Have a laptop?

[whiterabbit]

Do you own a laptop? (non notebook owners are welcome to post)

What do you use it for?

Which OS do you have installed?

I'm just curious because I've noticed that more and more people are falling into this routine. Myself? I've never had one but wouldn't mind a very low spec notebook at some point for word processing/web and software coding/web browsing but until I have the funds, it's not an option.

[Quartus]

Have got a laptop from school.

I use it for almost everything.

Dual boot with Win XP and Ubuntu (Hoary).

[stimpack]

Have an Acer LMi1710, its a laptop in name but at 10Kg Id say more of a desktop replacement.

Use it when traveling UK<->Spain which I do every month or when my wife takes over the desktop.

Kubuntu Breezy is the sole OS on it, Used to be Windows only then, a dual boot. Kubuntu detected everything and it worked striaght away, with windows I had to download drivers for touchpad,media controls,sound card, wifi, ethernet.

I really want a low spec laptop too, somthing very light and very portable, I love laptops, only bad thing is needing a seperate full sized keyboard and mouse if you want to do any extended work in one place. (I type like a 4year old on a laptop keyboard).

[whiterabbit]

For those that don't have one, feel free to post aswell.

[frippz]

I recently bought a Dell Latitude D810 and I love it! I'm using Windows XP atm, but will be dual booting with Breezy as soon as it has been released stable. I've been using laptops ever since I went to the uni, since we were offered to rent them at a reasonable cost, all of the were Dell. When I got admitted to Hyper Island, I still had a need for a laptop so here I am. :)

[PatrickMay16]

I've got a 486 laptop with 8MB RAM and Windows 95 installed. I got it from ebay for the fun of having an old laptop.

[whiterabbit]

I've got a 486 laptop with 8MB RAM and Windows 95 installed. I got it from ebay for the fun of having an old laptop.
I was thinking of doing something similar. How much did it set you back?

[gw90se]

I have one that I use primarly for work. I dual boot XP & Breezy. I have to have the XP because of a shared calendar program for scheduling. If it weren't for that..... ;-)

[PatrickMay16]

I was thinking of doing something similar. How much did it set you back?
It was about £45, including the postage charge. A pretty good deal, I think.

[whiterabbit]

Thanks for that. I might give it a go. It should be ok for word processing and coding. Compiling large chunks could be an issue but I could always just transfer files to my desktop pc when needed.

What do you do on it?

[poofyhairguy]

I have a Toshiba 400mhz laptop. With 128mb of max RAM its not screamer, but it runs XFCE or Enlightened Gnome well. Its well worth it for its DVD drive and the fact that APM suspend support in Ubuntu rocks when you turn ACPI off. Just instant on and off OSX style.

I've seen it go for around $100 bucks on ebay. Well worth it to me. If I could change one thing I it would be graphics- have to run at 16bit color.

Great little Linux box. Especially after 20 gig hard drive upgrade.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/Products/satellite_2590/

http://www.nbook.ru/nb/ts-2590xdvd.shtml

[poofyhairguy]

I also have an original Apple iBook running Breezy. 256mb, 300mhz G3. It runs plenty fast enough, and it quite an attention getter. Only problems is a 800x600 screen (comapred to my 19inch on my desktop its a pain) and lack of DVD drive.

[brentoboy]

A dell latitude c610
I use it when my wife is watching TV - I need interactive mindless intertainment, not couch potato entertainment.
It runs breezy. (no windows here)

I use it mostly for wordprocessing and web browsing - and screwing around with my desktop looking for cool tweaks - the really cool ones make it to the desktop in the home office.

[aerials]

With my IBM Thinkpad T42 I own quite a powerful laptop, which runs only Linux since Hoary is out. After buying a decent NAS this summer, I sold my desktop, since I had no more use for it and was tired of maintaining two systems.
Thanks to my dockingstation I still have the comfort of a desktop, meaning keyboard layout and a nice 21" lcd.
Two years ago I would never have let anything replace my desktop, since I liked to play around with my computers, testing new components and stuff. But after I started studying, the computer became more and more tool than toy, so there's no need to play around any longer ;)
The T42 is going to be replaced by a T43 during the next two weeks, because I wanted to give my sister the opportunity to buy a cheap but rock solid Laptop (namely my T42). She too will then use it to replace her desktop.
But I am not as far to torture her with Linux soon, but that day will come :cool:

[EnderEd]

I purchased an off-lease IBM TP last year, 800 MHz w 256 RAM.

