After reading a lot, I learnt about ThinkPad T61 15.4". Does anyone have such a laptop with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop version 10 pre-installed? I’d like to know:
Is that ditribution of Suse fully working on the laptop?
How is the screen like? (Glare and eye strain worry me, because I have to read a lot on that screen)
Is it a **noisy **laptop?
The power adapter, is it external? Does it get too hot? Noisy?
I ask all these because on Lenovo site I couldn’t find the answers. Thank you.
Michaelus08
In my work I use T61 with windows xp. I’m quite happy with it, I would install opensuse on it if I was allowed to. Screen is fine, I like it more than my MacBook’s screen as it doen’s give that much reflexions.
In normal use I haven’t really noticed noise that much, dvd player is pretty noisy as it’s always.
I think it should be fully supported as it has itel’s chips all over it.
It is a damn fine machine. If I would find anything to improve with it I’d improve that plastic feeling of it.
I like the keyboard as well though it’s not macbook’s keyboard whitch I find to be the best.
I bought a Lenovo T61 N109WGE under SLED 10 in May and EVERYTHING worked like a charm. However, since I strongly dislike Gnome and the applications coming with it I installed openSUSE 10.3 with KDE. Eventually I got everything to work fine, too.
It’s just that all of sudden there is no more sound and I can’t access the PCMCIA card reader which I need for my homebanking application.
I will now install openSUSE 11.0. Let’s see what happens.
Cheers.
H.
P.S. The T61 has a matte screen. It’s perfect. The keyboard is great, too.
>
> Hi,
>
> I bought a Lenovo T61 N109WGE under SLED 10 in May and EVERYTHING
> worked like a charm. However, since I strongly dislike Gnome and the
> applictions coming with it I installed openSUSE 10.3 with KDE.
> Eventually I got everything to work fine, too.
>
> It’s just that all of sudden there is no more sound and I can’t access
> the PCMCIA card reader which I need for my homebanking application.
>
> I will now install openSUSE 11.0. Let’s see what happens.
>
> Cheers.
>
> H.
>
>
I was so disappointed with SLED 10, I sent it back. I note though, that you
can install KDE for SLED 10, can’t you?
I, too really don’t care for Gnome, and I was really disappointed in the
lack of applications available under SLED 10, which I wouldn’t have minded
if there were repositories for it that I could have installed programs I
use, like Gnucash.
My DVD also seemed to have errors, and I went back to OpenSuse 10.3 as well.
“I’m not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect
that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn’t need an
interpreter.” - Nicholas Petreley
>
> Hi,
>
> I bought a Lenovo T61 N109WGE under SLED 10 in May and EVERYTHING
> worked like a charm. However, since I strongly dislike Gnome and the
> applictions coming with it I installed openSUSE 10.3 with KDE.
> Eventually I got everything to work fine, too.
>
Did all the function keys, etc, work also?
I wanted to order my T61 with SLED, because I thought it would be easier to
have everything working, but they only offered the 14 inch model in SLED.
It would be nice to know what the differences were that made it all work,
although I haven’t been very impressed with SLED and Gnome.
“I’m not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect
that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn’t need an
interpreter.” - Nicholas Petreley
First, you can get the T61 with a 15.4" display. I’m not sure why you thought you could only get it with a 14" display. If you go to Lenovo’s site, and get to the Thinkpads, if you look at the T-61’s with the 15.4" displays, the sample machine in the right column is configured w/ SLED.
Second, you don’t have to keep SLED. I know you pay for it, including support, but this is better than paying more for Windows with no support. What you get is a laptop that is much more likely to work with other linux distros.
SLED is by its nature conservative. It is aimed at business use with an emphasis on stability and easy management of multiple computers by IT staffs. It will never have the latest software. It will tend not to have the community packaging software like openSUSE. It will tend to limit some customization ability to facilitate IT staffs being able to easily do maintenance and updates on all their machines at once or with one set of scripts, etc. If that is not what you want, choose your own distro knowing that at least instead of paying a Windows tax, you paid a Novell tax some of which will be used to support continued linux development.
To the OP: one of the main reasons I like the Thinkpad T series has been the matte screen rather than the shiny screens that most manufacturers are going with today. The matte screens don’t have the glare problems, as they are meant to be used for business. The shiny screens have a bit bolder color for the showroom to attract shoppers, at the expense of glare and eyestrain. Unless Lenovo makes an abrupt about face, the Thinkpad T series is aimed at business users rather than consumers wandering the floors of big box retailers looking for a machine. It will cater to work users who need things like avoiding eye strain from hours of use working.