[ILUG] IBM Laptop

[Jeroen Massar]

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Michael Watterson wrote:
> The closest IBM gets to desktop might be those nice AS/400 that look
> like a PC. I remember older ones 1/2 the size of room beside a newer one
> only filing cabinet size. But where do the punch cards and 1/2" reel
> tapes go in the AS/400 mini-tower case model?

There is a ThinkCentre series which definitely are desktops:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Portals/Products

But you can get 'real IBM' boxes in Tower format too if you really want:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/tower/index.html
Or system i and p too:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/hardware/
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/p/hardware/

The i595 is a nice 'tower' model :)
System z only comes in deskside-tower model though

> Can they run Linux?

For the 595:
8<---------------------------------
Designed for medium to large enterprises, the System i 595 is the
largest System in the System i family. It offers multiplatform
management and maximum flexibility for customers requiring up to 64-way
symmetrical multiprocessing capability.

Software 	i5/OS®, Linux, Windows Server™, AIX 5L™
Memory (Range) 	Up to 2TB
Disk (Range) 	Up to 381TB
Processor performance 	8200 - 216000 CPW
- --------------------------------------------->8

Thus depending on the exact configuration they can. Actually quite a
large number of server products only use the 'real OS' as VM Hypervisor
and run a load of Linuxs inside VM's. z/OS is heavily used for that.
z/OS boxes don't really like huge amounts of calculations though and are
more made to do loads of I/O from my experience.

> Laptops.
> Acer for cheap, Dell for Midrange and all the top of range Laptops seems
> fraught for €3000 no matter who you buy. I don't think the cheapest Dell
> are a good idea and the XPS gamer ones seem overpriced. I like my
> Inspirion 8200. 5 years old and out performs many new laptops. Of course
> it is really a portable desktop. I had next day on Site support for 3
> years on it.

I personally would not buy anything else but an Thinkpad, but I guess my
needs are quite different: small ultra portable console. Only thing I
need is lots of battery time and it to fit in my backpack. Wireless is
of course pretty important to actually use the console. TP's tend to be
relatively cheap too, especially for their robustness.
If you need to play games on a box there is no model there that can help
you out, then again, better get a ps3 or xbox for that or just a 'real'
pc. You really can't play Supreme Commander anyway on a laptop ;)

Greets,
 Jeroen
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