Josh Saddler

Back again. Started to really get back to work on Gentoo, with more documentation commits, bugfixes, etc.

Also started using some new gtk+ applications: beandog added my ebuild for brasero-0.7.0 to Portage, and I got drac to keyword asunder-1.0. I've been meaning to ditch k3b for awhile now, so I finally unmerged it, and started cutting down on the number of dependencies. I still need qt for Rosegarden and Hydrogen, bah! In the meantime, I now have a pair of decent disc writing & ripping tools for my CD collection. Still a couple of bugs, though -- brasero doesn't seem to like writing single-layer DVDs (though dual-layer works fine), and asunder's mp3 encoding flat-out doesn't work, at least so far on amd64. Still doing further testing on x86. Also, it's rather slower than most other tools out there. At least FLAC, wav, and Ogg work, though I already have those through sound-juicer. Now that I've got mp3 encoding working in sound-juicer, I'll use it until I can figure out asunder. I'm working actively with upstream to get this worked out; major props to Andrew for being so responsive.

On the laptop front, I've found some possibilities. The hard cost limit is still under $600, but I've found several intriguing models in the $380 to $500 range. Originally, I was set on finding a used Everex StepNote of some kind and installing the developer edition of Zonbu on it, then using that stepping stone to turn it into my usual Gentoo environment. Don't get me wrong; the price on the Zonbu notebook ain't too bad, but for almost $500, I think I could do better. There are still used/refurbished StepNotes out there for only $400. There's also an Acer model or two at that price range, but they're usually out of stock at online merchants, as well as being only 14.1".

Side note: former Gentoo developer plasmaroo (Tim Yamin) works for Zonbu, and has been doing much to get that tricky VIA hardware working & other things, so congrats to him. Perhaps he's one of the reasons why Zonbu went with Gentoo as their base OS?

I've also found a couple of interesting cheap dual-core Gateway laptops such as the ML6720, though no real information can be found on their Linux compatibility.

I've been kind of hoping that my new laptop would be dual-core, but that's just asking for reduced battery life. It'd make compiling faster, but at the cost of power, heat, and definitely price. If I stay closer to $400 I won't need to worry about future-proofing with dual-core; I'd just buy a new laptop at a similar price point sometime in the future. Single-core desktop usage & development ain't that bad on a laptop, right?

Just tonight I found some extremely attractive Lenovo notebooks. Intel X3100 graphics and boast up to 4.5 hours battery life. Now, this last bit is flat-out amazing. I was all gung-ho on getting a cheap VIA-based notebook like this one because of the 3-hour battery life, and it is an alternative to Intel. Hey, I have an AMD workstation. But the Lenovos I'm looking at . . . sure, they're more than $400. And some of them are only Celeron chips (historically underpowered).

But man oh man . . . I found some new & used Thinkpad 61-series models that look good, as well as some Lenovo 3000 N models. And they're 15.4" widescreens. Light. Acceptably thin. They even have CD/DVD drives, which is almost optional for me. One's even dual-core.

So now I have to figure out how much money I really want to spend -- $400 to $600 is really a huge price gap; there are far too many features and choices available for any given manufacturer.

What's really starting to sway me over to Lenovo, despite my earlier post, is whether or not the integrated wifi, pointer, and fingerprint reader are in solid working condition. Specifically for the R/T/X/61 & 3000 N series. And whether the rest of ACPI, hotkeys, power management, HDAPS, and disc drives work correctly. And that I can get CPU/HDD temperatures, remaining battery life, and processor speed reported in a graphical utility. Apparently lm_sensors shouldn't be used on Thinkpads, so I wonder what else would report that info. On the fingerprint reader front, dsd is working on some kinda fingerprint software. Will have to check. Will also have to find some recommended spindown & sleep settings for Thinkpad hard disks.

For features, Thinkpads are looking better and better. It's true, they do look like refugees from 1985. Ugly as sin. Ugly as a dead cow in clown shoes. Splashed with hideous bits of color here and there. But still . . . they're starting to become attractive.

So, it's a new year. With new possibilities. Like laptops. Especially laptops. Now I just have to get my wife to sign off on one in time for SCALE . . .