my new linux laptop

[fuscia]

i had been looking into getting a laptop for about six months. i looked at a whole bunch of things, including the new macbooks. aysiu (thanks, aysiu) suggested system76 to me and when i looked at their stuff and the fact that their machines come with ubuntu installed, i decided that was it for me. http://www.system76.com/

so, i get this jewel (the pangolin model) on tuesday. i got it out of the box and had it going in about two minutes. i noticed how solid looking this thing is, but i wondered "just how solid is it?" i decided to give it the ultimate test. i went into town. i was on main street and saw a car coming from about a quarter of a mile away. i slipped around the corner of a nearby building and waited. at what turned out to be the exact right moment, i lobbed my new laptop out into the middle of the street. boooooooooooom!!! solid contact. at only 6.6lbs., my laptop went flying. when i retrieved it, i was amazed to see it still running and get this - not a single scratch, just a little white paint on the side.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/442/tank5zv.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tank5zv.jpg)

(note: a little turpentine took that paint right off.)

but check out the car. lol! what a mess.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3685/wreck3io.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck3io.jpg)

that guy was pissed until i told him my laptop came with linux installed.

so far, this thing rox to use. it's so much faster than my old desktop. it looks great and i've had absolutely no trouble with it. well, almost no trouble. i've never owned a laptop before, so getting used to the trackpad is going to take some time (the mouse on my old computer is like one of those cows you have to throw rocks at just to get them out of the barn). i can also say that this is probably the most pleasant consumer experience i've ever had. go get yourself one!

[Jucato]

EDIT: Damn! I had no idea why/how I quoted you, without pressing the Reply with Quote button...

Congratulations for you! Could you do the "how solid it is" test again, this time on a bus? :p

Me, I'd prefer something possibly smaller or lighter, something I could carry around a lot. I guess I'd prefer a Tablet PC more than a laptop. But even that's still too big. I'm still waiting for the ultimate (mini) Tablet PC that's very affordable and runs Linux. In the meantime, Pepper Pad 3 (http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5638626152.html) is coming. :p

[fuscia]

Congratulations for you!

thanks. this is great!


Could you do the "how solid it is" test again, this time on a bus? :p

will you settle for a train?

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1586/wreck31fx.th.jpg (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck31fx.jpg)

[Jucato]

will you settle for a train?

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1586/wreck31fx.th.jpg (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck31fx.jpg)

Ok, that's it!! I'm getting one for myself!!! I can imagine wearing one on my back to act as a bullet proof bag(?!?!), and something to keep my back warm on cold days. =D>

[fuscia]

Ok, that's it!! I'm getting one for myself!!! I can imagine wearing one on my back to act as a bullet proof bag(?!?!), and something to keep my back warm on cold days. =D>

bulletproof? definitely, but it's not much of a heater.

[ComplexNumber]

hehe funny story ;)


fuscia
what distro is installed and which DE?

i hear they are now implementing linux laptops on planes to be used as a black boxes :p.

[xtacocorex]

I'm definitely going to get one of those now after reading this. :grin:

[ChrisNTR]

My laptop isn't too big, well it's 11.1".

Cat to Laptop comparison:

http://chrisntr.co.uk/Pic(579).jpg

[fuscia]

fuscia
what distro is installed and which DE?

our very own ubuntu, of course. carl richell, the guy at system76 that i've been in contact with, is a member here. they were advertizing their machines as being installed with breezy, but he emailed me and asked if i wanted dapper instead and that's what i got.

[Jucato]

My laptop isn't too big, well it's 11.1".

Cat to Laptop comparison:

http://chrisntr.co.uk/Pic(579).jpg

I love the cat more than the laptop. :D

11.1 what? inches? or is that a model number? (sorry, i really don't know)

[raublekick]

Very nice Fuscia! Those System 76 laptops look very nice. I graduate from college next spring, so maybe I'll be getting one myself. I already have a Dell laptop that's better than my desktop, but all I can run on it is Windows (unless I pirate a Windows CD so I can dual boot).

[YourSurrogateGod]

Oh fuscia, that was most amusing :) .

[rcarring]

I can just see that guy reporting his insurance claim:

"Cause of damage -- lowflying Linux laptop"

[YourSurrogateGod]

I can just see that guy reporting his insurance claim:

"Cause of damage -- lowflying Linux laptop"
You forgot that it was running linux.

[aysiu]

That's awesome, Fuscia. Thanks for sharing.

[fuscia]

That's awesome, Fuscia. Thanks for sharing.

thank you for the suggestion. i'm very pleased.

[YourSurrogateGod]

i had been looking into getting a laptop for about six months. i looked at a whole bunch of things, including the new macbooks. aysiu (thanks, aysiu) suggested system76 to me and when i looked at their stuff and the fact that their machines come with ubuntu installed, i decided that was it for me. http://www.system76.com/

so, i get this jewel (the pangolin model) on tuesday. i got it out of the box and had it going in about two minutes. i noticed how solid looking this thing is, but i wondered "just how solid is it?" i decided to give it the ultimate test. i went into town. i was on main street and saw a car coming from about a quarter of a mile away. i slipped around the corner of a nearby building and waited. at what turned out to be the exact right moment, i lobbed my new laptop out into the middle of the street. boooooooooooom!!! solid contact. at only 6.6lbs., my laptop went flying. when i retrieved it, i was amazed to see it still running and get this - not a single scratch, just a little white paint on the side.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/442/tank5zv.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tank5zv.jpg)

(note: a little turpentine took that paint right off.)

but check out the car. lol! what a mess.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3685/wreck3io.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck3io.jpg)

that guy was pissed until i told him my laptop came with linux installed.

so far, this thing rox to use. it's so much faster than my old desktop. it looks great and i've had absolutely no trouble with it. well, almost no trouble. i've never owned a laptop before, so getting used to the trackpad is going to take some time (the mouse on my old computer is like one of those cows you have to throw rocks at just to get them out of the barn). i can also say that this is probably the most pleasant consumer experience i've ever had. go get yourself one!
system76 is now officially on my list of "Hardware vendors from whom I'd buy stuff." Just one question, how is the quality of their parts? Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. like to put in crappy parts and make up for it with alot of warranty support (not exactly a good combination if you ask me.) Also, what does their warranty say about upgrading/changing some parts? Is it the same as any of the big vendors? "Thou shalt not touchy stuff that we put in."?

Also, does anyone have an idea what this (http://system76.com/product_info.php/cPath/2/products_id/173) machine have for a motherboard? I've never seen an AMD mobo that supports DDR2 (although it's been some time ago that I looked.)

