What netbook to purchase from ebay for $150 +/- ?

[mikeslr]

Hi All,

I mentioned elsewhere that Newton's third law of motion, my cat and having left my trusty Thinkpad T42 on a small table below a windowsill proved to be an unfortunate combination. The T42, 'though otherwise functional, has been silenced. It probably can be repaired but not by me personally, and taking it to a shop suggests replacement as an alternative way to spend money.
I still have a fully functional Asus 701SD, running Saluki, as a traveling companion but would prefer a more, nearly "full sized," netbook. But which netbook for about $150 via ebay?
I was considering the Asus 1xxx series, especially those with chiclet keyboards because (a) my favorable experience with the 701SD, (b) Asus's reputation for reliability, but (c) also noted several posts both on and off this forum indicating problems in getting wireless working.
Beyond the question of price, my second "must" is that the netbook function with recent versions of Puppy, such as raring, slacko, and precise. [Not really concerned with such things as 'suspend,' 'hibernate' or assigned function key functionality: perks, but not essential to the basic working of a system.]
I couldn't find it just now, but yesterday I located a post listing various computer models with links to posts on this forum. But none of the Asus 1xxx series was on the list. And having no familiarity with the models of other manufacturers, even if I could find the list again, I wouldn't know which were netbooks.
So the questions for those of you who have netbooks and run Puppies are:
Which netbook + Puplet would you recommend? What solvable & unsolvable problems have you encountered?

Thanks in advance,

mikesLr

[ally]

have a look for an x60/x61

nice and cheap, sturdy, reliable and a slightly better size than the eee

good battery life too

[mikeb]

Hmm I would be going for an msi based netbook... the atom ones ... older varieties easier with video drivers. They are often found under the samsung label. Excellent battery life, solid and fast.

Avoid anything with Via in it.

mike

[Billtoo]

I have an AAO 721 netbook, it's a couple of years old but you might
find one on ebay.
It's got an 11.6" screen, will run all the new pups, fatdog too.
I found a link to a review:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/01/acer ... 21-review/

[mikeslr]

Thanks ally, Billtoo and mikeb. They all appear to be good choices.

mikesLr

[chapchap70]

I bought a Gateway LT 4009u from BestBuy about 9 months ago for $200. If you are into video chatting, this netbook has a HDMI output & I can see and hear through my HDMI TV setup. I setup a Sip account and got Linphone (w/video) working on this with Slacko 5.6.

The suspend/wake works with FatDog but not Slacko. I probably could get it working with Slacko but haven't looked into it too hard.

-Computer-
Processor : 4x Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N2600 @ 1.60GHz
Memory : 1008MB (472MB used)
Machine Type : Physical machine
Operating System : Fatdog64 [bdfd4da875]
User Name : root (root)
Date/Time : Tue Aug 27 18:50:08 2013
-Display-
Resolution : 1024x600 pixels
OpenGL Renderer : Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.0, 128 bits)
X11 Vendor : The X.Org Foundation
-Audio Devices-
Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
-Input Devices-
Power Button
Sleep Button
Lid Switch
Power Button
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
PC Speaker
ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad
Video Bus
Acer WMI hotkeys
Acer BMA150 accelerometer
WebCam
-Printers (CUPS)-
Canon_MP210_series : <i>Default</i>
CUPS-PDF
-SCSI Disks-
ATA TOSHIBA MK3259GS

[starhawk]

I have an ASUS 1000HE variant (the -HEB model; it was only sold at Best Buy -- what can I say, my father bought it as a surprise college-graduation present). It's built like a tank, although it does have the left-click issue that many ASUS netbooks have.

Mine now is on its second motherboard -- the first had some issues (intermittent and, I suspect, physical rather than logical) with one of the USB ports as well as the left-click issue (the touchpad buttons are on the motherboard!) and I'm procrastinating on replacing the digital microphones -- the connector for which is very easily confused with the one for the camera (camera is the one with the flyout ground lead to a screw) except that the camera survives the mixup and the microphones do not! Oh -- and speaking of cats, beware of leaving your headphones in all night while you are asleep -- I did that, the headphones plonked onto the floor at some point, spooking the cat on his way through the room (so he ran in the same direction that he was already going in ), and one of Newton's other laws took notice (objects in motion...). The other reason for a new motherboard was the badly mutilated audio jack that resulted from that encounter. At least I didn't need a hard drive -- the forces at play took the netbook from table to floor and bent the plug of the headphones (moderately-decent Sony 'phones -- MDR-V150 is the model -- not the cheap junk you get at the dollar store)!

