[tlug] Epson LX7700 w/Turbo Linux - Good Idea?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Lyle H Saxon writes:

 > Does it make any sense to take this approach?  Or would it be best to just
 > get a completed no-brand box from one of the Akiba shops?  I've bought a lot
 > of computers, but nearly all of them were used, so I'm not sure of the best
 > way to go about buying a new box.

I don't really see what advantage there is to buying a cheap box from
a name maker who doesn't specialize in computers, then upgrading it.
What you're going to get is a no-brand box with a fancy nameplate.  To
get the slick look that name makers want to project, you'll probably
get a case designed around the parts that Epson has decided to put in
the box---there's no guarantee that it will be at all easy to upgrade
parts.  There may not be a ton of space for extra memory.  You'll have
a heck of a time with warrantee service if practically nothing inside
the box is original equipment.  And so on.

And are you sure you want to stick with TurboLinux?  It wasn't a bad
distro back in the day, but AFAIK it's not a popular one on TLUG any
more.

If you were just going to buy and deploy the box, that would be one
thing.  But since you already know you're going to want to tweak the
thing, I don't see what you save by dealing with a large company that
just wants you to give it money and go away (and at that price, I'm
sure they want you to just go away!)

IMHO, YMMV, etc. etc.