I have it setup for dual boot: Win2K (I removed XP) and Linux (was Mandrake, now Ubuntu). I need the W2K partition for Quickbooks.

I use the laptop for all my personal and business needs now, EXCEPT media manipulation. I find the desktop with upgraded audio/video components just does media "better".

--EdB
Hillsborough, NJ

[niobe_logos]

My laptop at the moment is a Toshiba Satellite A65. Hoary is the only OS on it. I bought it refurbished off of eBay--it originally came with XP Home. :p

Most stuff, including wireless, worked "out of the box", except for sound. Everything else pretty much got fixed after a quick walkthrough the starter guide, or questions on forum. The only complaint I have is that the A65 is one of the laptops where 3d acceleration doesn't work, because there's no proper driver...:(

The lappie is my desktop replacement and my traveling office. I also do web development on it, so I've got things like bluefish, apache, mysql, and PHP loaded.

[John.Michael.Kane]

I'm using acer travelmate 290 cl51 centrino based with ubuntu as the only os.. everything worked out of box, and linux has all the programs i need.

[matthew]

Yes. It's the first one listed on this page (yep, that's my entry)

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportMachinesLaptopsOthers

[Ampersand]

I've got a Dell Inspiron 4150 (named May), dual boot windows XP and Fedora core 4. Got quite a bit of use when I was in a different part of the country from my desktop for a couple of months, and will probably be used as a backup when I move over the Dapper. Unfortunately, the graphics card isn't covered by the frglx driver, so I need to boot into Windows to use the svideo out.

[Ubunted]

I have an IBM ThinkPad A22m. P3 1Ghz, 512MB, 30GB. I used Hoary on it for a while, then I got my wireless card and had to pop the 2000 Pro recovery CD in to get it to work.

I use it primarily for times like right now - I'm away from home for thanksgiving and using my dad's wireless connection.

[Trisa]

I see there are a few Thinkpad users here at the forums. :smile: I myself have an IBM Thinkpad R50e. I basically use it for everything except for tasks such as image or video editing (I use my desktop computer for that). I currently am typing this on Ubuntu Linux 5.10 and is also dual booting with Windows XP (don't use it often, though). Once the final version of Breezy Badger is released, I will get rid of Windows XP and have only Ubuntu on my laptop. The laptop itself is powerful enough for me to do most of the tasks I need to do, and I like using it a lot.

[ubuntumaneh]

I have a Toshiba Satellite 2100cds (400, 156 ram, 4G). It works very good with Ubuntu+Windowmaker. I could use much better desktop (I recently bought a very good one for my workoffice), however it is much better being at anyplace with this old fellow. I have to write a lot (working on Phd thesis and papers), so emacs is my good friend. Also I enjoy creating some scripts for the fun of it (in python, mainly).

Now, a very good news is MIT $100 laptop:

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

I hope it pushes prices down.

Alas, batteries should last much longer.

[newbie2]

I have a Toshiba Satellite 2100cds (400, 156 ram, 4G). It works very good with Ubuntu+Windowmaker. I could use much better desktop (I recently bought a very good one for my workoffice), however it is much better being at anyplace with this old fellow. I have to write a lot (working on Phd thesis and papers), so emacs is my good friend. Also I enjoy creating some scripts for the fun of it (in python, mainly).

Now, a very good news is MIT $100 laptop:

http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

I hope it pushes prices down.

Alas, batteries should last much longer.
i thought that there where no batteries in that MIT laptop :confused: -->

"This high-tech device would run at such low power levels as to make hand-cranking it for power a viable option. (Important if you live in the jungle and have no electricity.) It would utilize a stripped-down version of Linux and be rugged enough to survive conditions most of us would find intolerable. Mr. Negroponte, the director of MIT's Media Lab, has managed to attract three big-time corporate sponsors- AMD, RedHat, and Google. This collaboration alone should have gotten Microsoft's attention by now."
http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/commentary/stories/128974.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1006-100_dollar_laptop.html
http://www.represent.co.za/represent/index.jsp?post_id=416

[bearbigears]

i have a dell 8200 inspiron, 2.0mghz. 1g of ram, internal intel 2200 wireless card, 80 g hardrive. it is running ubuntu breezy and is a desktop replacement.