[fuscia]

system76 is now officially on my list of "Hardware vendors from whom I'd buy stuff." Just one question, how is the quality of their parts? Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. like to put in crappy parts and make up for it with alot of warranty support (not exactly a good combination if you ask me.) Also, what does their warranty say about upgrading/changing some parts? Is it the same as any of the big vendors? "Thou shalt not touchy stuff that we put in."?

asus box and motherboard, seagate HD, corsair memory, 64mb nvidia card and an intel celeron m in mine. carl said they try to use top quality pieces.
as far as warranty on switching out parts, i have no clue. you can email them and ask and you'll get a pretty quick response.

[dosed150]

i wish i had a laptop my dad has a really cool ultraportable its about a year old now hopefully ill get it but it has no cd/dvd drive how wud i install ubuntu if i get my hands on it

[fuscia]

i wish i had a laptop my dad has a really cool ultraportable its about a year old now hopefully ill get it but it has no cd/dvd drive how wud i install ubuntu if i get my hands on it

snds grt! hp y gt t ls.

[siriusnova]

What kind of battery life do you get, and how heavy / noisy / hot is it?

Im curious because im debating getting an ubuntu laptop from system76 or a T60p and just installing dapper on it myself..

[fuscia]

What kind of battery life do you get, and how heavy / noisy / hot is it?

Im curious because im debating getting an ubuntu laptop from system76 or a T60p and just installing dapper on it myself..

it's very quiet and doesn't get hot. haven't used it with the battery yet.

[ChrisNTR]

I love the cat more than the laptop. :D

11.1 what? inches? or is that a model number? (sorry, i really don't know)


Yeah, 11.1 Inch laptop :)

[Jucato]

Yeah, 11.1 Inch laptop :)
Oooh... cool!


it's very quiet and doesn't get hot. haven't used it with the battery yet.
No wonder you said it wouldn't keep me warm. :D

[jan]

Good to hear System76 works ;)!

[Kapre]

it's very quiet and doesn't get hot. haven't used it with the battery yet.

A very nice one fuscia. Just wonderin though...when you were in the car with the ubu-lappy were you using a power inverter? :p

(Nice ubu-lappy!! Congrats on your new hardware!)
K

[Ubunted]

I'm planning on ordering a Serval within a few weeks. Any info you have on the ordering process and shipping procedures would be great.

[fuscia]

kapre, i've not been in a car yet with it. and, ubunted, i just went online and ordered it. not much to tell.

[aysiu]

kapre, i've not been in a car yet with it. and, ubunted, i just went online and ordered it. not much to tell.
No news on the battery life... not plugged in, of course...?

[fuscia]

No news on the battery life... not plugged in, of course...?

i've only had it in the house and always plugged in, except for about twenty minutes of a thunderstorm.

[drizek]

system76 just rebrands asus laptops and puts linux on them. The good news is that asus makes some of the best laptops on the market, better than the crap you get from dell.

If you buy a barebones one from another asus reseller then you can probably have it set up for less than the price of a dell with the same features.

and BTW, fuscia, your laptop gets excellent battery life. Ive heard 4/5 hours per charge.

[rjwood]

This is what I love about linux, ubuntu especially:

1-I hear nobody can leave 'the green zone' without one...
2-Reduces our dependancy on oil and helps the environment because now all those soccer moms don't need to drive those hugh SUV's. They can now drive smaller cars and put one of these in the trunk.
3-Rumor has it, the guy in the white car was a staunch windows user anyway...

[rjwood]

i had been looking into getting a laptop for about six months. i looked at a whole bunch of things, including the new macbooks. aysiu (thanks, aysiu) suggested system76 to me and when i looked at their stuff and the fact that their machines come with ubuntu installed, i decided that was it for me. http://www.system76.com/

so, i get this jewel (the pangolin model) on tuesday. i got it out of the box and had it going in about two minutes. i noticed how solid looking this thing is, but i wondered "just how solid is it?" i decided to give it the ultimate test. i went into town. i was on main street and saw a car coming from about a quarter of a mile away. i slipped around the corner of a nearby building and waited. at what turned out to be the exact right moment, i lobbed my new laptop out into the middle of the street. boooooooooooom!!! solid contact. at only 6.6lbs., my laptop went flying. when i retrieved it, i was amazed to see it still running and get this - not a single scratch, just a little white paint on the side.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/442/tank5zv.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tank5zv.jpg)

(note: a little turpentine took that paint right off.)

but check out the car. lol! what a mess.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3685/wreck3io.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck3io.jpg)

that guy was pissed until i told him my laptop came with linux installed.

so far, this thing rox to use. it's so much faster than my old desktop. it looks great and i've had absolutely no trouble with it. well, almost no trouble. i've never owned a laptop before, so getting used to the trackpad is going to take some time (the mouse on my old computer is like one of those cows you have to throw rocks at just to get them out of the barn). i can also say that this is probably the most pleasant consumer experience i've ever had. go get yourself one!

And this is what is so great about having fucia as a part of these forums!!!!

[K.Mandla]

I love this thread.

[benplaut]

i'm tempted to blurt out to the beleivers that fuscia is... as always, kidding :mrgreen:

Amusing, have fun :)

[Ptero-4]

Ohh man. As soon as I get some cash I'm ordering a Pangolin to replace my "obsoleted by Apple" eMac G4.

[RAV TUX]

i had been looking into getting a laptop for about six months. i looked at a whole bunch of things, including the new macbooks. aysiu (thanks, aysiu) suggested system76 to me and when i looked at their stuff and the fact that their machines come with ubuntu installed, i decided that was it for me. http://www.system76.com/

so, i get this jewel (the pangolin model) on tuesday. i got it out of the box and had it going in about two minutes. i noticed how solid looking this thing is, but i wondered "just how solid is it?" i decided to give it the ultimate test. i went into town. i was on main street and saw a car coming from about a quarter of a mile away. i slipped around the corner of a nearby building and waited. at what turned out to be the exact right moment, i lobbed my new laptop out into the middle of the street. boooooooooooom!!! solid contact. at only 6.6lbs., my laptop went flying. when i retrieved it, i was amazed to see it still running and get this - not a single scratch, just a little white paint on the side.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/442/tank5zv.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tank5zv.jpg)

(note: a little turpentine took that paint right off.)

but check out the car. lol! what a mess.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3685/wreck3io.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wreck3io.jpg)

that guy was pissed until i told him my laptop came with linux installed.

so far, this thing rox to use. it's so much faster than my old desktop. it looks great and i've had absolutely no trouble with it. well, almost no trouble. i've never owned a laptop before, so getting used to the trackpad is going to take some time (the mouse on my old computer is like one of those cows you have to throw rocks at just to get them out of the barn). i can also say that this is probably the most pleasant consumer experience i've ever had. go get yourself one!


