This may not be the name of the original thread. Sorry, I was not following it, and this message may have been sent already, but here is my take: I saw an ad today for what appears to be a small laptop--a slightly older Compaq--with a 14.9" screen. Seems like a small laptop. All kinds of I/O, 20 GB HD, attractive price, from a nationally distributed mail-order catalog. WARNING: It comes with Windows 98. That is almost a guarantee that it doesn't have the horsepower to run Windows XP, and by logical extension, the latest versions of Linux. The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM. One other caveat: Compaq computers are notoriously hard to upgrade. There might not be any way to put more RAM in this thing. Of course, the catalog did not have the Compaq model number. --doug -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.3/296 - Release Date: 3/29/2006
At 07:56 PM 3/29/2006 -0500, Doug McGarrett wrote:
This may not be the name of the original thread. Sorry, I was not following it, and this message may have been sent already, but here is my take: /snip/
The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM.
That should have been 128 MB, of course. If it had 128 GB, I might buy it anyway! -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.3/296 - Release Date: 3/29/2006
On Wed, 2006-03-29 at 20:11 -0500, Doug McGarrett wrote:
At 07:56 PM 3/29/2006 -0500, Doug McGarrett wrote:
This may not be the name of the original thread. Sorry, I was not following it, and this message may have been sent already, but here is my take: /snip/
The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM.
That should have been 128 MB, of course. If it had 128 GB, I might buy it anyway!
Compaq seems to have been pretty good with putting the least amount of hardware their systems need in, but I have noticed that the normally have room for ram expansion. My IL's system has 128 meg of ram but it can use 512 meg, though I think in one stick of 133-mhz, Compaq didn't tell me how many stick's it takes, their numbers were all listing one stick.
Doug McGarrett wrote:
This may not be the name of the original thread. Sorry, I was not following it, and this message may have been sent already, but here is my take:
I saw an ad today for what appears to be a small laptop--a slightly older Compaq--with a 14.9" screen. Seems like a small laptop. All kinds of I/O, 20 GB HD, attractive price, from a nationally distributed mail-order catalog.
WARNING: It comes with Windows 98. That is almost a guarantee that it doesn't have the horsepower to run Windows XP, and by logical extension, the latest versions of Linux.
The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM.
One other caveat: Compaq computers are notoriously hard to upgrade. There might not be any way to put more RAM in this thing. Of course, the catalog did not have the Compaq model number.
FWIW, I have SUSE 9.1 running on a 166 MHz (IIRC) Pentium, with 64 MB, though it's only used as my firewall. I've also got a 866 MHz Compaq with 128 MB (IIRC) running SUSE 10, for my test system. While it's not the fastest, it is usable. On the other hand, SUSE 10 on my own ThinkPad R31 (1.18 GHz PIII & 384 MB) significantly outperforms XP on my work ThinkPad T30 (1.8 GHz P4 & 512 MB). I can also tell you some horror stories about the users I have to support, running XP on various systems (such as 15 minutes to boot up!). So a computer that's inadequate for XP is often fine with Linux.
On 30/03/06, James Knott
FWIW, I have SUSE 9.1 running on a 166 MHz (IIRC) Pentium, with 64 MB, though it's only used as my firewall. I've also got a 866 MHz Compaq with 128 MB (IIRC) running SUSE 10, for my test system. While it's not the fastest, it is usable.
On the other hand, SUSE 10 on my own ThinkPad R31 (1.18 GHz PIII & 384 MB) significantly outperforms XP on my work ThinkPad T30 (1.8 GHz P4 & 512 MB). I can also tell you some horror stories about the users I have to support, running XP on various systems (such as 15 minutes to boot up!). So a computer that's inadequate for XP is often fine with Linux.
