If my tax refund is large enough I might buy a laptop. It would just be for serious stuff and wireless internetting so it will be a Puppy system for sure.
What would be the specs for an affordable-but-very-useable serous but can also run most decent Linux games Puppy laptop? I have no plans to install WinblowsXP and Doom3 on it.
512 Meg RAM ?
CDRW Drive - Well, of course!
20 or 30 Gig HDD ?
700Mhz P4/AMD ?
What else?
Request suggestions: best laptop for Puppy?
- Some CDRWs don't support multisession (hareware limitation)...
- There seems to be a high number of laptops (I don't remember which brands) that have ESS brand internal modems and ethernet plugs. ESS does not work Linux (never will).
My recommendation is to take a Live CD with you and give the demo model a test run. Check out the CMOS, can it boot to USB? Can Puppy find/access the modem and ethernet? Do a hardware probe, do you see anything not found correctly? Give it 10-15 minutes of banging around in the setup and utilities to see what results you get. Does Puppy 'feel' right in the laptop? If the salesman doesn't like the idea of you giving the system a test run, take your money somewhere else that will.
One thought... See if they'll sell you the laptop without the WinOS. If they can, you'll save a bundle! If its even possible, they might have to special order it...
- There seems to be a high number of laptops (I don't remember which brands) that have ESS brand internal modems and ethernet plugs. ESS does not work Linux (never will).
My recommendation is to take a Live CD with you and give the demo model a test run. Check out the CMOS, can it boot to USB? Can Puppy find/access the modem and ethernet? Do a hardware probe, do you see anything not found correctly? Give it 10-15 minutes of banging around in the setup and utilities to see what results you get. Does Puppy 'feel' right in the laptop? If the salesman doesn't like the idea of you giving the system a test run, take your money somewhere else that will.
One thought... See if they'll sell you the laptop without the WinOS. If they can, you'll save a bundle! If its even possible, they might have to special order it...
Puppy runs fast as hell on my Pentium 3 with 1 GB RAM.
It has an old 3D-ATI7000-graficscard, and plays OpenGL-Doom very well.
So look for a chip that has 3D-support,as it is not more expensive than one without it (ATI should be ok, but I have no experience with newer models in Puppy).
Also, if you don't game, but there are nice "serious" apps too, like 3D-Desk.
Apart from technical things: Support.
The problem with notebooks:
They tend to live not as long as a Desktop-PC due to the extreme integration.
Some companies take *real* lot of money (and sometimes weeks of time) for a repair.
My problematic Fan (cooler) shall cost 60 Euro, for a Desktop you get them for 1 Euro (but those don't fit in a notebook).
I never again would buy a cheap gericom-notebook, but google for experience with High-quality-manufacturers like HP or IBM.
Oh yes,and often inbuilt winmodems do not work.
Get some infos here:
http://tuxmobil.org
Mark
It has an old 3D-ATI7000-graficscard, and plays OpenGL-Doom very well.
So look for a chip that has 3D-support,as it is not more expensive than one without it (ATI should be ok, but I have no experience with newer models in Puppy).
Also, if you don't game, but there are nice "serious" apps too, like 3D-Desk.
Apart from technical things: Support.
The problem with notebooks:
They tend to live not as long as a Desktop-PC due to the extreme integration.
Some companies take *real* lot of money (and sometimes weeks of time) for a repair.
My problematic Fan (cooler) shall cost 60 Euro, for a Desktop you get them for 1 Euro (but those don't fit in a notebook).
I never again would buy a cheap gericom-notebook, but google for experience with High-quality-manufacturers like HP or IBM.
Oh yes,and often inbuilt winmodems do not work.
Get some infos here:
http://tuxmobil.org
Mark
Looking over your specs, seems like maybe P4 would be overkill -- and the 512MB too, depending on your actual applications, though it is certainly nice to know that a mbd can be upgraded to at least 512MB.
On the other hand, seems like it would be good for the CD drive to at least read DVDs. It would certainly be good for the drive to be able to boot *multi-session* CD-RWs. Very hard to determine beforehand, but very easy to test in person.
And you don't even mention the most important hardware feature: bootable USB 2.0 ports built-in. This gives you incredible future flexibility, including the ability to go on using the hardware after the internal hard drive dies.
I think it is hard to get a new laptop, esp a good one, without blowing at least $100 on bundled WinOS.
I'd urge you to first look for a good used laptop on eBay craigslist etc where you certainly can get one without paying for an OS. And you can use Linux LiveCDs as your acceptability test.
How about a good used IBM or Dell?
Let us know what you learn!