I just refered the guy working at the front desk of my building to http://www.system76.com/, $899 for a dual-core processor laptop with Ubuntu pre-loaded is a really good price.

How are things going with your U-lappy so far?

[GuitarHero]

Is there a place to buy asus laptops without an os on them? Or do you have to buy them in bulk or something?

[prizrak]

Is there a place to buy asus laptops without an os on them? Or do you have to buy them in bulk or something?
They (http://www.jncs.com/jnmain.php)will sell you an ASUS laptop w/o an OS, dunno if they do international they are located in upstate New York (just about anything North of NYC is considered upstate).

That laptop looks hella nice, very professional and easy on the eyes. Should be a nice choice for anyone wanting Linux.

[sophtpaw]

Would these systems work in the Uk?:(

[fuscia]

Would these systems work in the Uk?:(

don't you all have different electricity over there?

[prizrak]

Would these systems work in the Uk?:(
You might need to get an aftermarket power adapter that can work with the 220 that's in the UK. Targus makes them so you could check them out, I got one from them that cost me $80 and fits just about any laptop I can think off.

[richbarna]

Would these systems work in the Uk?:(

Ubuntu Dapper preinstalled in the UK Laptops 500 pounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/

[bruce89]

don't you all have different electricity over there?
To clarifiy, we have a 3 pronged plug (live, neutral, earth), and 230V @ 50Hz. The funny thing about my house is it seems to use 240V (it was lowered at some point).

[GameManK]

They (http://www.jncs.com/jnmain.php)will sell you an ASUS laptop w/o an OS, dunno if they do international they are located in upstate New York (just about anything North of NYC is considered upstate).

That laptop looks hella nice, very professional and easy on the eyes. Should be a nice choice for anyone wanting Linux.
Ooh nice! Small selection of models though. Any more links? :lol:

I've had my eye on the asus v6j. it's expensive though. Dells are much cheaper but there isn't one quite like the asus. would be pretty sweet to get one with ubuntu on it though! (or with no OS, as long as I don't have to waste money on Windows that I won't use)

[Miguel]

Hi guys,

There is a reason why the v6j is more expensive than a dell. It is better built. It is tougher and lighter. You might actually find it even nicer. It depends on you whether all this is worth the extra bucks. In my oppinion, the only bad point of the v6j is actually the screen size. I'd rather have it 14" widescreen than 15 inches 4:3. Anyway, that's what the W3j is for. Oh! and be careful no to pick the Lamborghini one (unless you are looking for it). It is ultra expensive.

IMHO, if you are buying Dell, it is worth looking at the Latitude models. they are not noticeably more expensive than the Inspirons (or the e whatever), but have a much better case. And we got comments in the EU thread saying that you can get a Dell, with some insisting, without windows (if you are interested).

A final note: barebone ASUS laptops usually have another weird names. I think, for example, that the W3 and the z71 have the same body.

Have a nice day!

PS: I think a guy in this thread asked for the possiblity of DDR2 in an AMD. Well, it is actually possible. AMD released their new AM2 socket and processors (slightly different from 739) and these support DDR2.

[sophtpaw]

don't you all have different electricity over there?


No. Its the flintstones here:p

[sophtpaw]

Ubuntu Dapper preinstalled in the UK Laptops 500 pounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/laptops/

Thanks! Does seem easier and less fuss not having to deal with international adaptors and converters

but my consternation is at the prices.

the 500 pound one is a very basic piece of hardware kit. Maybe i'm wrong but for a basic set of specifications i can find a laptop with widows or not, and install Dapper myself. Maybe i'm wrong:roll:

[fuscia]

No. Its the flintstones here:p

ah, like flintstonehenge.

[drizek]

Thanks! Does seem easier and less fuss not having to deal with international adaptors and converters

but my consternation is at the prices.

the 500 pound one is a very basic piece of hardware kit. Maybe i'm wrong but for a basic set of specifications i can find a laptop with widows or not, and install Dapper myself. Maybe i'm wrong:roll:

no need for adapters. the power adapter for the laptop itself can accept upto 240v(you should probably double check that though ;)). All you have to do is just buy a converter to switch it from the flimsy american prongs to the Uber strong engrish ones.

[mips]

... All you have to do is just buy a converter to switch it from the flimsy american prongs to the Uber strong engrish ones.

And once it is out of warranty you cut the american plug of and use the real thing where ever you are. Don't see what a plug has to do with warranty but I have learned my lesson before.

[DSn0wMan]

hehe funny story ;)


fuscia
what distro is installed and which DE?

i hear they are now implementing linux laptops on planes to be used as a black boxes :p.

I recently took a trip to asia on Cathay Pacific. Their entire entertainment system is run off a linux server. You clould tell because they had to reboot about 10 hours into the flight, and I saw the little penguin followed by the mounting this, and stating that messages.

[matthew]

Is there a place to buy asus laptops without an os on them? Or do you have to buy them in bulk or something?Try here: http://www.abs.com/diy/notebookdiy.asp
I haven't used them, but it looks like what you are wanting.

BTW, how did I miss this thread before?? Great story, fuscia! Humorous, informative, imaginative and a little off-center. I would expect nothing less from you. Congrats on your new "toy."

[woedend]

i must say I found the story HILARIOUS...its very rare I laugh at anything I read but seeing the picture of the car, and then the line "that guy was pissed until i told him my laptop came with linux installed." had me in tears

priceless humor man.

[Brunellus]

hey fuscia: did the notebook come with multimedia codecs, or did you have to do the usual post-install twiddling yourself?

[fuscia]

hey fuscia: did the notebook come with multimedia codecs, or did you have to do the usual post-install twiddling yourself?

i used automatix for the codecs, though it actually never occured to me they might already have been installed. i pretty much blunder my way through things, so i'm not always the best person to ask.

i'm glad so many have enjoyed my humble review, no matter how off center it may be.

[Sef]

I recently took a trip to asia on Cathay Pacific. Their entire entertainment system is run off a linux server. You clould tell because they had to reboot about 10 hours into the flight, and I saw the little penguin followed by the mounting this, and stating that messages.

A number of airlines run Linux for their entertainment system.

[krrh]

Fuscia, how is the ACPI support? Does the machine suspend to disk and RAM?

[fuscia]

Fuscia, how is the ACPI support?

i don't know. what is it?


Does the machine suspend to disk and RAM?

it hibernates and i think it sleeps. i use hibernate a lot. i'm not to clear on how sleep works, so i emailed system76 to find out. when i close the lid, it goes off and comes back on as soon as i move the mouse. i need to find out about it as the other day, i came back in the room to find my cat sitting in my chair staring at my screensaver.

