Any suggestions for a secondary Laptop...

Any suggestions for a secondary Laptop...
by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-06 (#92242)

...with Linux or No OS worth under $200? (x64 processor only)

I am planning to switch to Linux with it, while keeping windows on my current laptop that I have now, Any suggestions? (Besides eBay)

by Yggi on 2012-04-07 (#92250)

I recommend Acer Laptops. They are very cheap compared to Laptops of other companies with the same features.
I have two Acer Laptops (a Aspire One Netbook and a Aspire 7741G) and I never had problems with them (I used them extensive).
They also have same Laptops with Linux preinstalled.
But under $200 should be still hard to find (if you're aiming for a new one).

by 3gengames on 2012-04-07 (#92258)

Dual boot it, why only have one OS on any system? Ugh.

by Bregalad on 2012-04-07 (#92259)

I second what 3gengames said.

by tepples on 2012-04-07 (#92260)

3gengames wrote:
Dual boot it, why only have one OS on any system?

Microsoft is requiring all manufacturers of ARM-powered tablets that run Windows 8 to cryptographically lock down the EFI so that no operating systems other than Windows can be installed.

But I suspect that by "system" you mean a PC. In such a case, the advantage of buying a PC specifically for Linux is that you can make sure that all hardware in the PC is compatible with Linux (and with user-mode driver frameworks that sit on top of Linux, such as X.Org X11). If you buy a PC with Windows and then install Linux later, you risk running into unsupported hardware. If on the other hand, you buy a PC with Linux and then install Windows later, you do not qualify for OEM pricing.

by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-07 (#92268)

The reason for a seperate Linux laptop is because of certain programs that may only support Linux or require MAJOR modifications, in most cases. the latter is needed for them to work.

And Bisqwit inspired me to want Linux.

by Grumskiz on 2012-04-07 (#92269)

Have you been using Linux before?
If not, don't buy a new laptop just to try it out.
But maybe I'm understanding you wrong. Still I'd say dual-boot is the way to go. Buying a second laptop seems unnecessary to me.(Hardware support is improving constantly and it saves space, money and the hassle of using two computers for things you could do with just one)

by tepples on 2012-04-07 (#92270)

And even if you can't get your hardware working under Linux, anything that doesn't need 3D graphics will probably work in Ubuntu in VirtualBox.

by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-07 (#92275)

tepples wrote:
And even if you can't get your hardware working under Linux, anything that doesn't need 3D graphics will probably work in Ubuntu in VirtualBox.

VirtualBox is kinda not good memory-wise, I usually get not much room inside Windows (~300 GB HDD), floppies or virtual folders are unusable for me in VirtualBox, on the other hand.

So here is the short of it:

1: Not much space for large HDD Images for my Hard Drive.
2: a Floppy drive is not on my Windows computer.
3: 64bit Windows 7 + Virtual Folders + Virtualbox = Confusion and Problems

EDIT: Been using some tools based off GNU tools (GDB, Bash, etc) for windows before switching,

Also been reading books on linux as well!

so I am still learning more, Linux is that good...

300 GB != small
by tepples on 2012-04-08 (#92279)

To help make your Linux experience as painless as possible, I'll offer a few tips:

300 GB? That's twice my laptop's hard drive. So you'd get an entire my laptop's worth of Windows space and an entire my laptop's worth of Linux space. If you keep most of your collection of non-tracked music (ogg/mp3/m4a) and non-vector movies (webm/mp4/mkv/avi) on an external drive, that might help.

To save RAM, you could use a less RAM-hungry distribution such as Xubuntu or even Puppy instead of ordinary Ubuntu. In fact, I recommend Xubuntu for anyone who thinks the tablet-inspired Unity is a pile of fail.

As for virtual folder fail, does sharing a folder under Windows and accessing it from virtual Linux's Samba tools work?

by Bregalad on 2012-04-08 (#92283)

If you use all your 300GB drive, then I'd recommend you to do some cleanup. There is no way you actually have to use this much space, I think you should really delete/uninsall what you don't use, also don't forget to clean your cache and temporary folders.

Quote:
so I am still learning more, Linux is that good...

No it is not, fanboys just highly overrate it.
There is very good things about linux, but you'll encounters many problems with it like you'd encounter many problems with Windows or any other computer in the world.

by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-08 (#92294)

I think I made my decision, I'll stick with the OS that is in my computer, and stick with certain tools (Linux-derived) on Windows to make up for it!

Transitioning could not happen because of difficulties, I will now move on and continue with my stuff on Windows very carefully as always!

Thanks for your feedback!

by 3gengames on 2012-04-08 (#92295)

Sounds to me like you don't even know what dual booting is after that...you know you can have both on one computer at once right? lol

by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-08 (#92296)

3gengames wrote:
Sounds to me like you don't even know what dual booting is after that...you know you can have both on one computer at once right? lol

I already know about Dual-Booting, But for the memory in my computer it is best to save HDD space!

by tokumaru on 2012-04-08 (#92304)

Buy a new HDD instead of a whole computer?

by Hamtaro126 on 2012-04-08 (#92306)

tokumaru wrote:
Buy a new HDD instead of a whole computer?

Read what I already said a few posts ago, Then close this please? (Hint: Decided to not change over.)

I have to stick with what I have, so I do not have to buy anymore extras right now.

Many Apologies to everyone.