abarbarian Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) Model:: HP NC6120-uk Black Friday Deal, 1.7GHz, Intel Centrino, 512MB RAM, 14.1" Screen, 40GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, WIFI - Internet Ready, Windows XP Professional, Serial Port, 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet, 2 x USB, 1 Year RTB Warranty, only £109.99 http://www.cheaplapt...p-nc6120-laptop The above laptop is for sale and I can get a two year warranty for a further £19.99. An I can get an aftermarket 9 cell battery for £19.99 if needed.Though it will probably be used with a mains cable. With a lightweight linux os (recomendations welcome) would this run fast and sweet ? Probably will just be used for surfing, Libre office light duties and iTunes.I'm looking for a linux os I can just install and virtually forget, ie: very little updating. Can anyone see any problems I might have running linux ? The price is at the top of my limit but if anyone spots a real winner on the site I'm open to changing my mind and my wallet a little further. Edited December 9, 2013 by abarbarian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crp Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 i'd pass on it, even with VeryLight Linux I would not use anything with less than 1G of RAM. and that Centrino is quite slow. For that price you can not find a netbook from 5 years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I agree that 512 MB RAM is very low nowadays - for another 10GBP you can get a Dell Latitude with 1 GB. I have a similar Lenovo T42 around here and it runs Linux very well. Centrino tech is very Linux friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 There are some about the same price - within $10 with 1GB RAM for the Intel Centrino similar to the one you posted, like this HP NC6220 Laptop or Dell Latitude D610 Laptop. Totally agree. 1GB is ABSOLUTE Minimum, preferably 2GB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Unless used lappys are rare in the U.K., I'd pass on that one. Too much sterling wanted for something so old and obsolete. Better deals here --> http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Computers-Tablets-Networking-/58058/i.html?_nkw=laptop&_sop=12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 Hmmm I see what you mean folks. E-bay is a minefield. What attracted me to this company was the two year extension to the warranty. I found these both of which are said to work out of the box with linux, Model:: HP 2510p-uk 1.2GHz, Intel Core Duo, 2GB RAM, 12.1" Widescreen, 60GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, WIFI - Internet Ready, Windows Vista, 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet, 1 x VGA Port, 2 x USB, 1 Year RTB Warranty, only £129.99 Model:: Thinkpad X61-uk 1.8GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 12.1" Screen, 40GB HDD, WIFI - Internet Ready, Windows XP Professional, 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet, 1 x VGA Port, 3 x USB, 1 Year RTB Warranty, only £129.99 I quite like the sound of the Thinkpad faster cpu, but the HP has a better screen. Darn it I hate shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 If eBay.uk is anything like eBay in the U.S., your posterior area is covered pretty well when it comes to purchases. You have eBay's guarantee on most items, plus the seller's. I would pay particular attention to the seller's ratings. A seller who has 98% or better rating on 100+ transactions is not going to make a habit of screwing eBay customers. I've had very good experiences with purchasing many different types of items on eBay. I don't do the auction stuff there like I used to. I prefer to narrow my search to the Buy Nows with Free Shipping. I'll look at others, of course, because sometimes the deals are just too good to pass up, even if I have to pay for shipping. Anyway, the hunt is half the fun at eBay. Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Difficult choice here but the Thinkpad has a better processor. I think that's how I'd go. You can always upgrade RAM later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Thinkpad is a nice choice for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I love everything Thinkpad. They are durable and Linux friendly. But the Dell Latitude D610 with a Pentium M and 1GB of Ram is an absolute tank. Run forever and linux friendly. As far as a distro you can set and forget on old hardware, AntiX. Based on Mepis and Debian testing branch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Agreed AntiX is a great distro - it even works on my old Pentium II laptop. You'll want something that'll work well without a lot of 3D eye candy since the video on these older laptops is not exactly bleeding edge. Linux Mint 13 MATE might also be a good choice - or Xubuntu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 But the Dell Latitude D610 with a Pentium M and 1GB of Ram is an absolute tank. Run forever and linux friendly. Yes, I own one of these little Sherman tanks. They take a lickin' and keep on tickin', to borrow an old Timex advert jingle. Mine "runs like a scalded dawg," as we say down south here. I have Slack with Xfce loaded on it. It wouldn't have any troubles running Arch with a lite desktop like Xfce or LXDE. If you can find one of these at a good price, jump on it. They're handy to have around. The only bad thing you'll have to deal with is Broadcom, but there are workarounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Yes, but the ThinkPad with Intel Core 2 Duo and 1GB RAM is even better really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Hello, Here are the specs for the ThinkPad X61: ThinkWiki Category - X61 I have the tablet version of one, upgraded with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD. I use as a Windows 8 testbed at work. It handles that quite well. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks for all the info folks.Aryeh your link was the biz. Unfortunately the folk I was researching for may not want a lappy at this time.All the research was very interesting though. I do like the ThinkPad. My only concern being the screen quality. Now if this had a better processor I would buy this for myself in an instant. http://www.cheaplaptopcompany.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=269 Panasonic's ToughBook CF-29 comes closer to an indestructible notebook than anything we've seen. This big, "ruggedized" laptop not only absorbs the abuse of the clumsiest executive or a foot soldier in the field, it also provides phenomenal battery life and good performance. At more than £1,900 new, it' was also twice as expensive and twice as thick as your everyday business laptop. Just the sort of laptop for a barbarian. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) I've seen these used by techs who worked on our PLCs in the factory. The Vikings could have taken one along when pillaging Essex. Probably could have anchored the longship with it. Edited December 11, 2013 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 Broadcom is getting a lot better with the latest kernel releases. Most new distros work right out of the box with my Dell Inspiron 15. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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