Benjamin Ooghe-Tabanou wrote:
...
>Dell proposes these CPU:
>for desktops: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ and faster
>and for laptops: AMD Turion^TM 64x2 Dual-Core Mobile technology TL-50 
>and bigger
>or AMD Turion^TM 64 Mobile technology MK-36 Processor
>
>Did any of you successfully install SL on any of those processors? 
>Otherwise would you know any detail which would comfort me in choosing 
>one of these?

I am running SL5 on a dual core Athlon FX-2 3800 desktop, for 
technical computing.  The 64 bit versus 32 bit versioning issues
can occasionally trip one up, and could be an issue if you want to
load lots of obscure software and drivers.  This might be especially
true for wireless and graphics drivers for a laptop.  For a desktop,
with a small software load and a wide choice of peripherals, this is
not a problem.  

So, the REAL question for a laptop is not "is an Athlon a problem"
(all processors run Linux) but "are there good 64 bit drivers for
the peripherals", especially the graphics driver.  The wireless
driver for the built-in wireless is often a problem, even for 32
bit CPUs, but the 5mW junk they build into laptops is often useless
anyway;  use an Atheros PCMCIA card instead.  Check the Linux on
Laptops site at www.linux-laptop.net and see if someone else has
had success for that exact model. 

And if you are ordering from Dell, they allegedly offer Linux
preinstalled, don't they?  If you are not confident of your Linux
install skills, it is better to pay extra and go the preinstalled
route, either from the manufacturer or from a reseller company 
like Emperor Linux.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          [log in to unmask]         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs