[Inkmo]

Hey guys, I'm curious to know how large various OS installations (with some of the typical programs one might use) run on disk space. My reason for asking is because I thought I was just about ready to go with buying a new 4G EeePC900a today, but when I looked at the disk utilities, apparently ~90% of the storage capacity was already being used. So, about 3.7 or gigs of space were already being used up on this floor model. Is this how much space an install of Xandros linux with its basic program suite usually runs?! Maybe they should market it with "400 megs of SSD space" instead of 4Gs, because it appears that's what you get after the OS is installed....

I know that WinXP with all the programs I use on my computer is somewhere around 4-5 gigs, so that is a little unexpected.

What about Ubuntu? What is it's size on disk footprint roughly, anyways?

Hoping someone tech savvy will show up and provide some insights, as this may prove to be a deal-breaker on a netbook I previously wanted.

 

[philodox]

Not really an answer, but with how cheap harddrives are nowadays... who cares?

 

[Inkmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not really an answer, but with how cheap harddrives are nowadays... who cares?

someone who's been on the fence about a laptop with a 4 gig SSD, for starters ;P.

I've been doing research, and while the UK version of the one I'm interested in is expandable to 16 gigs, the American version only has the soldered on 4 gig. I know that some other relatively priced laptops have much larger HDDs, but I'm asking to see if I should add this as a serious con to the SSD models...

 

[Kirosia]

No clue, but remember, netbooks are primarily for internet/light office use. You're not supposed have that many apps or files on them. Also, since you're familiar with Windows, I'd recommend getting one that comes with XP pre-installed. (And at least 512mb of ram) I've read that certain variants of linux (the one on the aspire one for example) don't come with great apps for media as well as lack important codecs. Here's a comparison of some of the recently released netbooks: TR's back-to-school netbook guide - The Tech Report - Page 1

Have you considered getting an older model/spec ultraportable?

 

[Inkmo]

yeah I did shortly. I wanted to get one of the Acer Aspire One A110 because it had the SSD. No place in town carried them though.

And FWIW, I wanted one of these things for Linux.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkmo /img/forum/go_quote.gif someone who's been on the fence about a laptop with a 4 gig SSD, for starters.

That'll learn me not to reply without reading the whole post.

You can trim down XP a fair bit, but 4GB is going to be pretty dodgy. Linux is probably a better way to go. You can get a ~2GB install with easily, and even get as low as 500MB in a server install. I take it you're going to be running this system without a swap partition?

 

[Inkmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif That'll learn me not to reply without reading the whole post. You can trim down XP a fair bit, but 4GB is going to be pretty dodgy. Linux is probably a better way to go. You can get a ~2GB install with easily, and even get as low as 500MB in a server install. I take it you're going to be running this system without a swap partition?

Yeah. I'm already on the xandros build of linux. no swap partition because the SSD is flash (or at least that's what I'm assuming. No idea exactly what they have going on in this thing), and that will probably shorten its life. I'm looking to go to linux soon, but only after I play with this for a while. I should emphasize that I am learning linux with this computer. so it's like a new tow/educational project. edutainment.