(One of the biggest problems with the Dell CPi PII-266 I am using now as my main machine is that it requires EDO SoDIMMs, which are now very obsolete, expensive, and limited. So for sure do not buy anything that does not use very generic memory that you are sure will be cheap and available for years.)
On the other hand, seems like it would be good for the CD drive to at least read DVDs. It would certainly be good for the drive to be able to boot *multi-session* CD-RWs. Very hard to determine beforehand, but very easy to test in person.
And you don't even mention the most important hardware feature: bootable USB 2.0 ports built-in. This gives you incredible future flexibility, including the ability to go on using the hardware after the internal hard drive dies.
I think it is hard to get a new laptop, esp a good one, without blowing at least $100 on bundled WinOS.
I'd urge you to first look for a good used laptop on eBay craigslist etc where you certainly can get one without paying for an OS. And you can use Linux LiveCDs as your acceptability test.
How about a good used IBM or Dell?
Let us know what you learn!
(One of the biggest problems with the Dell CPi PII-266 I am using now as my main machine is that it requires EDO SoDIMMs, which are now very obsolete, expensive, and limited. So for sure do not buy anything that does not use very generic memory that you are sure will be cheap and available for years.)
> Looking over your specs, seems like maybe P4 would be overkill
> and the 512MB too, depending on your actual applications
Yeah, I was just guessing. Not really knowing the Linux world I picked a mid-range setup. Otherwise I would have said "AMD-64 and 4 Gigs RAM" <grin>.
> bootable USB 2.0 ports built-in.
Ah, yes. hadn't thought of that.
> I think it is hard to get a new laptop, esp a good one,
>without blowing at least $100 on bundled WinOS.
BUY WINBLOWS????? Wash your mouth out with soap! I'lluse my existing Win2000 if I wanted a Windoze computer.
> I'd urge you to first look for a good used laptop on eBay
That was the plan unless I can find a good used system locally. OTOH how do you test-drive a system on ebay?
I'm using The Pupster on it. No need for a $1,200 laptop ya know. $300-$400 should be good enough. From the testimonials it looks like Pup will run on really old junk. Well, my laptop will be mid-range or so the plan goes. Not an AMD-64 but not a 286 either.
-----------------------------
I've gotten some good answers. Thanks, guys.
> and the 512MB too, depending on your actual applications
Yeah, I was just guessing. Not really knowing the Linux world I picked a mid-range setup. Otherwise I would have said "AMD-64 and 4 Gigs RAM" <grin>.
> bootable USB 2.0 ports built-in.
Ah, yes. hadn't thought of that.
> I think it is hard to get a new laptop, esp a good one,
>without blowing at least $100 on bundled WinOS.
BUY WINBLOWS????? Wash your mouth out with soap! I'lluse my existing Win2000 if I wanted a Windoze computer.
> I'd urge you to first look for a good used laptop on eBay
That was the plan unless I can find a good used system locally. OTOH how do you test-drive a system on ebay?
I'm using The Pupster on it. No need for a $1,200 laptop ya know. $300-$400 should be good enough. From the testimonials it looks like Pup will run on really old junk. Well, my laptop will be mid-range or so the plan goes. Not an AMD-64 but not a 286 either.
-----------------------------
I've gotten some good answers. Thanks, guys.
-
Pizzasgood
- Posts: 6183
- Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 20:28
- Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
My plan is to put the Win98SE I already have on my future laptop. That way I'll still be able to play my games. I don't plan to buy any more computer games for a while (I prefer consols and handhelds), so the only thing that would make me want a newer Windows than 98SE is if the college I go to requires XP. In which case, I'll either see if I can, uh, "borrow" my uncle's XP (unless MS found a way around that) or else just fork the money over *shudder*.BUY WINBLOWS????? Wash your mouth out with soap! I'lluse my existing Win2000 if I wanted a Windoze computer.
Either way, that is the last opportunity MS will have to take my money. Once out of college, I'll only keep it for the games I already have and stick to Linux for the rest. Unless they start using their billion$ of doller$ to make a decent system. Who knows? Maybe they'll figure it out?
Speaking of laptops, I need to figure out how much money I have so I can start looking for one. I know I should know how much I have, but it's all over the place. Savings account, checking acount, dresser, CD, etc. I figure I have enough to get a decent one. I had wanted to work this school year so I wouldn't have to cut into my savings account, but school comes first, and this is a busy year. I keep feeling like im a lazy bum, but then I remind myself that I do work on the farm all summer, so I'm not. Lucky for me, I spend very little. I don't have a caffeine addiction, I don't do drugs, and I have enough video games to not need to buy any more. I've spent $40 since August, a good bit of which was on donations for Katrina victims and Christmas presents.
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