Re: [tlug] Linux Laptop

[Michael Smith <smith@example.com>]

David J Iannucci <jlinux@example.com> writes:

> I've been running SuSE on a couple IBM Thinkpads for a while now, and
> have been very happy.  SuSE 9.1 runs on my old Thinkpad 600X like a
> charm (I've really gotta upgrade :-), and I've recently got a new T42 at
> work that I'm running 9.3 Pro on.  The Thinkpads are reputed to be
> perhaps the most Linux-friendly line of major-brand laptops, and so far
> my experience bears that out.

I've been using a T42p as my main machine for several months now
and found it relatively easy to get a Linux (2.6.7 kernel and
Debian testing/unstable) system installed and working on it.

The one complaint I have about it is that it is very heavy.
Lugging it around Tokyo in the summer time has made me wonder
whether I shouldn't have just gone with an X series model instead.

But I don't use an external monitor, and now that I've been using
the built-in one at 1600x1200, I think I would have a very hard
time getting used to a machine that had 1024x768 as its maximum
screen resolution.

> I really like them all-around, and one thing that seems unique to them
> is 3 buttons on the Trackpoint/trackpad! I usually use a mouse, but it's
> nice to know that third button is there for when I'm "on the road" :-)

I guess I've sort of been taking the three buttons for granted.
I'd now find it hard to get used to a machine that didn't have
them, because I don't use an external mouse.

One nice thing about the thinkpoint/button setup is that you can
pretty easily switch back and forth between using your right and
left hand with it. I pretty much need to that in order to try to
mitigate the permanent damage I am probably doing to my hands and
wrists by using it. When the pain it causes in my right hand gets
unbearable, I just switch to using my left for a while.

I gave up on trying to use trackpads a long time ago, after I
found that it seemed to cause excruciating hand and wrist pain a
lot more quickly.

I bought a bluetooth mouse and attempted using that for a while,
but found it not too compatible with the variety of surfaces I
tried to use it with -- e.g., park benches, beer-soaked bar
counters, the leg of the sleeping guy sitting next to me on a
crowded train.

  --Mike

-- 
Michael Smith
http://sideshowbarker.net/

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