Hello Curt!

  CS> I and several other NetBSD developers use Toshiba Libretto L2
    > notebooks...These are 600 MHz Crusoe machines...

Here's something I'd wondered about Crusoe chips in NetBSD machines:
The little I read about them during their development suggested that
there was to be a layer of emulation software that compensated for
differences between Crusoe's core and a conventional x86 chip.

Do I understand this correctly?  If so, does NetBSD use a layer of
emulation software to run /i386?  Would a native port to Crusoe's core
make any sense?  I lay awake at night wondering about questions like
these.

  CS> ...1280x600 display...

That's HUGE! (I've been looking for something with 640x240 ;-)

  CS> Battery life is 2-3 hours, but you can buy an extended life
    > battery which will give you about 3x the battery life.

Probably get even more from something with an ARM or perhaps StrongARM
microprocessor.  It wouldn't have the same performance, but would be
adequate for my needs.  Of course I'm comparing apples with oranges:
notebooks with palmtops. I don't think anyone makes the machine I want
though :-/

  CS> The only real problem with this is that it's a Japanese-only
    > model, but there are retailers in the states from whom you can
    > order it, and they provide a warranty and all that.

I've been sniffing around /hpcarm, /hpcmips and /hpcsh, and I had
noticed the machines that come closest to my ideal mobile terminal/PDA
seem only to be available in Japan.  Perhaps the retailers you mention
hold promise though.

  CS> Oh, and for you, another problem is that it uses the pointing
    > stick mouse.

Even my wife has taken to calling the Trackpoint on our Toshiba
Satellite Pro 430CDT (which by the way runs NetBSD beautifully :-) the
'nipple'.  We're about due for a replacement rubber cap for our Track-
point, I don't s'pose anyone knows of a source for these?

  CS> (And I'm pretty fussy about my work environment.)

Me too, can you tell?

Regards,
  - Andy Ball.