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