I'm writing this journal from my new laptop, an Acer Aspire 5920. This thing has a dual processor Intel CPU, 2 GB RAM, and all the ports and connectivity we are getting used to (4 USB, Infrared, Bluetooth, 811.G wifi. etc).
Actually it has the first laptop keyboard I feel comfortable with. Only missing is the separate numeric keypad.
It even comes with a webcam, so I can see them when I chat with friends and family.
The most encouraging is that OpenSUSE 10.3 installed with almost no problem. Only wifi sent me googling for a couple of minutes.
Using wifi is still a little strange though. I had to switch from Network Manager to ifup/down. I don't quite understand what the problem is, but if I try to connect with Network Manager, it doesn't get an IP address. I could experiment with fixed addresses; perhaps I'll do that one day.
Overall I'm impressed what you're getting for your money these days. A new laptop with very competitive hardware for DKK 5,000.- (around EUR 665,-).
I had to buy a new laptop because my 3-year old one suddenly began to turn off completely after being on for only a couple of minutes. And these days it's easier (and probably cheaper) to buy a new and much stronger computer.
So I've been tinkering with this for the last couple of days, restoring relevant data from my old and customizing it the way I like it. A rather big job :-)
Re:The old laptop
kaare on 2007-11-16T08:29:31
I did try that with no result, alas. I suspect the CPU fan or the fan for the Graphics Adapter, but I didn't put too much effort into it.
Anyway, I was already considering a new laptop before the event. After all, it's my main tool in my consulting business, so it should perform reasonably.
And a three year old laptop with 512 MB RAM is simply antiquated now. The development in this area has been impressive for the last three years!
