What kind of laptop?

[Alex Satrapa]

Bob Edwards wrote:

> TiBooks are not the only laptops made with real metal cases. The Sony 
> Vaio's also have alloy cases

But... the Vaio's a "lifestyle accessory" not a laptop ;)   I'd actually 
forgotten about the Vaio.

> My one has a "big dongle hanging out the side" for it's wireless, but 
> I can't see any resemblance to a Martian - although now I'll know what 
> to look for when I am trying to find a Martian. 

Some cards I've seen allow you to remove the "internal" antenna (the 
black lump hanging out the side of the laptop or the back of the desktop 
case) and attach an "external" antenna, typically a dipole that you're 
supposed to sit on top of the monitor - making the PC look a whole lot 
like a TV with rabbit ears attached.

> Older TiBooks have had problems with the brittleness of Titanium in 
> everyday use. Check out Rusty's TiBook sometime if you want an example 
> of how fragile the hinges on these things are.

Guess I'll have to lower my sights and go for a G4 iBook instead... 
seems some of Apple's interesting cases have problems with brittleness - 
didn't the Cube also have problems with the clear plastic crazing? 
 Though that's probably due to something besides brittleness, which I'm 
sure a petrochemical plastics chemist could explain to me in loving 
detail ;)  Guess the biggest problem with being a true innovator is that 
you can't learn from the mistakes of others, since they haven't been 
made yet.

Oh... and as for that shameless plug in an earlier posting - apparently 
TPG only directly support corporate sales - you go through CES for TPG 
equipment these days.  The laptop is a rebadged Asus L2000 series - I 
think the PC people at ANU sell one the same - silver with blue plastic 
around the keyboard and screen.

Alex