tlug: Linux hardware questions

[Totoro <riley@example.com>]

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tlug note from Totoro <riley@example.com>
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With the last 2 issues of LJ talking about finding good machines
for Linux, I'm curious about what people recommend that is on
the market here in Japan. It's time for new funds to come out
soon here at the university, and I'd like to have a dedicated
Linux box, hopefully without the pitfalls that accompanied the
IBM Aptiva I got last summer (which will return to non-Linux
activities, most likely). In that light, I'd just like to hear
what people think on a few issues, if you have time:

A- Gateway has some pretty good deals offered through direct sales.
   They are using a lot of MMX chips now; can Linux deal with this?

B- Gateway is also selling 8M STB Virge video cards. Last I've seen,
   XFree only recognizes up to 4M of VRAM. Has XFree 3.2A gone on
   to higher levels yet?

C- Will a 4M video card drive a 21-inch monitor at 16bpp? I'm pretty
   sure it will, but just checking...

D- What do you think is a reasonable machine?

Thanks for any advice!

David Riley
Hachinohe Institute of Technology
88-1, Myo, Ohbiraki  Hachinohe-shi  Aomori-ken  031 Japan


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