[newlinux]

I ordered a gazelle-value (12.1" screen, Celeron-M) from system76 and should be getting it this week. Looking forward to it! Brunellus, I don't think the come with codecs, as they have a How-To on their forums on installing the codecs, and I read somewhere that they don't install them due to the licensing...

[aysiu]

I ordered a gazelle-value (12.1" screen, Celeron-M) from system76 and should be getting it this week. Looking forward to it! Brunellus, I don't think the come with codecs, as they have a How-To on their forums on installing the codecs, and I read somewhere that they don't install them due to the licensing...
newlinux, when you get your Gazelle, can you post your experiences back here--either in this thread or your own new thread?

[Ptero-4]

Fucsia. Which processor came with your Pangolin? I ask b/c the pangolin series where "upgraded" to a Intel Core Duo. Also does the Intel Core Duo come with an embedded TPM chip? I ask b/c that's the CPU used in Apple's x86 Macs which have integrated TPM chips in them (the chip is an infineon branded one). Also I live in Panamá (the centro american country) and wanted to know, since the PCCard modem is no longer an option for the pangolin series. How can I get a Linux-compatible PCcard modem (sorry, no Linux-friendly broadband ISP here)?

[fuscia]

i got the pangolin with a celeron m. right after i ordered it, i saw they were doing better processors and got kind of 'oh ****'-ish. however, this thing is as fast as i'll ever need and i forken love the wsxga screen. in fact, the screen is my favorite thing about it.

[drizek]

celeron ms are actually really good cpus. The desktop versions are complete ****, but hte notebook ones are exactly the same as the pentiums. Only idfference is that they only have 1mb of L2 cache(thats still a lot though) and dont have cpu scaling support. It hurts the battery life, but performance is good.

If you want to do something hardcore though, you can get a 1.6ghz pentium m with a 400mhz FSB and do a pinmod to increase the FSB to 533mhz. This OCs the cpu to 2.13ghz without any heat issues AND it will support clock scaling. You can get one off of ebay for less than a hundred bucks, and the laptop you have makes it really easy cause instead of having to do the pinmod with an actual pin, you can just flip a switch on the motherboard. Let me know if you want more info.

[fuscia]

Let me know if you want more info.

dude, you lost me way back at "celeron m's are good". thanks for the offer, though. i appreciate it.

[drizek]

Its better that way i guess, dont want you to break anything cause of me.

[fuscia]

Its better that way i guess, dont want you to break anything cause of me.

the stuff you were talking about is just over my head. i'm not much of a machine person and tend to go 'deer in the headlights' in such discussions.


celeron ms are actually really good cpus. The desktop versions are complete ****, but the notebook ones are exactly the same as the pentiums.

this kind of surprises me (i'd always assumed otherwise). i have an old 700mhz celeron in my desktop and a 1.6 celeron m in my laptop. the difference between the two is remarkable, but i don't know whether to credit the cpu, the gig of memory (instead of 256), or what. i guess it's a combination of all of them?

[drizek]

probably a little bit of both. Gnome gets a nice speedup going to 512mb, but anything over that really wont make a difference.

[newlinux]

newlinux, when you get your Gazelle, can you post your experiences back here--either in this thread or your own new thread?

Will do... I go on a business trip next week, but if I get it before then (which I expect) I'll probably take it with me and start testing it out each night. It will be interesting to compare it to the things I went through with my desktop, and this will be the first computer I've ever bought without windows on it. This may be a landmark moment :).

[aysiu]

Things I'm particularly interested in are:

1. Battery life.
2. Ability to hibernate/sleep properly, and are you then prompted for a password when you "wake" the laptop? Is that configurable?
3. Codecs (I know you said they probably don't come with codecs, but a definite confirmation would be great for the curious among us.

I'd be grateful for anything you can share, of course.

[mips]

the stuff you were talking about is just over my head. i'm not much of a machine person and tend to go 'deer in the headlights' in such discussions.



this kind of surprises me (i'd always assumed otherwise). i have an old 700mhz celeron in my desktop and a 1.6 celeron m in my laptop. the difference between the two is remarkable, but i don't know whether to credit the cpu, the gig of memory (instead of 256), or what. i guess it's a combination of all of them?

The celeron cpu's suck, i have one in my hp nx6110 and it is a dog.

[drizek]

there is no noticeable difference between a pentium and a celeron. It must either just be the placebo effect or you have another bottleneck. How fast is it BTW?

[fuscia]

there is no noticeable difference between a pentium and a celeron. It must either just be the placebo effect or you have another bottleneck. How fast is it BTW?

faster than sound and maybe on a par with lightning. 1.6.

[prizrak]

there is no noticeable difference between a pentium and a celeron. It must either just be the placebo effect or you have another bottleneck. How fast is it BTW?
The only time I ever noticed any difference was in gaming. I used to have a Celeron based Dell laptop and it ran like a champ did everything that I needed it to fairly well. There was also a huge upside to it being a mobile Celeron as opposed to mobile Pentium, I got 4 hours of battery life out of it ;)

[Brunellus]

Does the mobile Celeron support freq/volt. scaling? there seems to be a bit of confusion....

[mips]

Does the mobile Celeron support freq/volt. scaling? there seems to be a bit of confusion....

To a degree but it does not have all the features of a mobile pentium.

http://www.mobilityguru.com/2004/03/09/does_everything_have_to_be_a_centrino/index.html
http://forum.tabletpcreviewspot.com/showthread.php?t=301

Sorry, I'm comparing my celeron to a AMD Athlon 64...
Battery life is not that great with the celeron compare to my pentium m I had at work.

[drizek]

no it doesnt, thats really the only difference from the pentiium m. Im not sure how much a difference the extra 1mb in cache the pentium has makes though.

[Dragonbite]

I love it! I had to re-read the first post because I thought I missed something and it REALLY plopped down in front of a car!!! Then I saw the pictures ;)

fuscia, this is great. I haven't heard about System 76 before! I immediately priced out a Pangolin and want one (need to get the approval of the CFO though ... Chief Family Officer!](*,)

Wonder what the effects would be if you dropped it out of an airplane ...:-k

[fuscia]

Wonder what the effects would be if you dropped it out of an airplane ...:-k

i'm sure it would float effortlessly to a safe landing.

[Dragonbite]

Or leave a crater the size of Madagascar!

[matthew]

i'm sure it would float effortlessly to a safe landing.I think the word you are looking for is "hover." While defying gravity the laptop would hover effortlessly to its intended destination and await the airplane's arrival and reunification with its owner. :)

[fuscia]

I think the word you are looking for is "hover." While defying gravity the laptop would hover effortlessly to its intended destination and await the airplane's arrival and reunification with its owner. :)

i don't think hover's enabled by default.

