Laptop question

[Howard Coles Jr.]

On Monday 20 August 2007 12:15:48 am Nigel Ridley wrote:
> Howard Coles Jr. wrote:
> > On Sunday 19 August 2007 09:42:43 am Nigel Ridley wrote:
> >> A local shop is offering older model Dell laptops for half the price of
> >> the newer models. Amongst the ones on offer is a Dell D600 with an ATI
> >> Mobility Radeon 32MB and a 30GB hard drive. Intel Pentium M - CPU Core:
> >> Banias 130nm @ 1.4GHz
> >>
> >> Questions:
> >> 1. Would any of you folks buy a brand new 3 year old laptop with a one
> >> year warranty (for half the price of one of the latest models)?
> >> 2. Any foreseeable problems running the latest and greatest Kubuntu on
> >> it?
> >>
> >> TIA
> >>
> >> Blessings,
> >>
> >> Nigel
> >
> > Well, there is a reason its still on the shelf.  That model is about 3 -
> > 4 years old.  I'd say half the price of a current NEW laptop of similar
> > config is still a little high.  If they're willing to cover it for a
> > year, it might be worth the price.
> >
> > Not only this but if it has wireless inside its probably the Broadcom no
> > work with Linux version.  Other than that, Linux ran just fine on it.  We
> > used those very models at the place I used to work, and I wasn't that
> > fond of them.  I think it had more to do with the crappy resolution and
> > 16MB video card part than anything else.   I had a habit of resizing the
> > partitions and installing Linux, come to think of it, I still do.  :-D 
> > For the Wireless card I ran ndiswrapper without any major problems, so
> > that should cover you there.   Also they get VERY hot underneath, so have
> > something between your lap and the laptop!!
> >
> > Oh, I'm writing this on a dell E1705, so they're not all bad.   The best
> > laptop I had experience with to date was the c640 I ran for 3 years with
> > no problems.  I complained when they made me give it up for the D600.
>
> Doesn't the fan kick in to keep it cool?
>
> Blessings,
>
> Nigel

NO.

It keeps it "cool enough" but not cool enough to keep you from burning your 
lap.

According to my system monitor right now, my cpu is running at a "cool" 116.6 
degrees F.  When your doing anything that requires some real processing, you 
can see it get as hot as 158 degrees F.  And this laptop is quite a bit 
cooler than the D600 I had on the bottom.

Its not a totally bad laptop, it did run OK, I just thought you might want to 
be prepared.  You can buy one of those laptop cooler fan things at Staples or 
Office depot and keep it cool for your lap, and you'll be ok.

Just don't expect too much by way of 3D video, and screaming speed and you'll 
be just fine!

-- 
See Ya'
Howard Coles Jr.
John 3:16!