Looking for a laptop

[MrFeetio]

I have a few questions I'm looking for a laptop price 1000-1500

1) Battery life, how long do the batteries last on you laptops?

2) Compiz, can you install it for me? It isn't too important but i find installing Compiz hard

3) do your laptops have cool things(like macs), built-in microphone/camera

4) do you have any form of a payment plan(i didn't see one), if so the amount i am willing to spend goes up

5)Sound and heat, how loud do the laptops get, do they overheat

6)Battery, just one question do you laptop batteries come with a explode feature, like a dells?

7) Mac-book , i need something to shove in an Applefanboy's face

[crichell]

1) Battery life, how long do the batteries last on you laptops?

With a 14.1" screen you'll get about 4 hours of life. 15.4" gets about 3 hours. I've been testing this on my Gazelle Value lately and it's lasted me up to 5 hours doing standard stuff - spreadsheets, email, internet, etc.

2) Compiz, can you install it for me? It isn't too important but i find installing Compiz hard

We don't install it; however, one of our guys has been playing with it and he will be putting together a cut and paste How To to make it easy.

3) do your laptops have cool things(like macs), built-in microphone/camera

Built in mics - yes, built in cameras - yes but our drivers are still under development. Last time I talked to the developer he said a couple of weeks. We're really excited about getting them rolling.

4) do you have any form of a payment plan(i didn't see one), if so the amount i am willing to spend goes up

Unfortunantly no. We'll be putting together something early next year.

5)Sound and heat, how loud do the laptops get, do they overheat

Very quiet and no they don't overheat.

6)Battery, just one question do you laptop batteries come with a explode feature, like a dells?

Not yet but we're working on it :)

7) Mac-book , i need something to shove in an Applefanboy's face

If you want to see an awesome mac-book like laptop you're in luck. We've got some tricks up our sleeve - think Gazelle Performance w/ nVidia. I can't say much more and the pics don't show it yet but it's awesome.

[newlinux]

With a 14.1" screen you'll get about 4 hours of life. 15.4" gets about 3 hours. I've been testing this on my Gazelle Value lately and it's lasted me up to 5 hours doing standard stuff - spreadsheets, email, internet, etc.



We don't install it; however, one of our guys has been playing with it and he will be putting together a cut and paste How To to make it easy.



Built in mics - yes, built in cameras - yes but our drivers are still under development. Last time I talked to the developer he said a couple of weeks. We're really excited about getting them rolling.



Unfortunantly no. We'll be putting together something early next year.



Very quiet and no they don't overheat.



Not yet but we're working on it :)



If you want to see an awesome mac-book like laptop you're in luck. We've got some tricks up our sleeve - think Gazelle Performance w/ nVidia. I can't say much more and the pics don't show it yet but it's awesome.
We don't install it; however, one of our guys has been playing with it and he will be putting together a cut and paste How To to make it easy.

Carl, can you let us know when the how-to is up? Will it work for the 12.1" gazelle value?

[newlinux]

Carl, can you let us know when the how-to is up? Will it work for the 12.1" gazelle value?
crap, messed up my post. where's the edit button on this forum?

[crichell]

Carl, can you let us know when the how-to is up? Will it work for the 12.1" gazelle value?

Sure - I'll post it in here. I know XGL works on any of ours with nVidia or ATI graphics but I haven't tried Intel's 915 or 945 chips. We'll try them all out.

[MrFeetio]

thanks, i wont be into the laptop market till december(when i have more funds)

how thin are they, compare it to a macbook, a dell, a leafblower ohhh wait i already said dell.

[crichell]

thickness depends on the model - anywhere from 1" to 1.5"

[MrFeetio]

it was close for you guys, I was talking to one of my make friends, and he went to your sight and started saying "a mac-book with that is less, and it comes with a better processor", so i went to apple sight and learned he was wrong.

i wanted to know how thick it was, but please please compare it to something, not necessary how thick it is, but how thick it looks

also how good of quality are the cameras, and mics

do you know how "drop resistant" your laptops are

i am going to buy from you guys late November

[crichell]

how thick it looks

I use a Gazelle Value - it's an 1" thick. I'm probably not the best for this questions - it looks 1" thick to me :) Maybe two decks of cards.

also how good of quality are the cameras, and mics

We only use quality components. For example my mic picks me up from across my office about ten feet away.

do you know how "drop resistant" your laptops are

Haven't tried this out - probably won't

i am going to buy from you guys late November

we'll be here when you're ready.

