best source of high quality accelerated X servers for laptops is Xi
Graphics' Accelerated/X for Laptops v5.03. I just checked their web site
(http://www.xig.com) and didn't find the Sony PGC-F580, but I did find a
new support listing for the Sony PGC-SR5K with the NeoMagic 256AV+
chipset.

If the SR5K server won't work and the F580 is brand new, you might have
to wait 30-60 days before Xi Graphics posts a server update on their web
site. All things considered, that's pretty darned good.

MSRP for this server is $149. You can probably get it cheaper from
LinuxMall. Sure XFree86 is free -- you get what you pay for! XFree86's
support for video chipsets typically found only in laptops is mostly
limited to their non-accelerated SVGA server. That was totally
unsatisfactory for my Gateway 9100XL laptop with its Trident 9397 video
chipset. A/X was exactly what I was looking for.

For a fairly significant amount of money you'll get a great product AND
both call-back and E-mail support. Who else offers that these days?

--Doc Savage
  Fairview Heights, IL

Robert Petrie wrote:
> 
> I went to this site:
> 
> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/
> 
> looking for confirmation that the Sony Vaio Model PCG-F580 will work
> just fine running RH Linux 7.0.  The closest model, with an excellent
> detailed writeup BTW, was for the PCG-F560.  I just wanted to double
> check with the list in case there was a "gotcha" that should cause me
> to look further.  The 580 is faster with a bigger hard drive but you
> never know about X-windows.  I'm not familiar with the NeoMagic 256AV+
> video hardware that's in the F560 and may also be in the F580.  RH 7.0
> detected and configured that just fine.
> 
> TIA
> 
> =====
> Robert F Petrie
> Desktop Data Centers
> petrier@yahoo.com