[ltp] Re:R Series

[Marc Saric]

>> Subject:

>>o  1.3Ghz pentium M
>>o  Cisco Aironet wireless
>>o  1400x1050 display (15")
>>o  ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 video 
>>o  plain old CDROM drive 
>>o  1394 Port
>>o  ultrabay battery (2nd battery)

Ultrabay-batteries are reported to have issues with the R-series 
notebooks (not operational due to missing hardware-plug).

I don't know if this is true, I just haven't noticed any change in 
runtime upon inserting a charged ultrabay-bat in my R32 (running SuSE 
8.1 with APM-mode (ACPI won't work correctly).

Beside that, they are expensive, see also older postings regarding 
ultrabay-batteries.

>>o  Does the video hardware work OK? Under linux, I'm only interested in 2D.

Runs ok, 3D-acceleration is also there (radeon-driver) and is stable 
with XFree 4.3 (2D is stable with XFree4.2) although the 'acceleration' 
is not really substantial (can't do serious gaming or fast OpenGL-display).


>>o  If I run at a run at a resolution less than the native, will the display
>>be scaled out, or will there be a black border?

Both available from the BIOS, at least on my R32. Can be set globaly for 
all resolutions.


>>o  Does the 1394 hardware work? 

Don't know.


>>o  And the audio hardware?

Works with a R32 (don't know about the hardware in a newer model).


>>o  Will linux use the battery power efficiently (as efficiently as similar
>>useage in XP at least)?

Not likely because either APM and ACPI are incomplete and the "higher" 
power-saving modi are normaly not supported (correct me if I'm wrong).


>>And last, do Thinkpads (and specifically the R-Series) have any vents or
>>fans on the bottom? My current old laptop has an exhaust fan on the bottom

R32 has one at the rear left corner, which is turned on if you utilize 
the CPU quite a bit. Sound isn't too annoying. And it does not get too 
hot for "laptop"-work.

>>which must be kept clear, so I can't set it on any soft surface without
>>putting it on a book or binder. I consider that to be a major design flaw
>>and hope Thinkpads don't suffer from that.

They don't.

Bottom-line: Linux is easily installable on a R32-type Thinkpad and 
almost all hardware is (at least partially) supported with stable drivers.

-- 
Bye,

Marc Saric     http://www.marcsaric.de