laptops

laptops

[Brian Moore]

Greetings all.  Okay, finally am breaking down and hunting for a laptop
computer .  I want to use this machine to boot both linux and windows.  I
suspect windows will have no real problems since I will probably get a
machine with it loaded whether or not I want their windows.  However, I have
had bad experiences with other machines in the past which required lots of
drivers and would only work with the OF.a.m version of windows from that
particular laptop company.  would like to avoid this if at all possible
since I will probably nuke the disk as the first thing and put a standard
version of win98 se and create a Linux partition running slackware or redhat
or something like that.  would like as little strange hardware as possible.
I really like like the keyboards on the thinkpad computers but they are
pretty costly and i.b.m sometimes has strange hardware configurations at
least on the desktop machines I have worked with.  Would be most interested
in people's experience with notebook computers.  I don't mind spending a
little more money for a good machine but really want to avoid proprietary
software and sound video chips etc.  any thoughts viaprivate mail would be
much appreciated.

thanks.  Brian.

home e-mail: admin@bmoore.yi.org
work e-mail: bmoore@frontiercomputing.on.ca
msn messenger brianrm@home.com

tel (416) 462-0294.

thanks.  Brian.

Re: laptops

[Jacob Schmude]

Hi
     Well I'll try to give as much info as I can. I've got a toshiba satellite pro 4340 laptop computer. It's a good system as far as hardware and performance goes. Intel pentium III 650MHz processor with 64mb ram. It has a 12GB hard disk. All hardware, even the winmodem, is linux compatible. It has a built-in floppy and DVD-rom disk. The sound system works fine with the ALSA drivers, it's a yamaha YMF744 chip. It's multi-channel, too. There are two type II pcmcia card slots. It has a serial port, a parellel port, an IRDA port, and a USB port. I've got slackware linux running on it right now. The modem, a lucent LT winmodem, works well with kernels 2.2 and 2.4 with the lucent driver. In full power mode it gives about 3 hours continuous battery life. However, there's no reason to unload their windows that comes with this machine. It's win 98SE and all the drivers are prop[erly set up for you. You just need to get rid of the desktop wallpaper and theme and any windows screen reading program will work fine. I just used fips to split the windows partition and installed linux on the rest of the drive. Speakup on this system works well! The num-pad, as in most laptops, is used by depressing the FN key and then the keys on the right side of the keyboard. Even the insert-key combinations are no problem really, but you need to be a bit dextrous to handle some of them. The only complaint I have about this laptop is that there's only one control key on the left side of the keyboard. It would have been nice to have another control key on the right side, but oh well.


On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 04:21:57PM -0500, Brian Moore wrote:
> Greetings all.  Okay, finally am breaking down and hunting for a laptop
> computer .  I want to use this machine to boot both linux and windows.  I
> suspect windows will have no real problems since I will probably get a
> machine with it loaded whether or not I want their windows.  However, I have
> had bad experiences with other machines in the past which required lots of
> drivers and would only work with the OF.a.m version of windows from that
> particular laptop company.  would like to avoid this if at all possible
> since I will probably nuke the disk as the first thing and put a standard
> version of win98 se and create a Linux partition running slackware or redhat
> or something like that.  would like as little strange hardware as possible.
> I really like like the keyboards on the thinkpad computers but they are
> pretty costly and i.b.m sometimes has strange hardware configurations at
> least on the desktop machines I have worked with.  Would be most interested
> in people's experience with notebook computers.  I don't mind spending a
> little more money for a good machine but really want to avoid proprietary
> software and sound video chips etc.  any thoughts viaprivate mail would be
> much appreciated.
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: laptops

[Thomas Ward]

Well, I know what you mean about laptops being hard to find. I have seen in
Computer Shopper once and a while IBM laptops that come with Red Hat
preinstalled rather than Windows.
You might want to glance through one of those, and just see if they have any
more iin there. The Linux laptops are just not really being pushed by the
mainstream computer resellers.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Moore" <admin@bmoore.yi.org>
To: <blindtech@topica.com>
Cc: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 4:21 PM
Subject: laptops


