From fork-admin@xent.com Tue Sep 10 11:07:46 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.spamassassin.taint.org Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 38FFB16F03 for ; Tue, 10 Sep 2002 11:07:44 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 10 Sep 2002 11:07:44 +0100 (IST) Received: from xent.com ([64.161.22.236]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8A5x5C19356 for ; Tue, 10 Sep 2002 06:59:11 +0100 Received: from lair.xent.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 32E09294200; Mon, 9 Sep 2002 22:55:04 -0700 (PDT) Delivered-To: fork@spamassassin.taint.org Received: from sierra.birch.net (sierra.birch.net [216.212.0.61]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 096E829409A for ; Mon, 9 Sep 2002 22:54:23 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 27565 invoked from network); 10 Sep 2002 05:56:58 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO there) ([216.212.1.121]) (envelope-sender ) by mailserver.birch.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 10 Sep 2002 05:56:58 -0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15" From: Steve Nordquist To: interested@amiga.com Subject: UAE/Ami*/Linux Laptop: Important details. X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.3.2] Cc: fork@spamassassin.taint.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-Id: <20020910055423.096E829409A@xent.com> Sender: fork-admin@xent.com Errors-To: fork-admin@xent.com X-Beenthere: fork@spamassassin.taint.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Friends of Rohit Khare List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 06:35:54 -0500 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by dogma.slashnull.org id g8A5x5C19356 Well, for one, it would free up the similar laptop I already got to just run Amithlon (or if that wasn't so fun, bsd) to run just OpenBSD! This is a near-term thing I could look forward to! However, an 'official' laptop seems unexciting to me with only the items mentioned. Most important are the particulars distinguishing the listed spec from a Dell 2650, preferably: 1- GeForce4 440 Go or newer, pleasingly modern GPU; the GeForce2Go (with 16MB video RAM; too little) I have is not so much too slow as inefficient; with factory settings it would actually crash from running too hot and too fast. (Accelerating the Ami* and possibly OpenUAE graphics is a necessity to meet for good speed in those environments, but an energy-efficient GPU is a good sideeffect and portability (read: battery lifetime) enabler.) 1.5- Great control over CPU state; by use of 'internet keys' wired to BIOS/bhipset routines directly or preferably a scroll wheel. Also, hibernate that works, please. 1.7- Bootable to USB 2.0 drives (e.g. larger external ones) in BIOS, please. 2- P4 Dells overheat. They have a big heatsink and a little fan to pull air through it, and if you don't elevate thelaptop off the desk or table or bed it's on, the fan will -stay- on. Not good for MTBS (mean time between service; unless you've got an angle on making money on service from Amigans.....) One excellent solution is to include a heatpipe which runs behind the AMLCD, thus using the backside of the display half as a radiator.; though it interferes with the case notion below. (yes, Aavid or such makes some as a standard part.) I prefer to include the heatpipe but employ the radiative mass in elevating the laptop (i.e. in the form of a catch-handle and second logo device behind the laptop, which generally provides stow and attachment for elevation legs (move them out farther to get to the next-higher ekevation, until the sides of the laptop are met.) This also happens to provide a little protection for USB 2 and 1394 cables that I tend to keep plugged in all the time (a bit longer port life? Please.) 3- A case color other than brown or black, and preferably (if the display module NRE is entirely permissive) the capability to -run with the backlight off.- Again, to save battery power, but also as a feature; maybe you remember the iBooks modified in this manner. The user has the privilege to pull out the backlight diffuser and fiberoptic lightpipe/CF assembly, with its backreflector, and the whole warrantee. This provides for excellent outdoor use, often with the diffuser reinserted to keep depth-of-field distractions minimised. What would I like? A1200 putty color, any translucency, in or over a rosewood-colored (in KDE color browser, I see chocolate, firebrick and a couple of 'indian red' that are great candidates) base. I would also like to be able to at least turn off the backlight without closing the lid, and to be -able- to fit an -external- light source such as a UV-filtered solar collector (and glare hood) to feed into the backlight. Not only does this make an excellent color environment but lets one work outdoors tolerably. The logo should be a coloration of a minimal surface, as the MAA is trying to get me to renew with: demos at http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/pbourke/geometry/ at first blush. We'll see what comes out of the contest and maybe you'll like the mapping MathCAD does of the logo to a minimal surface or manifold that reflects the openness of AmigaOS, Ami* and Amiga community. MAA.org has more references, I'm sure. 4- Obviously Elfin details., e,g, the backlight inlet. Other details: USB2.x preferred; FireWire would be needed if that's unavailable. Options like 802.11b or attabhable WiFi hub for ethernet port should round out the offering. An option for just-released .13 micron P4 (with mobile power features) could make more reviewers greenlight the series; much better power consumption, and almost certainly a higher a top clock come with that. CompactFlash, SmartMedia and MMC flash memory card interfaces would be very pleasant. I've mentioned booting to USB, and booting from CF would be a pleasant extigency also. To that end, a backup solution with compression using USB 2 storage or the multimode drive is always a nice bundle item; that or a chance to back out a patch under 3 OS..... Blue skies (and clear water and fresh air): Waterproof to 30 feet, 3 Ethernet ports plus onboard WiFi. Svelte; 3-line frontpanel LCD and bright red pager LED, builtin G4 cellphone functions, choice of side and frontpanel trim: Ivory-like stuff inscribed with M68k memory map and various OS 3.9 structures or textured fur that says 'This is Amiga Speaking' when stroked 'round. Decent keyboard, as in Toshiba or IBM laptops; perhaps an ergonomic fingerworks.com device (they work as keyboard and mouse) as the keyboard/trackpad. 2 Directional planar mics atop AMLCD; soundcard with multiple 18 bit A-D and noise reduction DSP that work in our (second-through-fourth, at least) favorite OS. Actual 7" bellows pulls out at nominal ventilation fan location for real void-comp (the test in Blade Runner) style cooling and extended bass; active cooling and airfiltering is available to adjust humidity at user seat and provide mineral water. HyperTransport ports.