[GRLUG] Pre-installed Linux on laptops

[Michael Mol]

On 1/26/2010 3:29 PM, L. V. Lammert wrote:
> At 03:10 PM 1/26/2010 -0500, you wrote:
>
>> It wasn't too long ago that a small size commanded a large premium,
>> even for an underpowered laptop.  Compared to then, the netbooks look
>> great.  They have pretty darn good battery life, very small and light
>> and the atom doesn't seem(to me) to be underpowered.  I bought an atom
>> board last year for a small file/multimedia server and it does great.
>> It can even do video transcoding(pyTivo using ffmpeg) at a little
>> under real time.
>>
>> My only concern is the screen size/resolution.  800x600 seems just too
>> small for just about anything.
>
> That's the reason why UNR (Ubuntu Netbook Remix) is such a great option -
> it optimizes the screen for a small display. Only a single task bar at the
> top which includes the open window bar - it also shrinks as you open more
> windows to accomodate the icons.

Slightly offtopic: "maximus" made Ubuntu much more usable for my 
grandmother on a full-size laptop.  I noticed she wasn't resizing 
windows past their default size, but she never complaining about the 
tiny window sizes she had to deal with as a result. (Even though she'd 
be scrolling through emails with huge images using a view port only 
two-three hundred pixels tall.)

I installed maximus, and it works a lot better for her.

> Also, the HP units have mouse buttons on the side of the touchpad - one
> innovaton that really works, especially when you are 'belly mounted';
> sliding a finger to the side is a lot easier than moving your hand to get a
> button on the edge of the machine.

I *hate* having a touchpad beneath the keyboard.  The meaty part of my 
palm will occasionally brush against it (or, if I haven't toned down the 
touchpad's sensitivity, it'll trigger even when I'm a good 1-2mm away), 
and my mouse cursor will go off in some direction I don't want.

Give me a trackpoint or side-mounted touchpad over a below-keyboard 
touchpad, please.