It's a super solid system. Mine was my main machine through three years and is still serving as backup (for when my main laptop goes bust, which happens more than it should) along with primary printing and scanning duties. Still got the original hard drive -- more than I can say for a few other computers in my house oh -- and I've dropped it on a plugged-in flash drive two or three times. Both netbook and drive survived -- in the case of the drive, long enough at least for the replacement to arrive

So that's my recommendation: an ASUS netbook with a 10" screen.

By the way, mike, if you've still got the T42 and can describe in good detail to me what's wrong with it, I may be able to fix it for you -- or at the least take it off your hands shoot me a PM with the gory details (pictures may help).

[slvrldy17]

An IBM X-30 series would be good or an X-60. I would avoid the X-40 series because the hard drives for them can be hard to find. The X-20 series will also work. Precise Puppy and/or Retro Precise should run well on any of them though. Their big advantage is a near full size keyboard - some of the netbooks almost require hobbit size hands to be able to type comfortably.

[qkall]

i would stalk this page http://blairtg.com/shop/flash-deals


i got a acer aspire timelinex 1830t laptop a couple weeks ago for the wife for 120 shipped. amazing deal. right now there really isn't anything that special but ya never know what next week brings.

[rokytnji]

I bought from local Rent A Center a managers special Samsung RV510 15" LCD that runs anything I throw at it. Price was higher at $199.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Notebook- ... B005YPJSB8

I have that much now invested in my http://www.macomp.com/companionpc.asp
With 2 gig of ram and a 64gig SSD drive thrown in. Probably not available on ebay or NJ as this netbook is rare as hens teeth. I Beta tested MacPup 550 on it though and it runs any Linux I throw at it.

My eeepc900 and 701SD and Acer Aspire One ZG5 won't die and run any Linux I throw at them also so any Acer 11" should be OK.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Laptops-Netbook ... .6&_sop=15

[mikeslr]

Thanks everyone,

More to think about. I'm partial to Thinkpads/Lenovos so I'll definitely look into the X-30.

Puppy is great for older computers, but old is a relative term. My first "Puppy" computer was a Thinkpad 600e, circa 1998, which I bought in '05 for about $200. In '08 I installed Puppy 2.17+/- on what was then a 10 years old computer. The $200 in '06 translates to about $300 in today's dollars. Computer hardware has greatly evolved in the last five years. Today, for a couple hundred dollars you can pick up a used computer only a couple of years old, with dual-cores, gigabytes of RAM and a hard-drive of a couple hundred gigabytes. And Puppy has similarly evolved, now being able to take advantage of computer hardware advances. At least in theory. The problem is that when you multiply the available CPU's by the available wireless adapters by the available graphics cards by the available sound cards by just those Puppy Versions being actively maintained, the possible variations run into the hundreds of thousands.
I'm sure that on this forum I "preaching to the choir" when I say that Puppy fills a particular computing niche: "lean and mean" comes to mind. Not so minimalistic that you have to be technically astute to do anything, or think about how you're going to accomplish standard "real life" tasks. And not so bloated with "user friendly gimics" or eye-candy that the operating system gets in the way of the applications or the CPU's efficiently running them. Once you've experienced that synergy between Puppy, a computer, and apps functioning as they should, you may resort to some other OS when some specialized application, or its equivalent, isn't available under Puppy, but not without being annoyed by the operating system you are thus forced to use. But as we all know, not every Puppy variant will "just work" with every possible computer.
I think, therefore, that at least for some of us, it is less painful to replace a computer than to adjust to some other operating system. So knowing which computers work well with Puppy variants is, I believe, important information that each of us "users" may someday want to access. All of which leads up to the following:
Somewhere there's a thread or wiki which listed computer models. If I recall correctly, the model's name served as a link to discussions on this forum regarding which Puppy variant worked. Unfortunately, (a) I think the last "link" was about two years ago; and (b) I can't find it. Which is why I had to start this thread. If anyone stumbles across it, and its a thread on this forum, this thread should be cross linked with it. If it's a wiki, the maintainer should be alerted to the information on this thread.

Starhawk,
Thanks for the offer. Actually, I do have plans for the T42, a great little machine which has run every Pup variant since it replaced the 600e. And while netbooks are better when traveling, my den would not feel the same without out it. I'm pretty sure that the sound problem is fixable; probably just something came loose when it struck the floor. When required, I can read schematics, follow tutorials and muck around with a thing's innards. Caution, and an occasional failure --the 600e didn't respond to my replacing its internal battery-- inclines me to have a replacement ready before I "open the box." Which is why I now have 6 computers.

mikesLr

[rokytnji]

Puppy variant worked. Unfortunately, (a) I think the last "link" was about two years ago; and (b) I can't find it.

