[ltp] buying a new Thinkpad

Carlos Moffat linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:58:48 -0400


Hi Frank,

I have a T42p and pretty much everything work with Linux (never tried
the Modem, though). 

I've been back and forth between the open- and closed-sourced ATI
driver. A few weeks ago, I finally got a S-Video cable to watch movies
using my TV, so for now I'm stuck with fglrx. But if you want only to
use a projector, you should be fine with the open-source driver. 

The only thing that stopped me from buying one of the newest T43p a year
ago or so was the suspend-to-ram problem with the newest SATA hard
drives (I'm past the point where I want to patch a kernel for basic
stuff like this), but my understanding is this has been solved recently.

Good luck,
Carlos

On Fri, 2006-10-13 at 21:41 +0200, Frank Dekervel wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> i'm considering buying a new Thinkpad, and i wonder how the current thinkpads 
> do with linux...
> my first priority is getting the best support under linux. I'd like to
> 	- have a good battery life. my current thinkpad draws way too much power when
> 	  in suspend-to-ram - well known problem it seems - , and battery life is now 
> 	  under 1hour (i have a 2.5 year old R51). i heard intel gfx cards draw less 
> 	  power than ati ones. don't know if it's true.
> 	- good gfx support : i don't need 3D , but i need to hook up a second screen
> 	  under high resolution or a projector frequently (without restarting X, 
> 	  so xrandr is a requirement for me).
> 	  i don't want to mess with binary drivers (except the nvidia ones). on my
> 	  current thinkpad i'm using the opensource ati drivers, and they work well.
> 	- CPU power is more important than portability/weight.
> and offcourse i'd like a painless installation with all hardware working :)
> 
> are my requirements unrealistic ? should i consider another brand ? or are 
> there some models that can be recommended currently.
> 
> thanks !
> greetings,
> Frank