[Brunellus]

To a degree but it does not have all the features of a mobile pentium.

http://www.mobilityguru.com/2004/03/09/does_everything_have_to_be_a_centrino/index.html
http://forum.tabletpcreviewspot.com/showthread.php?t=301

Sorry, I'm comparing my celeron to a AMD Athlon 64...
Battery life is not that great with the celeron compare to my pentium m I had at work.
that clears things up considerably, and confirms a suspicion--celerons are really meant to be plugged-in rather than run off hte batteries.

Time to save up for a proper freq-scaling laptop...

[fuscia]

what's frequency scaling?

[matthew]

i don't think hover's enabled by default.Oh, man! I have to go get a towel. I just spit coffee all over my monitor. You kill me, Fuscia. :-D

[matthew]

what's frequency scaling?It is a feature that enables the processor to automatically run slower in order to save power or speed itself up to full power when intensive tasks are being done.

[Brunellus]

Always remember a towel.


A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta…wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat…wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes…any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it … win through, and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

[prizrak]

To a degree but it does not have all the features of a mobile pentium.

http://www.mobilityguru.com/2004/03/09/does_everything_have_to_be_a_centrino/index.html
http://forum.tabletpcreviewspot.com/showthread.php?t=301

Sorry, I'm comparing my celeron to a AMD Athlon 64...
Battery life is not that great with the celeron compare to my pentium m I had at work.

The Pentium M is really a remarkable piece of engineering. It is not a P4 or a Celeron it is a completely different chip alltogether. It was designed for nothing but laptops, and is actually quite powerful with fairly small frequency :) (sorry I'm still amazed by what Intel pulled off after sucking for years)

[fuscia]

Oh, man! I have to go get a towel. I just spit coffee all over my monitor.

my apologies to your equipment. and thanks for the explanation of frequency scaling. is that something the cpu figures out on its own, or does the user do it, or both?

[drizek]

that clears things up considerably, and confirms a suspicion--celerons are really meant to be plugged-in rather than run off hte batteries.

Time to save up for a proper freq-scaling laptop...
no need to get a new laptop, just plop a new cpu in there http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-M-CPU-1-6GHz-Dothan-725-SL7EG_W0QQitemZ200005556777QQihZ010QQcategoryZ3156 7QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Like i menitoned in my other post(the one that went over your head) this cpu can easily be overclocked to 2.13ghz.

Youll get a 33% increase in speed AND have better battery life for less than a hundred bucks. The only issue is if youre willing to take your laptop apart and replace the cpu? FWIW, these asus laptops were designed to be hand built, so replacing the cpu isnt as tough as it is on some other ones.

Edit: cpu scaling is controlled by our good friend linux. it increases the cpu speed according to demand.

[Brunellus]

no need to get a new laptop, just plop a new cpu in there http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-M-CPU-1-6GHz-Dothan-725-SL7EG_W0QQitemZ200005556777QQihZ010QQcategoryZ3156 7QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Like i menitoned in my other post(the one that went over your head) this cpu can easily be overclocked to 2.13ghz.

Youll get a 33% increase in speed AND have better battery life for less than a hundred bucks. The only issue is if youre willing to take your laptop apart and replace the cpu? FWIW, these asus laptops were designed to be hand built, so replacing the cpu isnt as tough as it is on some other ones.

Edit: cpu scaling is controlled by our good friend linux. it increases the cpu speed according to demand.
I don't actually have one--but freq. scaling is going to be a real issue when I buy a new laptop, as is weight. I've given up on being able to afford a laptop that weighs about 1 kg. I'm now budgeting for a 2 kg machine....

[prizrak]

my apologies to your equipment. and thanks for the explanation of frequency scaling. is that something the cpu figures out on its own, or does the user do it, or both?
Well the BIOS can control it on it's own but under normal conditions the OS will handle the scalling. In Ubuntu it's automated my machine runs at 50% under normal conditions and goes to a 100% when needed. Back in the Windows days I had an OEM power management software that allowed me to pick a bunch of different options for different power profiles.

[matthew]

The Pentium M is really a remarkable piece of engineering. It is not a P4 or a Celeron it is a completely different chip alltogether. It was designed for nothing but laptops, and is actually quite powerful with fairly small frequency :) (sorry I'm still amazed by what Intel pulled off after sucking for years)It is actually a modified version of the Pentium III! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_m

[matthew]

my apologies to your equipment. and thanks for the explanation of frequency scaling. is that something the cpu figures out on its own, or does the user do it, or both?The operating system tells the processor when and why to scale up or down. Pretty cool idea I think. Under windows it seems to be more easily configured than under linux, but I really haven't tried much so I could be wrong about that.

[fuscia]

Well the BIOS can control it on it's own but under normal conditions the OS will handle the scalling. In Ubuntu it's automated my machine runs at 50% under normal conditions and goes to a 100% when needed. Back in the Windows days I had an OEM power management software that allowed me to pick a bunch of different options for different power profiles.


thanks.

[bruce89]

To see if CPU Frequency Scaling is working, add the CPU Frequency Scaling applet to the Gnome panel (assuming gnome though, I presume there is an equivalent for KDE, but I don't know what it is)

[prizrak]

The operating system tells the processor when and why to scale up or down. Pretty cool idea I think. Under windows it seems to be more easily configured than under linux, but I really haven't tried much so I could be wrong about that.
Well they are pretty different in my experience actually. In Windows if you have a 3rd party application that comes with the laptop it has alot of features that default Windows power manager doesn't have. However there if you set your CPU to run at 85% frequency while on batteries it will run at that level no matter what is going on.

In Ubuntu it defaults to running @50% plugged in or on batteries but will scale up to 100%. This makes a little more sense than predefined frequency ranges so in essence there isn't much reason to play with settings in Linux.

[ubuntu_demon]

Does Dapper make use of all the power saving features (including deeper sleep) of the newest Pentium M models ?

[Ubunted]

3. Codecs (I know you said they probably don't come with codecs, but a definite confirmation would be great for the curious among us.

http://system76.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=106

[prizrak]

Does Dapper make use of all the power saving features (including deeper sleep) of the newest Pentium M models ?

I will let you know in about a week, when my new laptop makes it here :)

[Ptero-4]

i got the pangolin with a celeron m. right after i ordered it, i saw they were doing better processors and got kind of 'oh ****'-ish. however, this thing is as fast as i'll ever need and i forken love the wsxga screen. in fact, the screen is my favorite thing about it.

