Hi Cheryl, A laptop with no serial port is not a problem as you can get a PCMCIA card that can have anywhere from 1 to 4 serial ports on it. They work well, I am using one of these little gems with 2 serial ports to connect a Dectalk express and an Alva abt380 to my laptop. Don't be afraid of an on board modem, as long as it is a true modem and not a win modem. I have a Compaq laptop, the armada e700 (now obsolete.) I use Redhat Linux 7.2 on it. Bill Acker, wacker at octothorp.org is a big laptop user, and I am sure that he could help you out with any questions as well. I know that he helped me when I was getting started. Stephen Dawes <B.A., B.Sc.> The City of Calgary | Phone: (403) 268-5527 Web Business Office #8300 | Fax: (403) 268-6423 PO Box 2100 Postal Station M. | Email: sdawes at gov.calgary.ab.ca Calgary, Alberta, Canada. T2P 2M5 | Web: http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca FOIPP NOTIFICATION This communication is intended ONLY for the use of the person or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential or legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient named above or a person responsible for delivering messages or communications to the intended recipient, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any use, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of the information contained in it is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone and then destroy or delete this communication, or return it to us by mail if requested by us. Thank you for your attention and co-operation. > -----Original Message----- > From: Cheryl Homiak [mailto:chomiak at chartermi.net] > Sent: 2002 August 13 12:59 PM > To: speakup > Subject: linux and laptops > > > What kinds of experiences have people had with laptops? For instance: > Is it still possible to get them with serial ports for > braille display and/or > speech synthesizer? On my desktop, I liike to have both > available but I realize > that might not be possible on a laptop. > Is there any way to be sure you aren't going to be stuck with > an unuseable > internal modem? > Can you get a laptop without an OS or do you have to remove > Windows? I know that > in some cases the warranty on computers goes by the wayside > if you mess with the > OS. I also understand you can get some laptops with some kind of linux > distribution, but I imagine then you'd have to redo things so > you don't end up > getting put into Xwindows when you boot; besides, I think I > want to stick with > debian. > > Is finding one that has compatible sound a problem? > Has anybody found particular laptops that have worked well > with linux that you > would like to recommend (preferably lower end of laptop price range)? > Of course, I'm looking at all the info in the howtos on > laptops and hardware, > but are there any other pitfalls of which I should be aware > if i decide to buy > one? > > Thanks. > > Cheryl > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup >
