Proline laptops compatibility with Linux

10i

10i

Expert Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
1,049
Reaction score
9
Location
East London

Game South Africa | We beat any price

www.game.co.za www.game.co.za

So Game has mini laptops on sale for R2500 in store, I am wondering what the Linux compatibility is like here. 128GB Ssd, 4GB Ram and celeron Cpu are fine if you are not running Windows.

I've used Linux Mint, Peppermint and a few others over the years - wondering if anyone has tried to load Linux onto these.

I know it has humble specs, I want to use it mostly for blogging and small projects with Feather Wiki (you only need a web browser to run it).

Please share your thoughts
 
Ouch, reviews aren't great for this thing in general.

I think it'd be wise to save a tiny bit more and get a used workstation machine on Carb, they'll be plenty fast and rock solid, with Linux compatibility a given.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
Tell me more please. I'm not against getting a reburbished or second hand laptop. Just don't know who is a good / reliable place to buy from
 
Ah! Carbonite is a secondhand / reseller forum where you slowly gain reputation for doing good sales, very slim chance of getting shafted if you follow it. Some sales also pop up here but the reputation system is more outspoken vs. earned.

Most stores unfortunately sell refurbished tech that's extremely old and still expensive, so I cannot personally recommend any I'm afraid. One or two are genuinely decent and get mentioned around here from time to time, just wish I could remember them lol.

Hope you get something great down the line!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
Carbonite.

I still use a laptop I got off a right wing Afrikaans nutter from there in 2018.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
I've got a first gen i7 Toshiba laptop that I added a ssd to and it is usable for now. But being this old feels like it's on borrowed time. So will be very glad if I can find something usable
 
Last edited:
@10i - try find yourself a mint Intel MacBook on carbonite and install Linux. They’re not as in demand since Apple silicon models were released. The older ones can be upgraded too.
 
quovadis said:
@10i - try find yourself a mint Intel MacBook on carbonite and install Linux. They’re not as in demand since Apple silicon models were released. The older ones can be upgraded too.
Click to expand...
When you say MacBook, what year or model are you talking about?
The only think I know about MacBook is that they don't have many ports (except for the older Pro models)
 
10i said:
When you say MacBook, what year or model are you talking about?
The only think I know about MacBook is that they don't have many ports (except for the older Pro models)
Click to expand...
Any of the pre Apple Silicon (M1 was the first) models are really great quality, well built machines but are less in demand these days. You can probably find a pro i7, pop in a new SSD and some extra memory and for a few thousand have a great linux laptop.
 
Unless the laptop is on a list that proves compatibility.... you won't ever know without testing it yourself.

Different models of the same brand can be either compatible or incompatible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
Thanks, I need to look into this. My only worry is finding people here to check Apple laptops when they are faulty is quite difficult. East London is a small place. If I manage to get an Apple at a good price I will consider it. Thanks for the help
 
rambo919 said:
Unless the laptop is on a list that proves compatibility.... you won't ever know without testing it yourself.

Different models of the same brand can be either compatible or incompatible.
Click to expand...
Time to take a linux boot USB and test the display model for compatibility? I might need to take some friends with to distract the staff while I liberate the poor laptop from it's Windows 11 prison
 
10i said:
Time to take a linux boot USB and test the display model for compatibility? I might need to take some friends with to distract the staff while I liberate the poor laptop from it's Windows 11 prison
Click to expand...
Nah just tell them you need to test one before you buy.... depending on the company it might void warranty though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
These low cost "laptops" generally don't have active cooling, so they effectively cook themselves trying to run Windows. I'm sure if it had a fan, it would last a little longer and possibly run a little better
 
10i said:
These low cost "laptops" generally don't have active cooling, so they effectively cook themselves trying to run Windows. I'm sure if it had a fan, it would last a little longer and possibly run a little better
Click to expand...
Have an old HP laptop I used to use for work. Windoze 7/10 killed it resource wise. Loaded Arch and customized it and it flies now.
 
IamNoone said:
Have an old HP laptop I used to use for work. Windoze 7/10 killed it resource wise. Loaded Arch and customized it and it flies now.
Click to expand...
True, I've managed to ressurect a celeron M laptop to run mint, where it couldn't keep up with windows.
YouTube lags, but it's fast enough to run LibreOffice. Which is all my mom uses it for
 
10i said:
True, I've managed to ressurect a celeron M laptop to run mint, where it couldn't keep up with windows.
YouTube lags, but it's fast enough to run LibreOffice. Which is all my mom uses it for
Click to expand...
I run Ubuntu on my work laptop. i5 Lenovo. Everyone else is using Windoze 11. I have no issues on my side while they have issues with inconvenient updates and with our work they need to restart a couple of times a day.

Also, my bash scripts that automates my dns record lookups for domains etc. make my life so much easier :):unsure:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10i
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X