Fuscia. I asked about the CPU and if it had a TPM in it b/c some time ago I read the Richard Stallman articles "Can you trust?" and "The right to read" and got pretty darn freaked and paranoid b/c of all the evil things that technology allows the big corps to do against us. And I got into this "I won't buy a computer I can't control" mood. And I have already ruled out lots of those "new" boxen from DELL, HP, Acer and even the new x86 Macs. Right now my only choices are between a System76 laptop and a Compaq 2200 one (my uncle have one of that exact model and it's working fine for him, he's got Mepis on it and it's never given him the type of trouble the HP my sister had gave me back in it's days) and if this doesn't settle up good, I don't even know what I'm going to do.

[drizek]

it wont settle. However, that cpu i linked to a couple posts above doesnt have TPM since it is from two generations ago. All the system76 laptops have it, unless you are willing to swap the cpu out. I wouldnt worry about it though, just get a laptop you like.

[prizrak]

System76 is pretty much just ASUS barebones that they built up so they have the TPM chip.

drizek,
AFAIK the TPM is a separate chip and not part of the CPU, possibly part of the chipset though.

[fuscia]

Fuscia. I asked about the CPU and if it had a TPM in it b/c some time ago I read the Richard Stallman articles "Can you trust?" and "The right to read" and got pretty darn freaked and paranoid b/c of all the evil things that technology allows the big corps to do against us.

as you appeared to be asking about TPM in relation to the intel duo, and i have a celeron, i didn't answer that part of your question. i read about 'trusted computing' about a year ago, but had forgotten it. TPM didn't ring any bells, so i had assumed it was just one more of those things you all talk about on here that i have no clue about. i've sent an email to support at system76 asking about my machine. so, i'll know more after a response.

[ubuntu_demon]

I will let you know in about a week, when my new laptop makes it here :)
Okay great. Thank you :)

[ubuntu_demon]

as you appeared to be asking about TPM in relation to the intel duo, and i have a celeron, i didn't answer that part of your question. i read about 'trusted computing' about a year ago, but had forgotten it. TPM didn't ring any bells, so i had assumed it was just one more of those things you all talk about on here that i have no clue about. i've sent an email to support at system76 asking about my machine. so, i'll know more after a response.

You can read more about trusted computing on my blog right here :

http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/2006/07/05/trusted-computing-a-must-see-short-movie/

You should watch the video I link to. It's great and understandable for everyone who understands english :).

[fuscia]

You can read more about trusted computing on my blog right here :

http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/2006/07/05/trusted-computing-a-must-see-short-movie/

You should watch the video I link to. It's great and understandable for everyone who understands english :).

thanks for the link. i'm not sure there's much point in watching that movie, though. it's more about the concept of trust rather than info about trusted computing. it never spells out why it's bad.

[matthew]

Well they are pretty different in my experience actually. In Windows if you have a 3rd party application that comes with the laptop it has alot of features that default Windows power manager doesn't have. However there if you set your CPU to run at 85% frequency while on batteries it will run at that level no matter what is going on.

In Ubuntu it defaults to running @50% plugged in or on batteries but will scale up to 100%. This makes a little more sense than predefined frequency ranges so in essence there isn't much reason to play with settings in Linux.True. Thank you for the counterpoint.

[maniacmusician]

What's the threshold at which systems get too good to affect performance? I was thinking of splurging for a Dell XPS but if I can get basically the same performance (using ubuntu) with a laptop of lower specs, I'll take it.

I mean for both desktop and laptop (because they would both be different, right?). when do systems get too good for it to matter?

[Miguel]

IMHO, desktops got good enough (give or take 512Mb RAM) around two years ago... as long as you aren't into gaming in windows (especially because FEAR and Oblivion),
high performance computing (because it's never enough)
benchmarking
selling more computers


When laptops got their Pentium M chips (or Centrino) they suddenly got nearly on par with desktops, apart from the slower memory and hard disk. Well, as we see on the posts, the most important indicator of performance is time to load an app, so the HD matters more than the prcessor. Actually, if you put a Pentium M on a desktop mobo you get better performance than with most current Pentium 4.

EDIT: I also want to add that I find heat and battery life and weight as important as processing power. I simply didn't understand why max thermal dissipation increased from Pentium-M to Core Duo's. I mean, if you reall really need the power, you still have your desktop (or your 56 itanium2 cluster MUAHAHAHA)

[ubuntu_demon]

thanks for the link. i'm not sure there's much point in watching that movie, though. it's more about the concept of trust rather than info about trusted computing. it never spells out why it's bad.
Yeah it's more about the concept. But I tried explaining the concept to a friend and to my girlfriend but when I showed them the video the understood much better.

I provided also this link on my blog which has more information :
http://www.againsttcpa.com/

[fuscia]

Yeah it's more about the concept. But I tried explaining the concept to a friend and to my girlfriend but when I showed them the video the understood much better.

I provided also this link on my blog which has more information :
http://www.againsttcpa.com/

there seems to be a problem with that site. a lot of the pages are blank. i found the ross anderson FAQ elsewhere and realize it's one of the items i had read a year ago. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
it seems a lot of the concern is speculation, at this point.

[ubuntu_demon]

there seems to be a problem with that site. a lot of the pages are blank.


The "what is tcpa" works :
http://www.againsttcpa.com/what-is-tcpa.html



i found the ross anderson FAQ elsewhere and realize it's one of the items i had read a year ago. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
it seems a lot of the concern is speculation, at this point.

Yeah a lot of speculation of what could happen. But some of it will happen if Microsoft integrates it fully into Vista+1 or some Vista Service Pack.

The worst part of it is that (windows) users are obliged to trust big companies and give them control about which programs and files you should trust.

[fuscia]

Yeah a lot of speculation of what could happen. But some of it will happen if Microsoft integrates it fully into Vista+1 or some Vista Service Pack.


i wonder if the delay of vista has anything to do with them trying to do too much with this crap.

[ubuntu_demon]

i wonder if the delay of vista has anything to do with them trying to do too much with this crap.
No originally they were planning to include it (then called Palladium) into Vista (then Longhorn) but they dropped it to include it in a later version of windows.

Let's get back on topic ;)

[fuscia]

Let's get back on topic ;)

oh yeah. my apologies to the thread starter.

[ubuntu_demon]

oh yeah. my apologies to the thread starter.
which is you
LOL :-D

[fuscia]

ok, the answer was there is no TPM chip in my model of laptop. i am such a rebel.

[newlinux]

newlinux, when you get your Gazelle, can you post your experiences back here--either in this thread or your own new thread?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=215690

Didn't want to hijack this thread...

