I had been thinking about getting a new laptop for a while. My old Thinkpad is still mostly working, but I wanted something that is lighter. I have a desktop for heavy work, so small size and light weight of the new laptop were the most important factors. So when I realised that there was only one sensible choice for me: the tiny 960 gram Panasonic R6 ジェットブラック.
The Jet Black model was not available in any shops (that I could find) so I ordered it online. The extra benefit of buying online was the option to get my name (or other nonsense) engraved on a small metal plaque on the bottom of the laptop, so I did:
マーティー・ポーリー 火星の狸
(No, I’m not going to explain the second line.)
I tried to order it without Windoze infection, but Panasonic ignored my emails. After a week I decided it would be easier to buy a standard machine, then wipe the disk and remove the sticker; so I did.
Installing Debian was easy, once I had decided how I wanted to start. I choose to use a bootable USB hard disk with the Debian network installer, and a local Debian mirror. It all mostly just worked; but I haven’t tried everything yet and I suspect there will be a few tricky parts. But for now, I’m happy.
Great! Now I know the kanji for racoon. That’ll come in handy. ;-)