Re: Re: Where to start: hardware and reading material

Volker Kuhlmann <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.org.user-groups.linux.new-zealand.general
Message-ID <[email protected]>
On Sat 08 Oct 2011 21:39:48 NZDT +1300, Chris Gavin-Egan wrote:

> I used to have an X30 thinkpad and now do much work on a T40 thinkpad. Just
> love the machines and would wholly recommend IBM thinkpads.
> 
> Solid, reliable and just work !

Where do you get IBM thinkpads from these days, or does your statement
extend to Lenovo?

I would be reluctant to buy an old laptop, the performance is absent, as
is most probably any battery life. Having to replace a laptop battery
brings it very close to beyond economic repair.

The cheapest useful starter option is probably one of the used HP/Compaq
desktops in whatever case size you can get your hands on. Buy at least
1GB of RAM if you can, an upgrade is very expensive because those RAM
types have gone through the roof. The basics in those machines work with
Linux out of the box, but the details do not. Getting sensors to go is a
lost cause (I tried on several around the d530, dx7200 mark), and the
ICH6 Intel chipset SATA controller do not support hot swap with the
kernel drivers. There are supposedly alternative drivers which do
support it but I couldn't even get them to talk to the disks. SATA
hotswap isn't necessarily a beginner's function though.

Volker

-- 
Volker Kuhlmann			is list0570 with the domain in header.
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