Finally got a laptop (ThinkPad R52)

Wally Balljacker · Post by **Wally Balljacker** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:43 am

I just picked up a ThinkPad on eBay for 800 bucks. I've been shopping around for one for awhile now, and this seemed like a great deal. It's brand new, but was on sale due to overstock. I'd really like to put Gentoo on this thing, but the compiling would be pretty painful. I'll probably go with either Debian, or Slackware. Hopefully everything works out of the box. I hear StinkPads have good Linux compatibility.

Profile at ThinkWiki
eBay listing

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:46 am

We use ThinkPads in the office that I work at and all of them that I've tried booted up Kanotix just fine.

I even like to return borrowed laptops back into the IT pool with the Kanotix disc still in the drive.

"Oops. Did I forget to take that disc out again?! Oh my. What's Kanotix, you ask? Well.... let me tell you....."

Congratulations on your purchase!

Wally Balljacker · Post by **Wally Balljacker** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:51 am

Judland wrote:We use ThinkPads in the office that I work at and all of them that I've tried booted up Kanotix just fine.

I even like to return borrowed laptops back into the IT pool with the Kanotix disc still in the drive.

"Oops. Did I forget to take that disc out again?! Oh my. What's Kanotix, you ask? Well.... let me tell you....."

Hahaha, that's awesome. This is my first laptop since 1998, so wireless is all new to me. The Intel wireless chipset seems to work good under Linux, so hopefully it goes smoothly.

Post by **Patrick** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:08 am

Thinkpads are nice and are pretty much coveted by linux heads. I've never owned one but might in the future. My only problem would be the eraser/pointer. I've always preferred touch pads myself.

Wally Balljacker · Post by **Wally Balljacker** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:32 am

Patrick wrote:Thinkpads are nice and are pretty much coveted by linux heads. I've never owned one but might in the future. My only problem would be the eraser/pointer. I've always preferred touch pads myself.

They actually come with both a TouchPad, and a Nipple as Linc puts it.

mrben · Post by **mrben** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:30 am

Yeah - all the latest TPs come with both. Personally, I prefer the nipple, and have the touchpad disabled on my T41. ThinkWiki is also a great resource.

If you can afford it, then I would definitely recommend Thinkpads for running Linux.

snarkout · Post by **snarkout** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:44 am

Holy return button batman! Is that a European model or something?

Wally Balljacker · Post by **Wally Balljacker** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:08 pm

Snarkout wrote:Holy return button batman! Is that a European model or something?

Nope, it is indeed true. The laptop arrived in the mail today, and it has both a touchpad and an eraser. Unfortunately, it seems as if it has a bad RAM stick, which was causing it to power down after a few seconds of use. After talking to them, they agreed to replace the RAM, and do some extensive tests before sending it back to me.

snarkout · Post by **snarkout** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:47 am

Actually, I was referring to the size of the return key in the picture you put up. Europeans apparently prefer enormous return keys and teensy backspace keys, with the pipe key moved. I know this because purchasing catalogs at work refer to this style of keyboard as "European."