The Caffeinated Penguin

musings of a crackpot hacker

Fixed the computer problem

Posted By matt on March 28, 2008

Thinkpad T60p, new in box, < $900 (including shipping) from ebay. Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU, 2.0Ghz, 2GB RAM, a/b/g wireless, 1680×1050 resolution, ATI X1400 w/ 128MB RAM, 80 GB HDD.

It meets the requirements.

- WSXGA+
- Proper keyboard
- Wireless is either Atheros or Intel. Both supported by drivers included OOB in Ubuntu.
- Video card is supported by radeonhd driver, version 1.1 of which is included in Ubuntu 8.04. Now, it doesn't have 3D yet, but that is okay.

Further, it is a tank. The T series are much tougher than the R series. The later R series has had some of the features of the T series stuff used in it, presumably because of the problem with the flexing which happened in my R50p. Specifically:

- Mangnesium “roll cage” undercarriage (this is what stops the base from flexing like mine is)
- Beefy screen hinges.
- Shock mounted hard drive

The T series adds:
- Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic shell (as opposed to ABS)
- Magnesium alloy screen enclosure
- Drain holes in the keyboard in case you spill on it.

So, here's hoping that the next time I get a new laptop, it will be because I WANT a new one, not because I NEED a new one.

For the curious, the old one has an XP license which came with it and so will be reused as a “shop laptop”, to talk to the cars…


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