[Sol_Zhen]

I’m considering building or buying a cheap desktop box to play with Linux on because I never get around to booting into my slave drive that has RH 8.1. I like playing with Linux, but I feel that I’d be more inclined to do so if I could just use a KVM switch to move between XP and Linux.

That leads to me considering picking up a used laptop to install Linux on. I’m thinking that it might be a better setup for learning.

I have a home network set up with a router and hub. The router is in the living room with my PC and the hub in the den with my Xbox and PS2. I could practice accessing the Linux box on the network from the Red Hat install or from XP on my Windows box and other scenarios.

I can’t afford a new XP laptop, but Linux has some good productivity apps for me to use while mobile (for writing and web devel). And if I’m not mistaken, Linux can be light enough on resources to use an older processor and less ram than XP requires.

Would a used laptop be an advisable option?

I have an old Compaq Armada 4110 laptop that still works, but it only has a 3.5” floppy and 100 mghz processor with 40mb ram. It’s battery life sucks and I’d have to install from floppies rather than from CD.

I’d like a laptop to have 2 hours of battery life and a CD-RW drive built in. Suggestions for about $600?

 

[wallijonn]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ (to install Linux on X-Box). I do not know if it will still be able to play games.

http://au.playstation.com/technology/linuxkit.jhtml
ditto.

you can create linux boot floppies and then install over the cable modem. (Suse is one, and I believe RedHat & Debian (and probably many more)).

you can probanly get a CDRom drive for the Armada, along with a new battery for probably $150 (or much less). just make sure that all the devices can be supported.

http://www.aplac.hut.fi/staff/sakari/armada.html
old info. but, the newer versions do almost everything automatically.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

I'll take a closer look at those links now, however...

When a Compaq Armada is linked to the add on CD-rom dock, it is still not bootable from CD. And, I'd still like to be able to burn from the PC with a CD-RW.

If I hack my Xbox to install Linux, I will no longer be able to use Xbox Live. So, that puts it out of the question and my PS2 doesn’t have a Hard Drive.

I’d rather do the playing with a dedicated box. Building or buying a basic new box will be about $300 to $500. So, I’m considering a laptop and sacrificing the power and HD space for portability.

Can linux distros support wireless in older laptops (if I add a wireless PMCIA card or something)? It would be fun to go to Starbucks with a Linux laptop and surf.

 

[wallijonn]

when it's docked, did you f10 and set the first boot device? otherwise a ME boot disk with a Linux CD should be able to work. And if all else fails, a w98 boot disk which has been modifed with the CDRom driver from the Compaq site... (DOS mscdex).

i do know that the latest distros do support PCMCIA. whether or not that extends to 802.11, I do not know. I can't see why not, though. After all, even DebIan set my Audigy firewire to IRQ19 (it's just to bad that it couldn't play any sound. ha. ha. )

 

[vwap]

I've actually been thinking about doing the same thing.. but also keep in mind that there are some great Dell laptop deals for about $700-1000 after rebates, which would get you a pretty nice laptop that blows any used one out of the water, for not much more money...



[size=xx-small]And if you ever decide you need to get rid of the Armada.. let me know.. I need to get an old laptop for a Win 3.1 installation..[/size]

 

[Strogian]

Well, I just spent the past couple months looking into this stuff, and here's what I've found:

For used laptops, nothing beats ebay. As long as you know what you're buying, you'll get what you want for the cheapest price here. Of course, all the normal ebay warnings apply.

Dellauctions.com is actually really good too. Probably better than ebay for the price, considering you get a warranty and it's from a reputable source. Most of these tend to go for about $500, from what I remember. Definitely a place to check out.

Or, you could look for new systems. My budget was about $400-$500, so I was just looking for used, and I was looking for lower-end stuff than you are. If I were you, I'd just try and get it on that laptop you already have, but I'm cheap like that.

 

[wallijonn]

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/

see if your hardware is supported.

 

[grinch]

ebay is your friend. i say go for an old/used dual proc motherboard and processors. i've seen plenty of small dual p3 rigs for under $50 on ebay.. now that's a serious linux machine. the rest of the box can be picked up used and cheap as well.

a laptop might be fun, but laptop hardware can get sort of alien and you don't exactly have the ability to switch most of it out if for some reason linux doesn't like it.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

I went with an IBM Thinkpad because their hardware is widely supported and there is a lot of documentation for them on the web. That, and as far as laptops go, they're built like tanks.

So, here's my "new to me" Thinkpad 600x (500mhz, P3) running RH 8 (had the discs laying around, might try other distros soon). A 802.11b wireless PCMCIA card and a regular Ethernet card came with it.

The headphone jack isn't bad... I might play around with different drivers.

What’s the best music/media player for Linux? Need one for DVD/divX and another for playing CDs/MP3s.

 

[blessingx]

XMMS gives you lots of options (MP3, OGG, FLAC, etc.) and more support than any other player on the planet.

 

[wallijonn]

Sol,

Congratulations. It would seem that you did your homework, grasshopper.

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/Groups.html

http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/Applica...ultimedia.html