Subject: IBM Thinkpads w/ NetBSD (or other recommendations?)
To: None <port-i386@netbsd.org>
From: Kevin Lahey <kml@patheticgeek.net>
List: port-i386
Date: 08/15/2001 09:17:41
I need to buy a laptop for work (my employer is picking up the bill), 
and I'm still trying to figure out what to get.  The IBM Thinkpad X 
and T series look pretty good to me, but it isn't clear to me that
they are completely supported by NetBSD.  Will the internal Ethernet
and/or 802.11 interfaces work under NetBSD?  I've about given up on modems,
but since I haven't used one in five years, I figure that won't bother
me.  What about audio?

I'm also open to other suggestions -- what I want and need is a laptop
that:

* is compatible with NetBSD -- audio works, video works under XFree86,
  suspend works, etc.

* weighs around five pounds or less.

* has either two PC Card slots, or a built-in Ethernet (I will probably
  need Ethernet and a wireless access simultaniously).

* has a reasonable battery life (three or more hours).

* is fairly robust (I lost a bunch of SACK code when I dropped my Toshiba
  Satellite three feet, while it was inside my laptop bag!).

Am I missing anything?  Do I desparately need IEEE 1394, even though
I don't know it?  Can I get away with buying something wildly 
imcompatible, and just run NetBSD under VMware?

Any suggestions?  Even suggestions about places to look to see if
a laptop is NetBSD compatible?

Thanks a million,

Kevin
kml@patheticgeek.net