News Bits: Lenovo to Offer Linux Pre-Loaded, Alienware Quick Ship Laptop, Sager NP5790 Review

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Lenovo Shipping SUSE Linux on ThinkPads

Lenovo announced today that they will be selling ThinkPad T series notebooks and providing direct support for both the hardware and operating system. In the past Lenovo has supported Linux by shipping ThinkPad notebooks with blank hard drives and leaving it up to users to install the OS, but going forward Lenovo will offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 pre-installed.

Novell will be partnering with Lenovo to support the OS. Lenovo plans on selling the Linux loaded T-series notebooks in the 4th quarter of 2007 to both business and consumer buyers.

Read More (Reuters.com)

Nvidia's MXM Type IV module format is for real

It was previously thought that the Nvidia MXM Type IV video card module for notebooks did not exist. It was first spotted at CEBIT in the Clevo booth. While Clevo builds some of the most powerful gaming notebooks in the world, they have always refused to use the MXM form factor.

MXM-Upgrade.com has received some interesting new news from Nvidia when they questioned the company about this seemingly non-existent format.

&quot;Type IV&quot; seems to be backed by nVidia after all. They have been working on it with their partners but were hesitant to release it in the open because it wasn't final yet. Now it's out . . . &quot;

What is most interesting about this entire scenario is that Clevo is using the MXM format after all, and they are way ahead of other manufacturers.

Forum Discussion
Source Article

Special thanks to senior forum member Gophn for submitting this bit

 

Alienware offers m5550 &quot;Quick Ship&quot; Laptop

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While Dell and Lenovo customers are suffering interminable waits to receive their laptops, often weeks or months of delays, Alienware (who is owned by Dell now) is offering the Area 51 m5550 &quot;Quick Ship&quot; notebook that they promise will ship within two business days of payment confirmation and validation. The stock configuration for the Quick Ship notebook is as follows:

• 15.4&quot; glossy screen
• Core 2 Duo 2GHz processor and 2GB of memory
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics
• 802.11g wireless
• 160GB 5400 RPM hard drive
• An 8X Dual Layer CD-RW/DVD±RW

Head to Alienware to order this laptop &quot;whilte supplies last&quot;.


Clevo M570RU/Sager NP5790 user review

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Forum member lawlz_xD has done a thorough review of his brand new Sager NP5790 (based on the Clevo M570RU chassis) top-of-the-line gaming notebook. The NP5790 is based on the latest Intel Santa Rosa platform and features a 17&quot; widescreen display. Graphics power comes from an Nvidia GeForce Go7950GTX with 512MB of dedicated memory.

The reviewer gives it points for the beautiful display, powerful performance, and excellent fit and finish but points out that the notebook has poor battery life and noisy fans.

Read the full review in the forums

Gateway E-295C/C-140 Tablet PC First Looks Review

Tiffany Boggs has done a first looks review of the new Gateway E-295C/C-140 tablet PC at our sister site, TabletPCReview.com. It is a 14-inch widescreen notebook based on the latest Intel Santa Rosa platform. Key features include a Wacom digitizer and an available dedicated graphics card.

Read the full article here

 

The Alienware only with an X1400!? What a shame.

 

A 17" display with only 1280 by 800 resolution? Bleargh.

 

I know of no one who wants that even if it ships today

 

Actually those specs that you see in the orange pics is from the CeBIT07 Clevo booth when they showed off the first display models.

The Clevo D900C and M570RU that is currently selling now has these optional LCD panels:
- WUXGA (1920 x 1200)
- WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) ... glossy or matte
- WXGA (1440 x 900)

 

It's good to see more manufacturers offering Linux preloads. But SuSE is a bit... bleh.

 

I don't really put much faith in the upgradebility of notebook gpu's as long as no mainstream stores sell those cards.

 

If Lenovo ships the Thinkpad with SuSE Linux, then will that blue Thinkvantage button still work under Linux?

 

1280x800 on a 17" sounds fine to me.

 

ohh..screen resolution is truly personal preference but I can't imagine what it look likes 17" with 1280x800. A 15.4" with 1280x800 can be considered mediocre. For 17" , WXGA+ (1440 x 900) is minimal.

 

I have a 17" running at 1280x1024. Everything looks a bit small.

Basically, i'll get higher resolution displays when 300dpi ones come out and Windows defaults to 300dpi or can be set (actually set, not just "text is weird now" scaling).

 

Eventually, all the major manufacturers will offer Linux since Dell's move in that direction. This is one completely positive aspect of the technology trend.

 

I agree, when Linux users can get their OS of choice from Dell, it puts pressure on Microsoft to improve Windows.

 

I haven't witnessed a crash in Vista to date, the only way I can crash it on my friends laptop is by holding down Windows+E for 10 seconds