[frainbart]

Carl, can you let us know when the how-to is up? Will it work for the 12.1" gazelle value?

I have the 12.1" Gazelle value and I use aiglx and compiz. I have survived all the recent updates with Compiz and CSM. It works great, just disable blur (really slows things). I use compiz-manager to start things up.

I used these how-tos to get up and running as well as the ubuntu forums.

http://gandalfn.wordpress.com/howto-compiz-aiglx-on-dapper/
http://wiki.compiz.net/index.php/Aiglx/compiz_on_an_Intel_i915_video_card

[lord trousers]

Xgl WILL NOT work very well with an Intel card. I've got a Pangolin Value (Intel 945GM), and I tried that - it was very, very slow.

AIGLX, on the other hand, works like a dream. I'm using it right now. :D I followed the instructions here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CompositeManager/AIGLX
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CompositeManager/InstallingCompiz

Do them in that order. No snags whatsoever for me.

The only problem I've had is that I can't use Compiz as my window manager all the time. It doesn't work very well with certain OpenGL programs (even if you check "Unredirect Fullscreen Windows" in the Compiz Settings Manager), and the logout button locks up the display. (It's a known bug - the logout window grabs the X display entirely for itself, which keeps Compiz from rendering, so the window is invisible. The Ubuntu people know about it, but it doesn't appear to be a priority.)

[lord trousers]

Forgot to say: I've put two custom application launchers on my panel. Ones does: "compiz-start", the other does "metacity --replace". I switch back to Metacity when I want to use certain OpenGL programs or log out.

One more thing: as far as I can tell (I haven't really looked into it), if you want your videos composited with everything else, you have to set up your video players to NOT use the XV extension - use XSHM instead.

[lord trousers]

I just discovered that I still get 3 hours of battery with Compiz running. Sweet.

[crichell]

We *may* have a 9 cell battery coming out very soon as well. It looks promising.

[cleentrax]

We *may* have a 9 cell battery coming out very soon as well. It looks promising.


You shouldn't say things like that! It's bad for business. I'm already wavering between getting a Gazelle now, or waiting for Core 2 Duo. Now that you mention the possibility of a 9-cell battery, I'm leaning more towards waiting for your next update... ;-)

[MrFeetio]

i hope you come out with the better battery before its time for holiday shopping.

with a 9cell battery what do you expect your battery life to be

[crichell]

I thought the same thing as soon as I typed it - I should clarify -

a 9 cell EXTRA battery can be ordered but not upgraded on the machine (6 cell will come with all laptops and there will be an option for an extra 9 cell).

[Ubunted]

What's the origional model number of the nvidia Gazelle? I'd like to look up some pictures.

[emale07]

If you want to see an awesome mac-book like laptop you're in luck. We've got some tricks up our sleeve - think Gazelle Performance w/ nVidia. I can't say much more and the pics don't show it yet but it's awesome.

When, dude? I'm itchin to buy!

[motin]

When, dude? I'm itchin to buy!

Me too! More info, please! :)

[crichell]

I'll have some the pics soon (hopefully today or tomorrow). I'll post some here.

[newlinux]

I have the 12.1" Gazelle value and I use aiglx and compiz. I have survived all the recent updates with Compiz and CSM. It works great, just disable blur (really slows things). I use compiz-manager to start things up.

I used these how-tos to get up and running as well as the ubuntu forums.

http://gandalfn.wordpress.com/howto-compiz-aiglx-on-dapper/
http://wiki.compiz.net/index.php/Aiglx/compiz_on_an_Intel_i915_video_card

I got it working using the first link. Thanks! I didn't actually see any setting for blur. How do I disable it? Right now nothing seems really slow, so maybe it isn't enabled.

[MrFeetio]

i have a quick-question

do any of your laptops have accelerometers builtin?

i think it would be really cool if they did.... i think newer(2003+) ibm thinkpads do.

it measures bumps tilts and all that kind of stuff

it could be an option if the dont already have them

[crichell]

Our laptops don't have accelerometers built in - seems like a cool feature but then again we've never had a customer call because they dropped their laptop.

[MrFeetio]

the reason i asked was

i wanted to use it for other things like switching cube faces in Beryl

and just because no has dropped a laptop yet doesnt mean it wont happen