[Ptero-4]

it wont settle. However, that cpu i linked to a couple posts above doesnt have TPM since it is from two generations ago. All the system76 laptops have it, unless you are willing to swap the cpu out. I wouldnt worry about it though, just get a laptop you like.

I know, in fact I'm putting a Gazelle performance on my System76 shopping cart (open in another Safari tab) as I post this. My worries though, is that a TPM is like a backdoor. It may not be in use at this moment, but it's just matter of time before someone with bad intentions takes advantage of it to do nasty things (like causing a PC which used to run linux just fine to begin rejecting it overnight, which is possible since all it takes is one rule in a policy server to make the PC's perform any specific action against any piece of hardware or software that is flagged as "banned" by members of any one of the big corps.).
I worry about this b/c I don't want my shiny new S76 PC to go crazy on me overnight b/c of an active malware backdoor (it's TPM chip).

[prizrak]

I know, in fact I'm putting a Gazelle performance on my System76 shopping cart (open in another Safari tab) as I post this. My worries though, is that a TPM is like a backdoor. It may not be in use at this moment, but it's just matter of time before someone with bad intentions takes advantage of it to do nasty things (like causing a PC which used to run linux just fine to begin rejecting it overnight, which is possible since all it takes is one rule in a policy server to make the PC's perform any specific action against any piece of hardware or software that is flagged as "banned" by members of any one of the big corps.).
I worry about this b/c I don't want my shiny new S76 PC to go crazy on me overnight b/c of an active malware backdoor (it's TPM chip).

The chip itself cannot be affected w/o the software. For the most part the TPM chip is basically like a MAC address for a NIC it identifies your computer to enable policy that only affects that one machine.
Note: This is just what I (think I) know about the issue I could be wrong :)

Ubuntu_demon,
Got the Pentium M based laptop, the stepping is incremental it will only go to the clock speed that is needed at the moment. Default is to run at half the speed, works very well :)


What's the threshold at which systems get too good to affect performance? I was thinking of splurging for a Dell XPS but if I can get basically the same performance (using ubuntu) with a laptop of lower specs, I'll take it.

I mean for both desktop and laptop (because they would both be different, right?). when do systems get too good for it to matter?
It more or less depends on what you do but for general computing that doesn't involve anything hardware intensive anything like the following will do.

Desktop:
AXP 2000+ or P4 2GHz
512MB+ RAM
64MB+ Video
7200RPM HDD

Laptop
PM (just about any will do)
same for ram and video
and a 5400rpm hdd (they got 7200 rpm ones but those are more expensive)

Basically anything new you get nowadays would be fast enough to notice no difference. The only difference that I really notice on my new laptop from the old one is the speed at which it starts NetBeans.

[Miguel]

Got the Pentium M based laptop, the stepping is incremental it will only go to the clock speed that is needed at the moment. Default is to run at half the speed, works very well


In a default Ubuntu, Pentium-M's work the following way: cpu is clocked to the minimum (600 MHz in all 7*5 chips and 800 MHz in the 7*0 chips, these are the centrinos with a 533 MHz bus).
If total user CPU usage exceeds 80%, the CPU will go to max MHz.
The CPU clock will go one step down if usage is below 20%.


This can be changed by editing a few things in /etc/init.d/powernowd, in case you want your CPU always at 100% or always at 600MHz. Different profiles are also available. Remember "man powernowd" is your friend ;)

Celeron-M's don't have, AFAIK, the frecuency stepping. Newer AthlonXP's have it (cool'm quiet enabled on the BIOS), as do Turions and Intel Cores (all versions, included Conroe and Merom).

[adam.tropics]

Just a quick correction...Celeron M does have frequency stepping and it does work in Ubuntu.

[Miguel]

Just a quick correction...Celeron M does have frequency stepping and it does work in Ubuntu.

You really surprised me. I had read (I recall notebook review and maybe tom's hardware) that the main difference between Celeron-M and Pentium-M was less cache and no speedstep. Actually, in wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron#Pentium_M_Celerons) it can be read:



Pentium M Celerons

Banias-512

This Celeron (sold under the Celeron M brand) is based on the Pentium M, and differs from its parent in that it has half the L2 cache, and does not support the clock-varying SpeedStep technology. It performs reasonably well compared to the Pentium M, but battery life is noticeably shorter on a Celeron M–based notebook than it is on a comparable Pentium M notebook.

The Celeron M processor is not considered to be part of the Centrino platform, regardless of what chipset and Wi-Fi components are used.


Dothan-1024

A 90 nm Celeron M with half of the L2 cache of the 90 nm (Dothan) Pentium Ms (twice the L2 cache of the 130nm Celeron Ms, though), and, like its predecessor, lacking SpeedStep.


Shelton (aka Banias-0)

The Shelton core is a Banias core without any L2 cache, and without SpeedStep. It is used in Intel's small form factor D845GVSH motherboard, intended for Asian and South American markets. The processor identifies itself as a "Intel Celeron 1.0B GHz", to differentiate it from the previous Coppermine-128 and "Tualeron" 1.0 GHz processors
[edit]

Yonah-1024

A 65 nm Celeron M based on the Core Solo version (single-core) of the Yonah Core. Like its predecessors, this Celeron M has half of the L2 cache (1 MiB) of Core Solo and lacks SpeedStep. This core also brings new features to Celeron M including a faster front side bus (533 MT/s), SSE3 instructions, and support for the XD bit.



I'm further researching at some intel sites.

[adam.tropics]

You really surprised me. I had read (I recall notebook review and maybe tom's hardware) that the main difference between Celeron-M and Pentium-M was less cache and no speedstep.


adam@adam-laptop:~$ cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/info
processor id: 0
acpi id: 0
bus mastering control: yes
power management: yes
throttling control: yes
limit interface: yes
adam@adam-laptop:~$ cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/throttling
state count: 8
active state: T0
states:
*T0: 00%
T1: 12%
T2: 25%
T3: 37%
T4: 50%
T5: 62%
T6: 75%
T7: 87%
adam@adam-laptop:~$


On a Celeron M 1.5

[GarethMB]

My celeron M can't. How did you enable it?

[Ptero-4]

The chip itself cannot be affected w/o the software. For the most part the TPM chip is basically like a MAC address for a NIC it identifies your computer to enable policy that only affects that one machine.

Do you mean that I can safelly turn off the TPM chip and nobody will be able to turn it on over the internet (which is the same way spyware takes over a ******* installation through the web and hijacks your PC).

[prizrak]

Do you mean that I can safelly turn off the TPM chip and nobody will be able to turn it on over the internet (which is the same way spyware takes over a ******* installation through the web and hijacks your PC).

