Which Puppy for Sony Vaio VGN-T ultrabook?

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DieselTech
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 27 May 2013, 23:32

Which Puppy for Sony Vaio VGN-T ultrabook?

#1 Post by DieselTech »

Hello all,

New to these forums, and though not new to Linux (admittedly, still a newbie though - last time I installed a distro it was Ubuntu 10.04, and I merely played with it).

So, at work I have to use Win 7 now (was using Vista - junk!). Of course, M$ office products and lots of specific web apps. I also have to use a smart card to login to most of them, but they give me a work laptop to use, so doesn't really matter.

Now that I've gotten used to lugging 2 laptops everywhere (my Toughbook CF-19 and my work laptop), I've been missing my old Sony Vaio VGN-T ultrabook (back before there was such a term), since it is lighter, smaller, and has a DVD drive, unlike my TB. Battery life used to be outstanding as well. I still have it (it has the Ubuntu on it now), but never use it as the battery is shot. Only $40 though...

Been considering putting a little cash into the Sony to beef it up, and using it instead of the TB. Specs are low compared to today's machines, but I assume would be perfectly fine for Puppy: 1.1ghz U7500 mobile Pentium M, 512kb RAM, 40gb HDD, 802.11b/g, BT, CF slot, 1394. Would upgrade the RAM to max of 1gb, swap the HDD for something bigger (depends on what I have laying around 2.5" IDE - 80gb maybe?).

Suggestions on version of Puppy? I of course surf the internet (I'm sure that will work flawlessly), have a mifi I use frequently (or my phone now), need Office compatibility (Open Office or another?), and would like to be able to run dual-boot, just in case I absolutely need Windows (XP though). I do not want to run Puppy from CD or USB (CF card? don't think it will boot to CF or USB though) - I like that it is super-small, meaning the system sgould be lightning fast, but plan to install to HDD. I like and am comfortable with XP - a similiar visual experience would be fine. I also want to learn more about Linux, programming, web development as well, so would use it for that too. Need to be able to watch DVD's as well as burn CD/DVD's. Ability to use Android or iOS SDK's in the future would be cool. Ability to run iTunes as well, if possible (?). If I could make the seperate DVD player buttons, volume controls, etc. work that would really be awesome. I would likely get rid of the TB then....

I'm open to any and all suggestions, thoughts, etc. Thanks, and I apologize for the lengthy post. I still have much more reading to do....

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rjbrewer
Posts: 4405
Joined: Tue 22 Jan 2008, 21:41
Location: merriam, kansas

#2 Post by rjbrewer »

DieselTech:

Quite a few VGN-T models; can you be more specific?

Inspiron 700m, Pent.M 1.6Ghz, 1Gb ram.
Msi Wind U100, N270 1.6>2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb ram.
Eeepc 8g 701, 900Mhz, 1Gb ram.
Full installs

Eli Duttman
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri 03 Jul 2009, 15:26
Location: NJ USA

Re: Thinking about Linux, Puppy, old laptop......

#3 Post by Eli Duttman »

DieselTech wrote:Hello all,

New to these forums, and though not new to Linux (admittedly, still a newbie though - last time I installed a distro it was Ubuntu 10.04, and I merely played with it).

So, at work I have to use Win 7 now (was using Vista - junk!). Of course, M$ office products and lots of specific web apps. I also have to use a smart card to login to most of them, but they give me a work laptop to use, so doesn't really matter.

Now that I've gotten used to lugging 2 laptops everywhere (my Toughbook CF-19 and my work laptop), I've been missing my old Sony Vaio VGN-T ultrabook (back before there was such a term), since it is lighter, smaller, and has a DVD drive, unlike my TB. Battery life used to be outstanding as well. I still have it (it has the Ubuntu on it now), but never use it as the battery is shot. Only $40 though...

Been considering putting a little cash into the Sony to beef it up, and using it instead of the TB. Specs are low compared to today's machines, but I assume would be perfectly fine for Puppy: 1.1ghz U7500 mobile Pentium M, 512kb RAM, 40gb HDD, 802.11b/g, BT, CF slot, 1394. Would upgrade the RAM to max of 1gb, swap the HDD for something bigger (depends on what I have laying around 2.5" IDE - 80gb maybe?).

