[ltp] [OT] Replacement for T43p

[Pedro Ribeiro]

On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Rory Campbell-Lange
<rory@campbell-lange.net> wrote:
>> On Sat, 2009-12-19 at 07:50 -0600, Chris Schumann wrote:
>> > On 12/19/2009 04:39 AM, Peter Lemken wrote:
>>
>> > > On Friday 18 December 2009 19:12:08 Rory Campbell-Lange wrote:
>> > >> I'm looking for a robust laptop wit excellent Linux support (I used
>> > >> Debian) and at least 1400x1050 screen resolution. I also need the
>> > >> ability to virtualise operating systems, ideally with Xen.
>>
>> > > Get hold of a T60p. I bought mine for 900 EUR and I believe it to
>> > > be the best laptop available for all your mentioned purposes and
>> > > the quality of a real thinkpad. You can get used ones that are
>> > > practically brand new and buy the extended 3 year on location
>> > > service, which is what I did.
>> > >
>> > > With other, newer models you'll be unhappy with either the screen
>> > > quality (glare/non flexview), the keyboard or mechanical finish.
>>
>> > I just handed down my T60. It is a fine machine, and I'm sure the
>> > T60p is as well.
>> >
>> > I just got a T400. While it's not 1400x1050, it is available with a
>> > very bright 1440x900. I'm running Fedora 12 on it and it seems to
>> > work very well (including suspend/resume and desktop effects), but I
>> > have not yet tried virtualization or 64-bit modes.
>> >
>> > It will use 8GB of RAM, and I think the fit and finish are top
>> > notch. I've had ThinkPads since a 750P, and this is a fine
>> > continuation of the tradition. Even the keyboard is very nice, if a
>> > bit stiffer than the T60's (though I'd wager not as fine as the
>> > T400s's).
>> >
>> > The T500 (or R500) can be purchased with up to 1680x1050 pixels, if
>> > you want a 15.4" screen... and if pixels are king, the W500 has
>> > 1900x1200 available in that size, but I can't speak to Linux
>> > friendliness on the W series.
>
> On 19/12/09, Konstantin Filtschew (konstantin.filtschew@gmail.com) wrote:
>> I can confirm that Ubuntu works great on W500. I had one for few hours
>> and could run Ubuntu 8.10 on it.
>
> I'm very grateful for the suggestions. I recently bought two refurbished
> UXGA 1600x1200 Flexview T60p Thinkpads for the office. They work great,
> and support Xen well. They are too big and heavy for me as I do a fair
> amount of travelling, but I'm tempted by the larger screen size as I
> like to run two large consoles side-by side (my WM is dwm). A 1440
> x-dimension resolution might just do it, and I like the idea of a
> machine with Xen support (which I still have to confirm).
>
> T400s with a 1440x900 screen is GBP 1,592.83; T400 with a 1440x900
> screen is around GBP GBP 1,245.32. They are both rather tempting -- the
> lightweight T400s in particular. However I think they are a bit
> expensive.
>
> Please let me know, if you have the opportunity, what the battery
> runtime is for a T400 under Linux.
>
> Thanks again for the advice,
> Rory
>
> --
> Rory Campbell-Lange
> rory@campbell-lange.net
>
> Campbell-Lange Workshop
> www.campbell-lange.net
> 0207 6311 555
> 3 Tottenham Street London W1T 2AF
> Registered in England No. 04551928
> --
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>

Hi Rory,

with a few tweaks (bluetooth off, ultrabay cd drive off, pccard and
expresscard modules disabled, touchpad disabled in bios, fingerprint
reader disabled, sata alpm on min_power, usb suspend on) I'm able to
get 4 hours with wireless on and light websurfing load, and 4h30 hours
with wireless off, reading pdf's.

For my normal work - 2 VM's running, Eclipse, Chrome with 30 tabs,
Firefox with 5 tabs, lots of gnome-terminals open, music through
speakers or headphone output, the average CPU load is around 20% (yes,
these new core 2 are that powerful) and the battery lasts around than
3 hours.

This is on my T400 with a 6-cell battery, P8400 processor, LED screen
at minimum acceptable brightness and Intel integrated graphics.

Also, I'm using the latest 2.6.32.2 kernel, it really makes a
difference - with the setup above and wireless on, I was able to bring
power consumption down from 18 watts in 2.6.30 to 16w in 2.6.31 and to
13w in 2.6.32.

With a 9-cell, I reckon you can get more than 6 hours battery life,
with wireless on and a light load. If you're crazy enough, 9-cell +
ultrabay should go for 9 hours.

In conclusion, I'm very happy with battery life, and I expect it to
increase over time with newer kernel releases.

Regards,
Pedro