[OT] Recommendation for ThinkPad

[Robert G. (Doc) Savage]

On Tue, 2005-11-01 at 09:59 -0500, Travis Fraser wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I have been needing a new laptop, and the ThinkPads seem to have good
> Linux support. I am leaning toward a T42 with the ATI radeon graphics
> card. Does anybody know of things that will/won't work on the T42?

Travis,

If my rusty-trusty P-III/M A22p should fail before IBM/Lenovo offers a
Mobile Athlon64-based Thinkpad, I'll replace it with a T43p (model
2687D5U)
(http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=8797862&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&categoryId=2049168&dualCurrId=1000073&catalogId=-840). The "p" is the secret. I think it's one of the rare laptops that still offers a 15" 1600x1200 UXGA screen. Its $2799 base price isn't cheap (with my options it'd cost $4400), but at about 6 pounds it's both highly mobile and a no-compromise desktop replacement.

FC3 installed and ran perfectly on my A22p. FC4 has been a bit twitchy,
particularly with its CS46xx sound system. (I think FC4 will be
remembered as the shakiest release since FC2.) IBM doesn't officially
support Linux on any ThinkPad (which is really odd), but except for an
old 600 model I've never heard of anybody with any real problems
installing or running it (except for acpi and lm_sensor, which just flat
don't work).

For my money nothing beats the performance or rugged construction of a
ThinkPad. The pinched ravioli-style "Stealth Fighter" edges of its case
and the titanium top cover on my A22p allow it to shrug off a lot of
bumps and thumps. I'm not a big fan of the eraser-head mouse pointer
tucked in between the G and H keys, but Logitech wireless travel mice
are cheap and work very well. The T43p comes with Gigabit Ethernet, both
WiFi-A/B/G and BlueTooth wireless interfaces, a full-size keyboard, and
of course that fabulous display I've enjoyed for the past three years.

-- Doc
Robert G. (Doc) Savage, BSE(EE), CISSP, RHCE | Fairview Heights, IL
Fedora Core 4 kernel 2.6.13-1.1532_FC4 on a P-III/M IBM Thinkpad A22p
            ** Bob Costas for Baseball Commissioner **