Suggestions on version of Puppy? I of course surf the internet (I'm sure that will work flawlessly), have a mifi I use frequently (or my phone now), need Office compatibility (Open Office or another?), and would like to be able to run dual-boot, just in case I absolutely need Windows (XP though). I do not want to run Puppy from CD or USB (CF card? don't think it will boot to CF or USB though) - I like that it is super-small, meaning the system sgould be lightning fast, but plan to install to HDD. I like and am comfortable with XP - a similiar visual experience would be fine. I also want to learn more about Linux, programming, web development as well, so would use it for that too. Need to be able to watch DVD's as well as burn CD/DVD's. Ability to use Android or iOS SDK's in the future would be cool. Ability to run iTunes as well, if possible (?). If I could make the seperate DVD player buttons, volume controls, etc. work that would really be awesome. I would likely get rid of the TB then....

I'm open to any and all suggestions, thoughts, etc. Thanks, and I apologize for the lengthy post. I still have much more reading to do....
I put Wary Puppy on the emergency machine I'm currently using. It is much less capable than your Sony. I'm getting tolerable performance. Max the Sony out at 1 GB of RAM and Racy Puppy should be a "whippet". :D

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ally
Posts: 1957
Joined: Sat 19 May 2012, 19:29
Location: lincoln, uk
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#4 Post by ally »

my own personal favourite is slacko

I found that 5.3.3 ran on every machine I tried it on, currently using 5.5 now

part of the fun is finding a variant that suits and it's dead easy to load a few to try

:)

Dewbie

#5 Post by Dewbie »

DieselTech wrote:
Would upgrade the RAM to max of 1gb
512MB should be fine; a swap partition might be good insurance.
need Office compatibility (Open Office or another?)
This one is lighter and probably most compatible, but beware of M$' scare tactics. :evil:
I like and am comfortable with XP - a similiar visual experience would be fine.
If you use Wary, Racy, or any other Puppy with JWM as its window manager, try this.

DieselTech
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 27 May 2013, 23:32

#6 Post by DieselTech »

@ rjbrewer: VGN-T150

@ Dewbie: for $20, might as well go for the extra 512mb and make it a gig. I don't necessarily want a "WinXP" desktop - I'm cool with something totally different, but those are interesting. I guess what I meant by that was more along the lines of "I don't need fancy graphics/backgrounds/eye candy" of any greater extent than WinXP, if that makes sense. Features that have a function, like multiple desktops, sure. "eye candy" for the sake of looking pretty (at the expense of system resources), not so much.

Thanks for the replies!

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rjbrewer
Posts: 4405
Joined: Tue 22 Jan 2008, 21:41
Location: merriam, kansas

#7 Post by rjbrewer »

DieselTech wrote:@ rjbrewer: VGN-T150

@ Dewbie: for $20, might as well go for the extra 512mb and make it a gig. I don't necessarily want a "WinXP" desktop - I'm cool with something totally different, but those are interesting. I guess what I meant by that was more along the lines of "I don't need fancy graphics/backgrounds/eye candy" of any greater extent than WinXP, if that makes sense. Features that have a function, like multiple desktops, sure. "eye candy" for the sake of looking pretty (at the expense of system resources), not so much.

Thanks for the replies!
Your VGN is like a 1 inch smaller version of my Inspiron 700M.
Vgn has a Pent. M 733 with 400 Mhz FSB.
The 400 Mhz versions (like mine and yours) will not boot
systems with a PAE kernel. Only a few Puppies (Racy?) have
that.

Looks like the VGN uses a 1.8" hard drive located under the
keyboard. It should also be able to boot from USB.

I scaled my 1.6Ghz processor down to 1Ghz temporarily to get and idea of how yours would work.
Not bad; slightly better than my MSI netbook with it's 1.6
Atom processor.

We both have the same 855gme on-board graphics.
Dual booting with Win. is quite easy, but I rarely ever boot it.

Inspiron 700m, Pent.M 1.6Ghz, 1Gb ram.
Msi Wind U100, N270 1.6>2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb ram.
Eeepc 8g 701, 900Mhz, 1Gb ram.
Full installs

DieselTech
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 27 May 2013, 23:32

#8 Post by DieselTech »

@rjbrewer:
The 400 Mhz versions (like mine and yours) will not boot
systems with a PAE kernel.
Not sure what that means exactly.

It has Ubuntu 10.04 which seems to run fine on it.

I never realized it was a 1.8" HDD....guess that changes the drive upgrade path slightly.

Not sure about USB boot, but I do not remember seeing it in the BIOS as an option. I remember seeing CD rom, HDD, Floppy, and network.

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