tp755ce+dos+win3.11+winNT3.5+linux+[???]+nec3x-pCDROM

[Alden S Klovdahl <Alden.Klovdahl@anu.edu.au>]

i am planning on getting a tp755ce, for research work.  it comes with dos and 
windows (3.11), which i will use for wordprocessing, sas, and a few other 
programs not otherwise available.  i would like to add windows NT 3.5 to
eventually port a silicon graphics program to opengl using NT, and i would
also like to add linux for all the unix tools and for plugging into an 
ethernet connection at work (e.g. for backups to our silo drive).

as i have to take my research environment with me when i visit colleagues 
for collaborative work, i would like to get also the NEC multispin 3x-p
(portable) cd-rom drive.

question(s) #1:  is it feasible to use a scsi pcmcia card via windows 3.11 to
access the cd-rom drive (i asssume there is a driver), including what comes
with the NT cd-roms (as i understand it, NT does not support pcmcia cards)?
if so, recommended scsi pcmcia cards? would i lose any functionality compared 
to, say, a non-notebook pc with an internal or external cd-rom drive? (would 
it be better to try to find some parallel scsi adapter that NT might support?)

question(s) #2: any thoughts, wisdom regarding setting up multiple operating
systems on a notebook hard disk?  any experience with the combination above?
e.g., what kind of file system would work, be best?

thanks in advance for any suggestions.

regards, al

 Alden S. Klovdahl / alden.klovdahl@anu.edu.au / fax: +61 62 49 05 25
 Sociology, Arts / Australian National University / Canberra ACT Australia 0200