I just wanted to comment on the reports that the VAIOs lack common PC
ports, and thus are hard to install Linux on.
The VAIO PCG-505TS (and the other 505s, I think) comes with a port
replicator, with two PS/2 ports, a video out, a serial port, and a
parallel port. It plugs into a special connector on the side of the
505TS, and is fully functional. So, you certainly could use PLIP to
do an install on a VAIO. Also, the included floppy drive also has its
own connector - it isn't USB or PCMCIA, and behaves just like a
regular floppy drive once attached (which you should do when the
machine is off or suspended).
I actually had no problem installing Linux on my VAIO - of course, I
did it the old-fashioned Debian way, with a stack of nine floppies to
install the base system. Once the base system was up, everything
including PCMCIA worked, and I did the rest over the network. (I
didn't purchase a CD-ROM drive for it.)
I've been very happy with my VAIO, and I have to complement Sony on
producing a great small, relatively fast laptop that also happens to
be extremely Linux-friendly.
--Anil
P.S. Sound works great on my VAIO, except that it plays everything a
bit slow (i.e. everything is at a slightly lower pitch and slower
tempo). The chip is recognized as an ES1688, using the Soundblaster
16 driver. I haven't looked into why - any thoughts?
- --
Anil Somayaji (soma@cs.unm.edu)
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~soma
+1 505 872 3150
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