[bhursey]

I have an Dell Inspiron 8000 900mhz P3, 384mb ram 1600x1200 res, 60gig hd. Running Ubuntu 5.10 I use for school and work. ;)

[Goober]

I recently got a Satellite Pro 440 free on FreeCycle, so I have been messing around with it, trying to install Linux. I have DeLi Linux working, but, well . . . I haven't yet figured it out. Let's just say that it is a bit less user-friendly then Ubuntu.

I am hoping to get a very simply Linux GUI working, and have some basic programs. All that I can see myself using it for is a Spreadsheet, Word Processor, and possible a PowerPoint equivalent, at school for projects. I absolutely detest the Win2000 computers at my school. They are crap. I've yet to be able to get DSL or Puppy or something on it, or even Ubuntu server simply because of its age, but I'm not giving up just yet . . .

[Orunitia]

I have a gateway laptop that I bought for school. I only have Ubuntu on it and it is my main computer.

[whiterabbit]

Alot of you seem to have some really low spec notebooks. I was a little hesistant about searching for anything too low detail in fear of it not being able to run specific proggies but you've all put my mind to rest. I might just pick up a 300 dollar notebook off ebay if it does the job.

[skydvrgrl]

Gday,

I have a Dell Inspiron 700m with Hoary and XP...I need XP to play Halo and thats it! (ie I stripped it right down to nothing but a basic install with Halo on it!) Otherwise I use Ubuntu for everything else! :D

[Hobbsee]

Toshiba A10 sattelite here 40 gig, 512 mb ram.

As for sound, check everything is unmuted in alsa mixer, and then mute headphone jack sense and line jack sense. Voila! And then there was sound!

This laptop is dual booting XP pro and kubuntu breezy - i might change the XP pro to 98 soon...

[chz]

Inspiron 1100, P4 2.4Ghz, 512 ram, running Hoary

Laptop was great at first back in '03. windows gave me several problems, did a reformat/refresh about every 6 months. Started to look for linux alternatives...toyed with Linspire as dual boot(which wiped out every partition, so I am anti-Linspire til i die!), Xandros as dual boot(which almost pushed me to believe that was the operating system of choice), and then Ubuntu warty Preview came out....and i was in love. Wiped out my WinXP partition. Still runnin ubuntu and updating everytime a new release is out.

Problems i have now is that the laptop gets waaaay too hot (bad engineering design when they decided to put the fan on the bottom fo the laptop). So i'm in the market for a new...thinkin bout the 700m. If it works well with Ubuntu...i'm sold!

[drizek]

i plan on getting something like this in a couple months once intel releases their dual cores. http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/go_np5720.html :cool:

oh, the cool thing about sager is that you dont have to buy windows with it. now i can just make my desktop singleboot linux and then dual boot on the lappy.

one more thing, chz, wait a couple months, there is going to be a new 710 some time soon, hopefully with a new cpu/chipset. the integrated gfx on the 700m sucks. the 945GMA integrated on the new chipsets coming in january is going to be far superior to the 8xx on the 700m and even better than the 915GMA on the current sonomas. also, check out companies like msi and asus before you buy a 700m. you might like the comptetion better(and theyre ussually cheaper too, and you dont have to buy windows with them)

[erikpiper]

IBM Thinkpad T23- 30Gb, 1.20 Ghz, 512 RAM, and the worst graphics card ever> and only 1024/768.

Breezy, Hoary, (Backup) and 2000- I want to continue stripping 2000 down. I literaly boot into windows five times a year. I use the laptop for school, and it is my main PC. Cd/Dvd drive. I use an external dvd/cd burner. Everything worked flawlesly with Linux. I think there is a winmodem in there, but I never use modems.

The laptop was $600 Refurbished- I literaly thought it was brand new when I got it :)

I sure hope Lenveo (Sp) keeps the laptops good quality, and configurable. (Aka- I don't want a cell phone in my laptop!) And I hope they keep the trackpoint- I would never get a laptop with only a touchpad.

[RastaMahata]

HP DV1325LA
Centrino, Pentium M 1.6, 512 Ram, blah blah..

I bought it so I dont have to depend on the PCs in my University (Sometimes not available, or they dont have the required software, or something else)

I'm waiting for Breezy to hit stable, so I can have Ubuntu goodness :D

[J D Wijbenga]

I currently use a Acer Aspire 2000 from work with Breezy. Works like a charm, especialy since suspent now works! Ubuntu is just so nice to use. So much JUST WoRKS (TM)!

I have even installed it on an old Tochiba 266Mhz 128ram laptop. It wasn't a screamer but still usable.Mutch better than windows2000

JD
JD

[-Rick-]

Got a laptop:
Acer Travelmate 2302, Celeron 1400 mhz, 256 mb ram, 15 inch screen, 40 gig hdd, 2,8 kg.