> Greetings all.  Okay, finally am breaking down and hunting for a laptop
> computer .  I want to use this machine to boot both linux and windows.  I
> suspect windows will have no real problems since I will probably get a
> machine with it loaded whether or not I want their windows.  However, I
have
> had bad experiences with other machines in the past which required lots of
> drivers and would only work with the OF.a.m version of windows from that
> particular laptop company.  would like to avoid this if at all possible
> since I will probably nuke the disk as the first thing and put a standard
> version of win98 se and create a Linux partition running slackware or
redhat
> or something like that.  would like as little strange hardware as
possible.
> I really like like the keyboards on the thinkpad computers but they are
> pretty costly and i.b.m sometimes has strange hardware configurations at
> least on the desktop machines I have worked with.  Would be most
interested
> in people's experience with notebook computers.  I don't mind spending a
> little more money for a good machine but really want to avoid proprietary
> software and sound video chips etc.  any thoughts viaprivate mail would be
> much appreciated.
>
> thanks.  Brian.
>
> home e-mail: admin@bmoore.yi.org
> work e-mail: bmoore@frontiercomputing.on.ca
> msn messenger brianrm@home.com
>
> tel (416) 462-0294.
>
> thanks.  Brian.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: laptops

[William F. Acker WB2FLW +1-303-777-8123]

Hi, Jacob,

     Change line 241 in the speakup keymap from keycode 100 = Alt to
keycode 100 = AltGr The function key changes the left Alt key, the only
one we have on Toshibas, to a right Alt key.  The change in the keymap
will allow speakup to think of the right Alt key as the insert key.  Much
easier on the fingers.




          HTH.
          Bill in Denver

Re: laptops

[Jacob Schmude]

Hi, Bill
     Thanks for the suggestion. I'd thought of doing something like that, but I like having both alt keys available. Also it's the insert key combos which are the main problem in some cases, and it seems to be easier for me to hit fn (left side of keyboard) with the letter m than it is to hit the right alt key with the letter m. BTW: this keyboard has two alt keys. Maybe I'll make some good use out of those windows keys, though. There's one up in the right corner of my keyboard at keycode 125. Maybe I'll map that to an AltGr key. Then I'll have two keys acting as the numpad insert (as far as speakup is concerned).

Thanks again for the suggestion



On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 09:53:39PM -0700, William F. Acker WB2FLW +1-303-777-8123 wrote:
> Hi, Jacob,
> 
>      Change line 241 in the speakup keymap from keycode 100 = Alt to
> keycode 100 = AltGr The function key changes the left Alt key, the only
> one we have on Toshibas, to a right Alt key.  The change in the keymap
> will allow speakup to think of the right Alt key as the insert key.  Much
> easier on the fingers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>           HTH.

Re: laptops

[Jacob Schmude]

Hi
     This particular one costed $1,999. As for the type of screen, it's a TFT active matrix, the better type of screen you can get. Don't remember the exact size, though, I don't use it. It's good sized, though, the normal size on laptops these days. It is LCD, and it does have an external monitor port.


On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 10:39:47PM -0500, awesome-dave1@juno.com wrote:
> Hello,
> 	How much did this laptop cost? And what kind of screen does it have?
> Thanks.
> Dave.
> 
> 
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2001 16:28:38 -0500 Jacob Schmude <> writes:
> > Hi
> >      Well I'll try to give as much info as I can. I've got a toshiba 
> > satellite pro 4340 laptop computer. It's a good system as far as 
> > hardware and performance goes. Intel pentium III 650MHz processor 
> > with 64mb ram. It has a 12GB hard disk. All hardware, even the 
> > winmodem, is linux compatible. It has a built-in floppy and DVD-rom 
> > disk. The sound system works fine with the ALSA drivers, it's a 
> > yamaha YMF744 chip. It's multi-channel, too. There are two type II 
> > pcmcia card slots. It has a serial port, a parellel port, an IRDA 
> > port, and a USB port. I've got slackware linux running on it right 
> > now. The modem, a lucent LT winmodem, works well with kernels 2.2 
> > and 2.4 with the lucent driver. In full power mode it gives about 3 
> > hours continuous battery life. However, there's no reason to unload 
> > their windows that comes with this machine. It's win 98SE and all 
> > the drivers are prop[erly set up for you. You just need to get rid 
> > of the desktop wallpaper and theme and any windows screen reading 
> > program will work fine. I just used fips to split the windows 
> > partition and installed linux on the rest of the drive. Speakup on 
> > this system works well! The num-pad, as in most laptops, is used by 
> > depressing the FN key and then the keys on the right side of the 
> > keyboard. Even the insert-key combinations are no problem really, 
> > but you need to be a bit dextrous to handle some of them. The only 
> > complaint I have about this laptop is that there's only one control 
> > key on the left side of the keyboard. It would have been nice to 
> > have another control key on the right side, but oh well.
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 04:21:57PM -0500, Brian Moore wrote:
> > > Greetings all.  Okay, finally am breaking down and hunting for a 
> > laptop
> > > computer .  I want to use this machine to boot both linux and 
> > windows.  I
> > > suspect windows will have no real problems since I will probably 
> > get a
> > > machine with it loaded whether or not I want their windows.  
> > However, I have
> > > had bad experiences with other machines in the past which required 
> > lots of
> > > drivers and would only work with the OF.a.m version of windows 
> > from that
> > > particular laptop company.  would like to avoid this if at all 
> > possible
> > > since I will probably nuke the disk as the first thing and put a 
> > standard
> > > version of win98 se and create a Linux partition running slackware 
> > or redhat
> > > or something like that.  would like as little strange hardware as 
> > possible.
> > > I really like like the keyboards on the thinkpad computers but 
> > they are
> > > pretty costly and i.b.m sometimes has strange hardware 
> > configurations at
> > > least on the desktop machines I have worked with.  Would be most 
> > interested
> > > in people's experience with notebook computers.  I don't mind 
> > spending a
> > > little more money for a good machine but really want to avoid 
> > proprietary
> > > software and sound video chips etc.  any thoughts viaprivate mail 
> > would be
> > > much appreciated.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> ________________________________________________________________
> GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
> Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
> Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
> http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: laptops

