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rvijay07 wrote:
>
> In reference to old Laptops such as 486s, how long can 
> their hard drive 

On many (most?) laptops you can swap round hard drives.

> and other components be expected to last ? 

Batteries are usually dead.  But for my purpose
(presentations) it's not a problem because there's
always power available (the projector needs power).

> Also what about the laptop modem ? 

Old PCMCIA modems (and network cards) are readily
available at auction and the slower ones don't cost
a lot.  I got a 28.8 for $5.

> When one buys an old 486 laptop, is there any guarantee 
> that the modem will be  a hardware modem ?

As long as you get a laptop with a PCMCIA slot you are
golden.  Most PCMCIA cards work fine with Linux.  That's 
why I put PCMCIA capability in BL3.  

I recently bought an old PCMCIA network card for a couple 
of dollars, stuck it in my BL3 laptop, and it worked first 
time.

Cheers,
Steven

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