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tomhudson (43916)

tomhudson
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Journal of tomhudson (43916)

I need a laptop to do some presentations ...

[ #200756 ]
Saturday April 12, @09:48PM
User Journal

Any opinions on this http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10100017&catid=25316&logon=&langid=EN

Basically, I need a laptop to be able to do some presentations in court.

This time, it's the stupid guy I'm renting the house from. I'm going to make some videos of the deficiencies of the place (the problems with the foundation, heating system, roof, windows, etc.) as well as keeping a copy of all the documents (his emails, copies of the post office's timestamps for notices) to prove that the guy is a stupid lying sack of sh*t.

I figure that the 320 gig hd is probably really 2x160 gigs, so I should be able to install linux on the second drive, to test it to see if it works, before wiping it down completely.

Yeah, I know, shared memory for graphics, but it's not going to be used for games (except maybe simcity and risk ;-), and a 17" screen is nice ...

It's in stock, I can pick it up on my way to work next week ... and $799.00 is a decent price point, and I *really* want the ability to run linux on it.

Anyone see any reasons why I should look at something else instead?


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  • I didn't get to see one with linux loaded on it, but I have used a similar one (last year) that had XP on it and was a nice laptop. The 17" screens on those laptops are very nice - you will enjoy viewing it.
    • Mine came with Vista pre-installed.

      I had Ubuntu on it for about two months, to give it a shake-down. It saw my wireless connection just fine (which was a Good Thing!), but Ubuntu didn't know anything about my integrated webcam (which is a Bad Thing, as one of the things I use this system for is video communication with my Dad, who lives on the other side of the continent).

      Ultimately, I re-installed Vista from the Recovery Disks I made... As much as I hate Microsoft, Vista (so far) sucks less than I would

      • I suppose I should start writing up how they fare, but I don't know what sort of things others would want to read about.

        Don't be so hard on yourself. When it comes to laptop hardware/distro mixes, this is slashdot - we WANT to know from other users, and not some marketing type. Real users, with real knowledge.

        I downloaded the ubuntu dvd (I'll try booting it with the -live commandline parameter), as well as the openSuse live dvds. It should be interesting to see how it does.

        I didn't think the webcam w

  • is it 320 GB or 250 GB? beware them trying to pull the "the restore CD is included on a partition on the hard drive" scam.
    • 320 gig, but I suspect it's really twin 160 gig drives - which would be nice. Or if it is a 320 gig, I could stick another 320 gig in it, which would ALSO be nice.
      • http://tinyurl.com/62hrsg [tinyurl.com]

        320GB laptop drives are the new thing. The advert says 320 in one place and 250 in another. I seriously doubt they put twin 160's in there, unless they list dual drives as a selling point.

        • Thanks for catching it - I''m printing up copies of the ad so they have to honour the 320gig bit.

          If it really is a 320gig, instead of dual 160s, I'll have to spring for another 320 for the linux partition. Not THAT big a deal, for the price.

          • ...or just re-partition it. I have re-partitioned several HP laptops to multi-boot Linux, easy as cake.

            • The cost of a second 320 gig hard drive is pretty decent, so I figure I might as well do it right. Besides, you can never have too much hard disk space ;-)

        • I just came back from looking at one - it's got a single 320 gig hard drive, so another $160 and I've got my linux drive. Hopefully the 2 gig or ram is also on one stick, in which case ugrading to 4 gigs will be cheap (1 stick - $25.00).

    • beware them trying to pull the "the restore CD is included on a partition on the hard drive" scam.

      Lord, do I hate that with a passion. Easy way around it, though. Any hacked (or volume license) copy of xp + drivers from vendor website will usually do the trick.

      You could also ghost the restore partition, but I just hose 'em myself.
      • Thanks for the reminders about that ... I'll remember to throw a few blank dvds into my briefcase. I'm really tempted to pick it up on the way into the office Monday.
    • I have a laptop from HP, though a different model: I have the dv9235nr.

      I'll quell rumours now, and state that they *DO* pull the "restore disks on a partition" trick. I hate that with a passion. For what I paid for this foolish thing, one would think that HP could actually be bothered to drop a pair of DVDs in the package.

      Burning the Repair images to DVD was one of the first things I did, just so I could make use of the partition for other things. ;) As it is, I've had to use them once already, when my h

      • Yes, they do the "restore disks on a partition" trick, but I think that's so that you will always have the latest updates, etc., pre-installed from when it left the factory.

        I bought it this morning - quicky review coming up shortly.

    • i frickn hate that. and with vista it is increasingly possible that this is what is happening because the default install for vista is a monster.

      to do court video, consider a DL of the Vegas editor. It has a free trial of 30 days and does wonders to help boost contract or color correct so the footage looks better, though if that is not the intent, then it is still a handy cutter to line up the clips and then ship off to DVD architect to burn to disc. ask me anything about Vegas because I've used it since

      • It's been so long since I used Windows that I'll have to hunt around for my copy of Sony Vegas. Thanks for reminding me.

        The hd is a single 320 gig. I just removed the bottom panels, and there's a second drive bay, so there's no problem bumping it up to a dual 320 gig hd setup, with the second one being linux. Ditto with upgrading the ram to 4gig - very accessible.

        The second partition on the primary drive is that silly 11 gig "install" partition. Oh, well, what the heck. They offer the option of expandi

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