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Topic: Best old laptop to buy for DSL

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Livewire Confusion Offline

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Posts: 7
Joined: Aug. 2005

Posted: Aug. 08 2005,19:26

I recently found out about Damn Small Linux and would like to play with it.

I have been toying with the idea of buying a used old laptop specifically for this purpose. However, I am a “noob” and I don't really want to deal with any install hassles. I would like to download the CD Image, burn it, insert it into the CD-ROM drive and install it without any config file editing. I need to learn how to use Linux; but I would rather spend my time being productive.

I just need something where all the hardware has drivers and works from boot.

I would like this laptop to have a networking card (10/100 or 10BaseT), Modem (33.6KBPS or better) CD-ROM (bootable preferably but I know how to use RaWrite to make boot disks if I have to) 12" to 14" Screen Size, PCMCIA. (USB Would is nice but it's not a must because I can always buy a PCMCIA USB Card.)

I really don't want to spend more than €150. And if this laptop's hardware is cheap to replace all the better (e.g. batteries for around €30 new...)

Any success stories you have or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks. Extra points for links!

adssse

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Posts: 505
Joined: Mar. 2005

Posted: Aug. 08 2005,20:29

This is the old lappy I bought off ebay a while back. I forgot how much I paid for it but it was pretty cheap and I have had very little trouble with it. It pretty much worked without any configuration except to use the boot code 'dsl vga=788' so I could see the bottom line of text when booting. I couldnt find a good link for it but here are some of the specs I found on the web.

IBM 1171-330 - Thinkpad i1300, 500Mhz Cel, 64Mb, 6Gb, 12.1" SVGA, 24x CD, AC Adapter, Battery

kopsis

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Posts: 65
Joined: July 2005

Posted: Aug. 09 2005,05:25

You might need to adjust your expectations. First off, to be "productive" in Linux a little config file editing is generally a "must". Tweaking things in a textual config file is no more difficult than navigating the forest of checkboxes and select lists in a GUI config utility -- especially with the helpful folks in this forum to back you up

.

Second, even installing Windows on an old laptop is hardly a "one click" affair. Laptops are non-standard by nature so getting all the built in hardware to work is most likely to take a small bit of manual intervention. In particular, internal modems are likely to be trouble and power management support (especially on newer machines) can be sketchy.

Rather than look for a laptop with no issues, you may be better off to look for one with well understood issues. To that end, a number of IBM Thinkpad models are good choices. I've had success with an IBM 600e but it does not have built in ethernet and required some manual config to get the sound card working (which is well documented in posts here).

green

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Joined: Oct. 2004

Posted: Aug. 09 2005,14:38

I would agree on the 600e
I use a pcmcia ethernet card for network access, although it has built in modem that i do not use.
The sound issue is not an issue with the proper command syntax. As stated, it is well documented in the forums.
The 600e should be fairly cheap. Mine is 363Mhz, 196Mb RAM, 6Gb HD, and DSL screams on that thing.

wetterau

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Posts: 38
Joined: July 2004

Posted: Aug. 09 2005,15:16

I agree about the Thinkpad 600e. We have bought three of them from www.betros.com, very fair price, 30 day guarantee. Perfect for DSL. The keyboard and display are great and the laptop is very well built. You should use an external modem if you need one. The USB is 1.1. The battery usually needs replacement. It would be best to get a CD-RW rather than just a CD-R drive. A solid buy.

14 replies since Aug. 08 2005,19:26

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