I've got to agree. I tend to run many different flavours of Linux on various old - and ancient, PC speaking - computers. Fair enough, if I want to run a distro with all bells and whistles then I expect the PC to run slooooooow. Many people have software on their PC that they will never use. I like to have just what I know I will be using. All this boils down to the fact that I can run new distros with as little 128 or even 96mb of RAM. Often on 6gb drives and CPU's that are around 500mhz or even less in some cases. That's the beauty of Linux :-) -- ============================================== I am only human, please forgive me if I make a mistake it is not deliberate. ============================================== Xmas may be over but, PLEASE DON'T drink and drive you'll make it to the next one that way. Kevan Farmer Linux user #373362 Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire WS6 7HR
On Thursday 30 March 2006 01:18 am, Kevanf1 wrote: <snip>
I've got to agree. I tend to run many different flavours of Linux on various old - and ancient, PC speaking - computers. Fair enough, if I want to run a distro with all bells and whistles then I expect the PC to run slooooooow. Many people have software on their PC that they will never use. I like to have just what I know I will be using. All this boils down to the fact that I can run new distros with as little 128 or even 96mb of RAM. Often on 6gb drives and CPU's that are around 500mhz or even less in some cases. That's the beauty of Linux
Hey, Mandrake 6.0 ran just fine with KDE 2 on my P133. :P Of course, I could never get my Palm III to sync with Star Office. (Sounds like my current situation, as I still cannot get my Zire 72 to sync at all.) -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.livebeans.com - the new NetBeans community 43...for those who require slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything.
On Wed, 2006-03-29 at 19:56 -0500, Doug McGarrett wrote:
WARNING: It comes with Windows 98. That is almost a guarantee that it doesn't have the horsepower to run Windows XP, and by logical extension, the latest versions of Linux.
The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM.
This sounds like an Evo m600 or Armada m700. They are really good notebooks, with more than enough horsepower for WinXP or SUSE 10. I ran both without any issues on a 1Ghz m700 with 256mb RAM. It is a very solid book, with very strong performance. All the onboard hardware works in linux, even the (win)modem is supported in SUSE out of the box. The only hassle was that the maximum memory on it is 576MB. It has 64MB onboard, and two slots that can each take up to a 256MB dimm, PC100. The compaq modules are quite expensive, so are the certified_for_this_notebook modules from third party manufacturers. Generic modules *don't* work - the notebook picks them up but serious corruption follows if you try to boot. If you don't need a lot of memory, or you're willing to spend the money, this notebook will last you a while. The other advantage is, at least with the m700, I replaced the battery with a cheap-o chinese one, and ended up getting more than five hours of battery life... Hans
At 01:09 PM 3/30/2006 +0200, Hans du Plooy wrote:
On Wed, 2006-03-29 at 19:56 -0500, Doug McGarrett wrote:
WARNING: It comes with Windows 98. That is almost a guarantee that it doesn't have the horsepower to run Windows XP, and by logical extension, the latest versions of Linux.
The other clues are, Pentium III, speed of 1.3 GHz, and only 128 GB RAM.
This sounds like an Evo m600 or Armada m700. They are really good notebooks, with more than enough horsepower for WinXP or SUSE 10. I ran both without any issues on a 1Ghz m700 with 256mb RAM. It is a very solid book, with very strong performance. All the onboard hardware works in linux, even the (win)modem is supported in SUSE out of the box.
The only hassle was that the maximum memory on it is 576MB. It has 64MB onboard, and two slots that can each take up to a 256MB dimm, PC100. The compaq modules are quite expensive, so are the certified_for_this_notebook modules from third party manufacturers. Generic modules *don't* work - the notebook picks them up but serious corruption follows if you try to boot.
If you don't need a lot of memory, or you're willing to spend the money, this notebook will last you a while. The other advantage is, at least with the m700, I replaced the battery with a cheap-o chinese one, and ended up getting more than five hours of battery life...
Hans
/snip/ OK, I seem to be outvoted, altho in my experience, competitive computers from "professional" computer sales organizations always show the slower computers running an older OS, and I suspect that the reason is as I have stated. However: this computer appears on P 7 of the Heartland America catalog for April 2006, and sells for $499.99. It's item number D4-79615. Their website is www.heartlandamerica.com Phone number is 1-800-229-2901. Maybe they can tell you the model if you call. They take Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex. Note that for computers and related products there is only a 7-day satisfaction guarantee return policy, so if you try it out and it won't hack the task, you'd better be quick about getting an RMA. I couldn't justify a laptop for myself in any case, even tho they're "cool," but if somebody springs for this, I'd be interested in hearing your report. --doug -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.3/296 - Release Date: 3/29/2006
participants (6)
-
Doug McGarrett -
Hans du Plooy -
James Knott -
kai -
Kevanf1 -
Mike McMullin