It has both Windows Home XP(preinstalled) and Gentoo Linux on it.

[JamesRock]

I have an Apple G4 iBook running Ubuntu Breezy.

I use it to work remotely when I'm at my in-law's place (like right now).

[basketcase]

Currently using mine.

Dell Inspiron 6000
Pentium M 1.6
1GB RAM
60GB 7200 RPM HDD
15.4" @ 1920x1200

Was running XP SP2 when I purchased it, but figured I'd play with linux some more, and figured what the hey, lets see how it works on this.

[whiterabbit]

Hey all.... was having a look around on eBay and came across this....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6809207085&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

What do you think? Is it possible to install a wireless network card?

Does registered post mean that the item is insured if it is lost or damaged in transit?

[fredricsolstad]

I'm using a laptop (it's the only computer I have :rolleyes: ) and I'm running Breezy RC1 on it. It came with WindowsXP Home, but once I saw how good Ubuntu is, I threw XP away like the bug that it is.

Acer TravelMate 2355LM
Celeron 1.4 GHz
512 MiB RAM
40 GiB HD

Added a Lacie PORCHE 160 GiB USB2.0 external harddrive for extra storagespace.

[whiterabbit]

Here's another....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6808623733&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT#ebayphotohosting

Thoughts and opinions please? Auctions end soon although there's always something like this on eBay.

[poofyhairguy]

I'm on an original clamshell iBook from early 2000. its running breezy, runs much better than OS9. is not a burner, but xfce makes it nice. Only limitation really is the 800x600 screen.

[tseliot]

Mine is a Compaq (I don't remember the model) Celeron 1.6ghz, 256MB RAM, Ati Mobility Radeon 64MB shared memory, DVD/CD-rw combo, 20gb harddisk. I had Kubuntu Hoary running before but then the DVD reader broke down (for the 2nd time and I had to send it to Compaq (in Germany). They reinstalled Winxp (but I won't use Windows any more). Now I've installed OpenSuse 10 and it works fine. I'm planning to install Breezy when it's out though.

[whiterabbit]

No opinions on the above links then?

[whiterabbit]

Found this one(not on eBay).

http://www.notebooksrus.com.au/catalogue/details.jsp?productID=74312

Specs are:

PENTIUM 3/700MHZ, 256MB RAM, 12GB HDD, 14.1" TFT, DVD ROM, FDD, 56K, LAN, WIN 2000, 3 MONTHS WARRANTY.

Detailed Description

Width: 304 mm (12.0 in)
Depth: 250 mm (9.8 in)
Height: 33.1 mm (1.3 in)
Weight: 2.1 kg (4.6 lb) with Li-Ion battery
pack and weight saver bezel only
Weight: 2.35 kg (5.2 lb) with Li-Ion battery
pack, and DVD drive

I take it that this doesn't have wireless internet capability. Is it possible to have it installed and does "lan" allow me to connect via broadband internet?(probably a very stupid question)

Here's another....

http://www.notebooksrus.com.au/catalogue/details.jsp?productID=74312

Specs:

256MB RAM
18.6GB HDD
DVD ROM
FDD
14.1" TFT
56K,
10/100
USB
WIN 98

I'd love some advice. Thanks.

[tseliot]

I take it that this doesn't have wireless internet capability. Is it possible to have it installed and does "lan" allow me to connect via broadband internet?(probably a very stupid question)
I thinks "Lan" stands for ethernet 10/100 port so you would need a DSL (just an example) modem (or router, etc.) which uses ethernet cables.

[whiterabbit]

I thinks "Lan" stands for ethernet 10/100 port so you would need a DSL (just an example) modem (or router, etc.) which uses ethernet cables.
Alrighty... I have those. :)

Any opinions on either? Wireless would be great but I can't seem to find any under 1k with that function. Is it possible to have a wireless card put in?

Just out of curiosity, how fast is 700mhz translated to AMD cpu models? Alot less than the xp1800, I take it.

[whiterabbit]

Alrighty... I think I'll purchase the IBM T20 in a couple of days. Should be fine considering that poofhairguy has similar with no problem.