Well you can't turn it on or off, it's just plain there. It won't do anything w/o software though, like any other hardware device, if you don't have wireless drivers you won't have wireless.

[Ptero-4]

Well you can't turn it on or off, it's just plain there. It won't do anything w/o software though, like any other hardware device, if you don't have wireless drivers you won't have wireless.

That means I'm going to recompile the kernel with the support for TPM disabled.

Ah other thing. If I add the option of a second battery. Will it double the battery duration (4 to 8hrs)? Will the charger that comes with the laptop charge both batteries? And about the video. Does it have shared or dedicated RAM? And if it have shared RAM, how much it uses?

[prizrak]

That means I'm going to recompile the kernel with the support for TPM disabled.

Ah other thing. If I add the option of a second battery. Will it double the battery duration (4 to 8hrs)? Will the charger that comes with the laptop charge both batteries? And about the video. Does it have shared or dedicated RAM? And if it have shared RAM, how much it uses?
Depends on what you mean, if it's like the machine I have it won't be twice the time because one battery is a primary (fairly big) and the other is a secondary. Generally speaking a secondary battery will have about half the capacity of a primary one so it would be (4 to 6hrs) most likely, depends on usage of course. The charger will charge both batteries although I don't think that it is simultaneous, haven't had much experience with charging two batteries at the same time. Not too sure about the video since I don't know what machine you are talking about the specs will normally tell you the amount of RAM that video takes and whether it is shared or discreet. Most laptop video cards don't use all the RAM they could. For instance I got a 128MB GeForce but it will not go all the way to 128 unless it needs it. I think it got 64 on board for normal operation and can steal more as needed.

[newlinux]

System76 (for the pangolin and gazelle series) sell an extra of the same battery the system comes with, so they should have the same capacity. I don't think (without extra equipment) you can charge them at the same time.

[Ptero-4]

System76 (for the pangolin and gazelle series) sell an extra of the same battery the system comes with, so they should have the same capacity. I don't think (without extra equipment) you can charge them at the same time.

But I o.k having two batteries and only one charger? Do I need to buy the second crager if I buy a second battery?
Also since this is going to be my first laptop to have a PC Card slot (my first laptop was an iBook, which lacks PC Card slots, this gazelle is my second laptop), I wanted to know. If I have two or more PC Cards and need to swap them, can they be hotswapped (swapped without requiring a reboot)?

[prizrak]

But I o.k having two batteries and only one charger? Do I need to buy the second crager if I buy a second battery?
Also since this is going to be my first laptop to have a PC Card slot (my first laptop was an iBook, which lacks PC Card slots, this gazelle is my second laptop), I wanted to know. If I have two or more PC Cards and need to swap them, can they be hotswapped (swapped without requiring a reboot)?

You can't charge a battery w/ just a power supply it has to either be inside the laptop or a special charger. PC cards are hotswappable you have to eject them much like USB devices.

[Ptero-4]

You can't charge a battery w/ just a power supply it has to either be inside the laptop or a special charger. PC cards are hotswappable you have to eject them much like USB devices.

By charger I was talking about the thing you use to recharge a laptop battery when it's empty (don't know the exact name, but if you have a laptop, you already should know which is it (or ask fucsia, he have a laptop).

[prizrak]

By charger I was talking about the thing you use to recharge a laptop battery when it's empty (don't know the exact name, but if you have a laptop, you already should know which is it (or ask fucsia, he have a laptop).

If by the charger you mean the power adaptor that plugs into the laptop then no you cannot just recharge the battery with it. The battery has to be inside the laptop because it has a different "jack" (in batteries they are usually called terminals). I do believe there are special battery chargers around that you can plug the battery into w/o needing a laptop but I haven't seen them around.

This is basically how it works. If your laptop has only one battery port then if you want to get another battery you will have to get the same exact one as the one that comes with it. Then to charge batteries you charge one, take it out of the laptop, put the other one in and charge that. If your laptop supports running multiple batteries at a time then it will charge them both. The only thing I don't know about if the charge in parallel.

[Kaloma]

Hello, all!

I am a soon-to-be Dapper Drake user, thanks to the new system76 Serval I ordered. I am a long time Debian user (currently with Etch on a home-built desktop) and I am looking forward to giving Ubuntu a try.

I figure I should add to this thread rather than start a new one.

I will be back to give my a review once the new machine arrives (probably 2 weeks) and I've had a chance to test drive it.

At this point, I can say that I found the price to be competitive (though not the lowest) and the product line and pricing structure clear and simple.

Among other sites, I browsed Dell's notebook offerings for comparison and their site with all its "special" promotions and discounts is terribly confusing. I managed to price out nearly the same final configuration (by customizing from different starting points) for 3 different prices ranging from $1865 to $2660!

-Matthew-

[aysiu]

Looking forward to reading your review when it comes out, Kaloma. Please be as comprehensive as you have time for--warts and all.

[crichell]

I thought I might chime in - good questions.

TPM Chips - Can be disabled via the BIOS on most laptops (I think all of them but I can't say for sure.) Same goes for desktops.

Extra Battery - Same size and capacity as the battery that comes with the laptop.

Charging the Extra Battery - At night or when convenient take out the standard battery then plug in and charge up the extra battery. Since both batteries are the same size you can just use the extra one until it runs low and switch to the new battery when you're ready. A battery will hold it's charge while out of the laptop (only slightly losing energy).

PCMCIA and PC Cards - These are hot swappable so plug them in and take them out as needed - no annoying deactivating the slot first or popups saying it's "safe" to remove hardware (the beauty of Linux!)

[prizrak]

I thought I might chime in - good questions.

TPM Chips - Can be disabled via the BIOS on most laptops (I think all of them but I can't say for sure.) Same goes for desktops.

Extra Battery - Same size and capacity as the battery that comes with the laptop.

Charging the Extra Battery - At night or when convenient take out the standard battery then plug in and charge up the extra battery. Since both batteries are the same size you can just use the extra one until it runs low and switch to the new battery when you're ready. A battery will hold it's charge while out of the laptop (only slightly losing energy).

PCMCIA and PC Cards - These are hot swappable so plug them in and take them out as needed - no annoying deactivating the slot first or popups saying it's "safe" to remove hardware (the beauty of Linux!)

Laptop batteries lose energy fairly quickly actually 2-3 days max from what I remember. PCMCIA does need to be ejected all hot swappable devices need to be stopped and ejected to avoid certain issues. Such as the kernel thinking it's still there and quite possibly crashing when attempting to access it. There is just no convinient little "Eject device" button on Linux yet.

[steveneddy]

I love my ubuntu laptop, too.

[devinwhite717]

System76 seems to be a good vendor