[awesome-dave1]

Hello,
	How much did this laptop cost? And what kind of screen does it have?
Thanks.
Dave.


On Mon, 19 Feb 2001 16:28:38 -0500 Jacob Schmude <> writes:
> Hi
>      Well I'll try to give as much info as I can. I've got a toshiba 
> satellite pro 4340 laptop computer. It's a good system as far as 
> hardware and performance goes. Intel pentium III 650MHz processor 
> with 64mb ram. It has a 12GB hard disk. All hardware, even the 
> winmodem, is linux compatible. It has a built-in floppy and DVD-rom 
> disk. The sound system works fine with the ALSA drivers, it's a 
> yamaha YMF744 chip. It's multi-channel, too. There are two type II 
> pcmcia card slots. It has a serial port, a parellel port, an IRDA 
> port, and a USB port. I've got slackware linux running on it right 
> now. The modem, a lucent LT winmodem, works well with kernels 2.2 
> and 2.4 with the lucent driver. In full power mode it gives about 3 
> hours continuous battery life. However, there's no reason to unload 
> their windows that comes with this machine. It's win 98SE and all 
> the drivers are prop[erly set up for you. You just need to get rid 
> of the desktop wallpaper and theme and any windows screen reading 
> program will work fine. I just used fips to split the windows 
> partition and installed linux on the rest of the drive. Speakup on 
> this system works well! The num-pad, as in most laptops, is used by 
> depressing the FN key and then the keys on the right side of the 
> keyboard. Even the insert-key combinations are no problem really, 
> but you need to be a bit dextrous to handle some of them. The only 
> complaint I have about this laptop is that there's only one control 
> key on the left side of the keyboard. It would have been nice to 
> have another control key on the right side, but oh well.
> 
> 
> On Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 04:21:57PM -0500, Brian Moore wrote:
> > Greetings all.  Okay, finally am breaking down and hunting for a 
> laptop
> > computer .  I want to use this machine to boot both linux and 
> windows.  I
> > suspect windows will have no real problems since I will probably 
> get a
> > machine with it loaded whether or not I want their windows.  
> However, I have
> > had bad experiences with other machines in the past which required 
> lots of
> > drivers and would only work with the OF.a.m version of windows 
> from that
> > particular laptop company.  would like to avoid this if at all 
> possible
> > since I will probably nuke the disk as the first thing and put a 
> standard
> > version of win98 se and create a Linux partition running slackware 
> or redhat
> > or something like that.  would like as little strange hardware as 
> possible.
> > I really like like the keyboards on the thinkpad computers but 
> they are
> > pretty costly and i.b.m sometimes has strange hardware 
> configurations at
> > least on the desktop machines I have worked with.  Would be most 
> interested
> > in people's experience with notebook computers.  I don't mind 
> spending a
> > little more money for a good machine but really want to avoid 
> proprietary
> > software and sound video chips etc.  any thoughts viaprivate mail 
> would be
> > much appreciated.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

________________________________________________________________
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Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
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