[TAG] Issue #106

[Ben Okopnik]

On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 03:55:44PM +0100, Thomas Adam wrote:
> On Sun, Sep 19, 2004 at 06:42:31PM -0400, Ben Okopnik wrote:
> 
> > Well, hey, Thomas. :) At this point, I actually _am_ back on - hurrah!
> > Got a hold of an Averatec 5400-series laptop from Walmart - $999, Athlon
> 
> Walmart? I thought they only sold food? 

Nope - they only sell food at their "supercenters" (which this one is);
usually, they do the clothing/hardware/furniture/etc. type of thing.
Very successfully, mind you; out of the ten richest people in the world,
the Walton family occupies positions four through ten (or did, a while
back.) If old Sam was still alive, his yearly income would be larger
than many small countries.

> Mind you, at the equivilent pound
> sterling to dollar ratio, $999 for that spec laptop is pretty good.

Oh yeah. It's definitely a very reasonable price here, too. [shrug] When
you're not paying for a Name Brand, that happens.

> > XP-M 2800+, 15" TFT screen, 802.11g, VIA chipset, DVD+/- RW burner,
> 
> VIA are pretty much the de facto for on-board things nowadays. I just wish
> that not all builtin NICs had to be rlt8139.

Why? As long as we've got the drivers, I don't see a problem.

> > /etc/X11/. In theory, I'll be getting my Acer laptop back on Tuesday,
> 
> Does this mean you'll be returning this laptop within the allotted refund
> time? :)

Why, Thomas! What a *great* idea! I never would have thought of it
myself, but it does wrap things up very neatly... :) Call it a "Linux on
laptop X" review process. I now know enough to vote "nay" on the HP 5000
laptops (nVidia chipset, horribly mucked-up USB/Ethernet, and not even a
binary version of the WiFi driver available!) and "yea" on the Averatec
- at least with regard to Linux. /Ceteris paribus/, the brand name is at
a severe disadvantage here - particularly when you consider the price
difference.

> I'm glad things are OK, and that nothing particularly bad happened. My aunt
> and Uncle were on holiday in Florida with my two cousins when Ivan came along.
> Heh, no Disney for them.. woops.
 
Yeah - whoops. No Disney, no big deal. Decapitation due to flying
galvanized roofing - *that* would be a big deal. I'm glad that they're
OK enough to worry about Disney. :)

> > The most annoying part of this laptop-buying game is that there's
> > usually no easy way to find out what the chipset is unless you buy the
> > thing (or take it for a test drive. Hmm, firing it up in the store with
> > a Knoppix CD might be an idea...) - and that's one of the critical
> 
> Not to mention, you'd get thrown out. :)

Can't see why; I always insist on the store firing up any kind of
complex electronics I buy before I pay for them. Wouldn't make sense for
me to lug the thing home only to find out it doesn't work, would it?


* Ben Okopnik * okopnik.freeshell.org * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette *
-*- See the Linux Gazette in its new home: <http://linuxgazette.net> -*-