[06:50] <Dlareh> 'lo everyone, this a decent place to ask laptop buying advice?  I got a thinkpad configured: http://bayimg.com/image/fakjmaabc.jpg ... which I'm serously considering buying right now...
[06:51] <Dlareh> it has an Nvidia 9300M, and one particular thing I'd like to do is be able to play some relatively simple games like NWN2 and CIV IV under WINE.  But I'll be doing a lot of general-purpose work-and-school-related stuff as well, of course...so just looking for an overall good deal
[06:51] <Dlareh> I'm rather fond of thinkpads' sturdy keyboards and the iconic red trackpoint, but...any alternative suggestions?
[08:07] <landley> dlareh: I have one of the Dells that came preinstalled with ubuntu, and have been fairly happy with it.
[08:07] <landley> Unfortunately, Dell laid off around 5000 people over the past month.
[08:07] <Dlareh> what're the graphics on that system?
[08:07] <landley> Buying the extended warantee might not be the best move.
[08:07] <landley> Intel 945 I think.
[08:07] <landley> The new intel chip that the hired Keith Packard to write open source drivers for.
[08:08] <landley> (Where "new" hear is "last year". :)
[08:08] <Dlareh> hehe, well I don't think it's in the same league as the nvidia 9300m
[08:08] <landley> http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
[08:09] <landley> Dlareh: A) nvidia is the only remaining 3D vendor to have closed source drivers.
[08:09] <landley> B) the strategy going forward for both Intel and AMD is to integrate 3D on the die with the processor.
[08:09] <landley> You know how everything's gone dual core?
[08:09] <landley> And they'd like to go quad core but most software won't take advantage of it?
[08:10] <landley> Well putting 3D acceleration on the die along with a couple cores is something most modern software _will_ take advantage of.
[08:10] <landley> It also means you can use 256 megs or so of L2 cache as texture memory shared with the CPU.
[08:10] <landley> The result is _fast_.
[08:10] <Dlareh> cool, this dell has an 8400M at a similar price...
[08:10] <landley> And it leaves nvidia with nowhere to go.
[08:10] <landley> They're trying to retreat into physics engines, but so far I haven't heard of anybody biting...
[08:11] <Dlareh> well, that's the future, right?
[08:11] <Dlareh> I'm looking for something I can buy before September ; )
[08:12] <landley> *shrug*  I tend to do new research when I need a new laptop.
[08:13] <landley> This one hasn't died yet, although an equivalent replacement (with twice the ram) is now about $550.
[08:13] <landley> The 3D is good enough to play world of warcraft and watch dvds, that's all I'm really looking for.
[08:13] <Dlareh> So I priced a dell xps m1330 with 4gb of ram for $1300
[08:14] <Dlareh> that's about the same as the thinkpad SL500 would cost once I add a 2gb stick to make it 3gb total
[08:14] <Dlareh> so it's comparable...
[08:14] <landley> Thinkpads are traditionally more durable.
[08:15] <Dlareh> one comes with ubuntu pre-installed...but I'm not sure how this dell keyboad compares, and doesn't have a trackpoint
[08:15] <landley> Although the failure mode of all my laptops so far has been "cat hair in keyboard" or "hard drive" or some such.
[08:15] <Dlareh> yeah, my last laptop was an x40, I loved its durability...
[08:15] <Dlareh> I put it through hell, finally crapped out on me a few months ago
[08:15] <landley> I killed a thinkpad by running it over with my car, their durability has limits.
[08:15] <Dlareh> lol, well I didn't quite do that...just treated it rough : )
[08:15] <landley> Non-thinkpad trackpoints can be a bit hard to come by, true.
[08:15] <landley> Touch pads are teh suck, and in many ways dell specializes in teh suck.
[08:16] <landley> The dell systems are a nice option to be aware of.  The tiny little part of Dell that's aware Linux exists does a good job supporting it.
[08:16] <landley> The rest of Dell is going down with the microsoft ship, and going out of business fairly quickly.
[08:17] <landley> As I said, 5000 layoffs in the past 2 weeks.  (i live in austin.)
[08:17] <landley> You'll notice that the main dell.com website does not mention dell.com/linux in any way.
[08:17] <Dlareh> going out of business? eh...downsizing isn't "out of business" ...
[08:18] <Dlareh> economy as a whole is slow, but I'm pretty sure dell is here to stay as a top tier OEM in terms of volume...
[08:18] <landley> When I say "going out of business" I mean the entire company is paralyzed, management is distracted by an SEC investigation, Apple's eating them alive...
[08:18] <landley> The layoffs are just a symptom.
[08:18] <landley> Dell was #1.  They're now #2 and next quarter may be #3.
[08:19] <Dlareh> I don't like apple keyboards at all
[08:19] <landley> (I forget if that's unit volume or dollars, I'd have to look it up...)
[08:19] <Dlareh> love the thinkpad ones...which is why I'm leaning towards the SL500
[08:19] <landley> Go for it.
[08:20] <landley> Keyboard/mouse/screen comfort are almost as important as the rest of the laptop combined.
[08:20] <landley> The processor/3d/ram/disk/memory are all commodity components.
[08:20] <landley> You get about the same stuff from each vendor on those fronts.
[08:20] <landley> None of 'em can write a bios to save their lives anymore...
[08:20] <landley> The smart ones are using open bios or whatever that "boot straight into linux, hand off to the next OS" thing is called.  I forget...
[08:42] <Dlareh> Hah, the network card on that XPS is only 10/100 ....welcome to 4 years ago, dell....
[09:00] <landley> My laptop has gigabit, and it's a year old dell from the same page...
[09:00] <Dlareh> the inspiron?
[09:01] <Dlareh> well the configured XPS just says "10/100" 
[09:02] <landley> inspiron E1505.
[16:58] <Rigolo> good afternoon ....
[17:00] <Rigolo> does Ubuntu Mobile also work on generic x86 low powered (300Mhz P1) hardware? I have a Fujitsu lifebook B112 that I am trying to bring back to life
[17:27] <ian_brasil> Rigolo: did you see this https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CreatingAGenerici386PlaformForMIC ?
[17:27] <Rigolo> not yet ... lookin at it now
[17:30] <Rigolo> mmm looks interesting ... but why are these not standard in the Image Creator ... it is documented how to do it .. :-)
[17:31] <ian_brasil> because that is not the focus for the Image Creator
[17:32] <Rigolo> I see, just read the mailing list posts ... 
[17:32] <Rigolo> well, here is an other project on my list then :-)
[17:33] <ian_brasil> I imagine the guys were pretty happy someone hacked the MIC for i386...if you have a go with this I would be interested in the results
[17:33] <Rigolo> would be cool if I can use this nice little notebook again with some nice GUI :-)
[17:34] <Rigolo> well, my "TODO" list is getting largeer each day ... first priority is getting my mythtv dvb-c backend up and running correctly with my cable provider ... 
[17:34] <Rigolo> that will give me some extra room to play with other things ... like this
[17:35] <ian_brasil> OK, cool
[17:35] <Rigolo> saying this .. I hear it is time for me to cook dinner .. :-)
[17:35] <ian_brasil> good luck ;)
[17:36] <Rigolo> well, it is not so much luck ... I like cooking .. and the weekends are for me, the weekdays for my GF
[17:38] <Rigolo> today it is chicken teriyaki (http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,chicken_teriyaki,FF.html)
[18:12] <Alibb> hi there, is there a devlopment testing on Intel Xscale device of Ubuntu-mobile ?