[23meg]

I haven't had a desktop computer for about 4 years. Right now my only computer is a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc and I do everything, from heavy duty multimedia production to everyday tasks and some modest programming on it. Before that I had a Compaq Evo N800V, which was an excellent computer (aside from its crappy NEC USB controller chips), and I did the same on it as well. The only disadvantage of a laptop / tablet for me is that it's not good to keep it running on high cpu load for extended periods (read: rendering), but when I need to do that I have a powerful desktop pc that I can use in school, so it's no problem. I don't think I'll ever get a desktop pc from now on.

[whiterabbit]

I'm now the proud owner of a thinkpad t20. :) 700mhz with 256mb ram. Gonna install Breezy in a bit.

[somuchfortheafter]

my sig speaks for me lol

[whiterabbit]

Not sure if I'm allowed to ask this but my laptop DVD rom can't play ripped/copied DVD/CD. Any way to change this without having to buy another drive?

[whiterabbit]

How long is the battery life on your notebooks?

Mine's lucky if it gets to just over an hour. :(

I may have to invest in a car recharger.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BRAND-NEW-UNIVERSAL-LAPTOP-CAR-AND-AIRPLANE-ADAPTOR_W0QQitemZ8704257288QQcategoryZ177QQssPageN ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Anybody know if the above would work with my thinkpad T20? Says it's fine with the T21 but not the T20. Thought that the T2* might all be similar.

[Strangerdave]

I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 with Win XP. I would love to put Breezy on it, but I can't seem to get the live version to work yet. Not sure why, but it just hangs after I hit "enter".

Anyways, I use it for word processing for my Graduate degree, and other related things. The battery is ******, maybe lasts for 2-2.5 hours. I have a P4 2.8 GHz - no Centrino which is supposed to make quite a difference.

-SD-

[poofyhairguy]

Not sure if I'm allowed to ask this but my laptop DVD rom can't play ripped/copied DVD/CD. Any way to change this without having to buy another drive?

Yep. Update the drive. Check and see if it has a firmware update, and it it does install Windows jsut for one day to update your system!

[Ubunted]

Not sure if I'm allowed to ask this but my laptop DVD rom can't play ripped/copied DVD/CD. Any way to change this without having to buy another drive?
If you're still in the default Windows install, or if you have the recovery CD-ROM lying around, start up the IBM Update Connector and get all the updates, even if you're going to nuke the drive. Mine even flashed by BIOS for me. THAT was impressive, especially on a 4-year-old machine.

[whiterabbit]

I have Win2k installed by default. I'll have to keep it on there until I've finished all of my major assignments etc. Might even dual boot when I get a little more storage(if that's possible with a laptop this old).

I'll try the update connector but I have no idea where to find it.

Cheers for the replies. I plays burnt CDs quite well actually. Not sure why it didn't work last night. Ripped DVDs on the other hand, don't work.

[whiterabbit]

Hrmmm.... seems I can't upgrade without a floppy drive(according to the IBM website) and I don't have one of those.

I was able to find and download the DVD/CD rom drive firmware but I have to boot into "real dos" to install it. Can't boot into real dos without a floppy as far as I know. I'm doomed to never watch a ripped DVD as long as I have this drive. :p

Oh well.

[Dragonbite]

How do you like the 6000? I was looking at a Dell 6000 or HP dv4000 to replace my 5 year old PC and the specs I was looking at are very similar to yours. Is your screen the WUXGA screen?

I am looking to replace my desktop with a laptop and I want something relatively powerful without being a brick (thus avoiding the 17" screen laptops). I don't do much gaming but I do work a bit with graphics (not high-high-end, but some image manipulation and web and desktop publishing).

Does anybody else have any suggestions for or against any make/models?

Chances are I'm going to be dual-booting it with XP so I can do work from home (when the snow comes ;) )


Currently using mine.

Dell Inspiron 6000
Pentium M 1.6
1GB RAM
60GB 7200 RPM HDD
15.4" @ 1920x1200

Was running XP SP2 when I purchased it, but figured I'd play with linux some more, and figured what the hey, lets see how it works on this.

[Prog]

I have an iBook G4. I like Ubuntu and it's all I run on my desktop, but if I had a Mac desktop, I probably would rarely/never boot into it. I love OS X. I don't even have Ubuntu on my laptop.

[erikpiper]

Prog- why exactly do you like mac more? Mabe the devs could use some ideas...

My T23 gets almost three hours on battery.

[basse1989]

I have a Dell D505 laptop that I got from school.
It came with Windows XP preinstalled so yesterday I had to erased everything on the 2nd partition and installed Ubuntu Breezy (couldn't take it any more)

Works just fine btw. :)