Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

zenkalia · Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

i'm looking to get myself a laptop, but i don't know where to look (other than craigslist, which is kind of shady) where i can find one that is very cheap.

i'm trying to lighten my load for college, especially since i'm having a lot of problems at home and might bring myself to run away. the best idea i can think is leave my desktop behind and buy a cheap laptop and run puppy linux on it. puppy can do anything that i NEED for school... i don't need my windows boot and games all that much...

and no i'm not a problem child or something... i'll be running away to berkeley, where i am a full time student. =P

are there certain laptops/computers that have had problems accepting puppy linux? i'm thinking dell and their horribly ingrained software package might try to give me trouble...

Lobster · Posted: Tue 26 Jul 2005, 05:44 Post subject:

http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/LaptopsWorking

keenerd · Guest

I got a 366Mhz Thinkpad from http://www.retrobox.com for $150. Of course, I didn't do enough research into Linux compatability before I bought it. While it was highly compatable with other distros, Puppy support was (at first) a little lacking. Yay framebufer. Now it works, more or less, and I love it.

Before you buy something, google for the manual, and write down all the chipset info. Then search for those terms on the forum. Don't buy the computer if you find large amounts of angst and failure on the forum. Or be like me and buy something just because the latest feature in the latest version of Puppy might make the computer work.

nduanetesh · Ultra Super-stud Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 168

I got a laptop from ebay...it's a pretty high-end machine, but I got it for a song because *no hard drive* (which is perfect for puppy but terrible for most other OSes). There seems to be a very healthy laptop marking going on ebay, with established prices, etc (you pay a certain amount for a certain processor and a certain amount of ram, because it's the going rate on ebay), but every now and again something fun shows up (like my lappy). If you're not in a major rush, I suggest you watch ebay for a few weeks and see what floats up.

BTW, my laptop is an HP Pavillion zt1260, and everything worked great. they even threw in a wireless card (which was immediately detected and configured by puppy!).

ND

robin850 · Joined: 07 Jul 2005 Posts: 22

if you just want an older laptop, these guys are pretty good.

http://www.cascade-assets.com/

cheers,

robin850

zenkalia · Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

cascade is listed as not doing sales to individuals at all =[

do you guys know how critical it is if a screw for the hard drive latch is missing?

what condition was your laptop rated, keenerd, and what did it look like?

keenerd · Guest

The first laptop I ordered from Retrobox broke at their facility. It went into storage working, but stopped working right before they tried to send it to me. That one was an "A" cosmetically, but I never saw it.

I could have gotten the broken one for about $100 off. Instead I got a slightly faster laptop, which was rated a cosmetic "B". The notes also said "Trackpoint pressure mark". I called up their 800 number, and they explained that meant the trackpoint had somehow marred the screen.

Whatever. I bought it. There wasn't a scratch on the screen, but the trackpoint was worn down and slippery. The case and computer were in perfect shape, although the paint was worn off the case where the previous owner rested their hand.

Altogether, I was very pleased.