Suggest a version for my laptop

[phiber]

Hi Guys,

I have an oldish intel laptop (1.5 centrino with 256 mb ram - might upgrade the ram when i can) and i think its time to put linux back onto this. I usually just stick to ubuntu desktop. It would be quite cool for me to setup gentoo, but i dont really have the time, so i am going to stick with ubuntu as its quick to setup. I was just wondering if I should consider trying netbook remix or something a little lighter since this machine only has 256 mb ram.

Any thoughts ?

 

[Imoe]

One of my many machines include the Asus EEE. Had a problem, on of the forum members suggested EEEbuntu. This is a watered down version but works fantastic, just took a little while to download but was quick to setup. The device response has significantly improved and the interface is kwl.

 

[bubbatentoe]

I've installed Fedora 8 and 9 onto 8 PC's that have only 128Meg RAM each.
I did however install using 512megs.
It went quicker.


these PC's are used for Telnet sessions.
been running for a year now without any OS related issues.

I'd recommend you run as many versions as you can lay your hands on and see which one is best/most responsive to the hardware in question.

They're all similar but not quite equal.

 

[MyWorld]

You can install any distro you want, the secret is in the configuration afterwards!

Check your startup services and kill those you do not need, safes boot time by a lot and a little RAM.

Also check to see what modules gets rammed down your throat at boot and sift them out to include only those you need.

Use a light WM like fluxbox or OpenBox, personally I will never ever again use any other WM on any kind of laptop again. The speed and response of Fluxbox is just amazing. Take a bit of time to get it perfect, but worth it!

If you have this setup Linux will fly on basically any PC.

 

[ponder]

Arch Linux. But do upgrade your ram.

 

[phiber]

I'd recommend you run as many versions as you can lay your hands on and see which one is best/most responsive to the hardware in question.

They're all similar but not quite equal.

If i had that sort of time i would install Gentoo. Pretty sure that would run quite well once complied.

Think i am going to try ubuntu, if its too slow will go for a netbook remix or something (if my laptop is supported).

Arch Linux. But do upgrade your ram.

I will look at Arch Linux as well, and yeah I am keen to upgrade the ram, just need to find some at a decent price!

 

[Tassidar]

If you are an Ubuntu user, the I would recommend Crunchbang or Lubuntu which is going to be released later this year. My Acer Aspire One, which is running on Crunchbang, and right now has Firefox, Epiphany (Web browser) and Terminator open is using 179MB Ram. Conky is also great, especially since you can set up scripts to check your mail, your calendar and your task list (also facebook and twitter feeds, though haven't done that yet), and have them output in text on your desktop.

Puppy is also a possibility, though haven't tried it properly.

Otherwise, anything that doesn't load the whole Gnome/KDE/Xfce interface.

 

[Arador]

Also look into the Ubuntu Netbook remix. I found it works quite well even on normal sized laptops and it is pretty damn fast.

As others have stated, Fluxbox is brilliant. I found Xubuntu to work quite well on low memory systems too. PuppyLinux is what my co-workers love for their slow machines.

 

[phiber]

Went with Xubuntu. Working well for now... Lots of hardware problems on this laptop though so I don't think I am even going to bother to upgrade the ram. Got it into windows, and remembered a few things, like the touch-pad being broken, and that it reboots itself randomly!! This laptop has an awesome resolution though Thanks for the suggestions!