Maybe?

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=51474

[starhawk]

Quick way to test if it's the speakers (or the wires to them) that are damaged, vs something more serious... plug in headphones or external speakers... if you get sound you know it's the cable or the speakers attached to it. If not you probably cracked the motherboard (hoo boy).

BTW if you have a busted screen as well -- I have a bare LCD panel that *should* fit if I can get it to you in one piece (one of the few computer parts I have not shipped yet is an LCD panel)... I *think* it fits a T42, hafta check. I'll do that tomorrow since it's midnight here as I type this.

[mikeslr]

Hi All,

You're right rokytnji. That's the thread I couldn't find. It's first post has a link to wiki's, one of which is PuppyonLaptops, and the rest of the thread are posts by forum members telling which Puppies work on their respective laptops. I'll post a link to this discussion which will bring that thread back up to the top. I'll also post to the Beginner's subforum asking "noobs" to post their knowledge of working systems.

In an effort to make it easier for anyone in the future trying to find out what Puppies work on what laptops, please post your responses here: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 195#383195


starhawk, no the screen didn't crack. The fall was only about 2 feet, and the floor it landed on had carpet and padding. But thanks for the offer. And especially thanks for the idea on testing. Wouldn't have thought of that.

mikesLr

[starhawk]

mike, if there's one thing I've learned with working on computers... start with the simple stuff first! (Tests and suspicions about what's going on.) There's stuff that can go wrong with a computer where the price tag will make you... well, you'll need new pants best not to think about that until you have to!

TBH I have trouble applying that rule to myself... it isn't easy when you're in a habit of going into OMG mode every time something doesn't work right... but I'm learning!

[starhawk]

Hey, Mike, any updates on your Thinkpad?

[mikeslr]

Hi All,

First, thanks to all those who responded with suggestions. I considered each suggestion carefully, using them as “jumping off

[sgarre13]

An IBM X-30 series would be good or an X-60. I would avoid the X-40 series because the hard drives for them can be hard to find. The X-20 series will also work. Precise Puppy and/or Retro Precise should run well on any of them though. Their big advantage is a near full size keyboard - some of the netbooks almost require hobbit size hands to be able to type comfortably.

Hmm, bought an X40 for running Slacko 5.6. Running it purely off a tiny £5 Sandisk Cruzer Fit 8GB USB Stick. Bought the X40 with dock and HDD for £40, sold the HDD for £23 (and yes they are a bit rare) and still have the dock listed for £16 on Ebay so laptop will cost practically £7 when the dock sells. The only memory expansion I'm planning is slinging in an SD card in the built in reader as a photo and music storage,

[rokytnji]

I have that much now invested in my http://www.macomp.com/companionpc.asp

I have bought 2 more of these on ebay (the seller had 20 of them) for $45.00 a pop complete but without operating system or a a/c adpater.

I found that Lenovo IdeaPad S9 S9e S10 S10e S12 fits it. I am going to sell one of the 3 for 100 bucks locally with Slack0 5.6 on the 30gig zif 1.8" hard drive. It has a broken right arrow key but I remapped the right arrow key to use the right shift key instead.

Code: Select all

xmodmap -e "keycode 62 = Right NoSymbol Right"

I already sold my eeepc 701SD and 900 locally and got what I asked for them also running Puppy Linux.

That seller does not offer that netbook anymore. They have a bunch of

Apple MacBook 13.3" Laptop A1181 C2D 2.20GHZ 2GB 120 GB SATA COMBO WIRELESS

instead in various states of condition and prices. They are not as cheap though as what I got mine for. More like $200.00 more expensive. Though they have some lower spec apple netbooks for under a hundred bucks. PM me if you want the ebay sales site link.

[ThoriumBlvd]

I have both an original Eee-702 (8G Linux--Retired as of 11/1) and a 900a "BestBuy" model (4Gb-easily bricked by OS) that has been in storage 4+ yrs. waiting for the former's retirement. Plus, I also found another one w/16Gb SSD in it (swapped out the 4Gb) for under $100. On the first 900a, I put Slacko-Puppy 55-XL in it off CD then to thumb. Works very well and is up to date (using it now).

The 8.9" screen and 600x1024 is a standard i915/gme945 resolution, and keeps things portable. I sprung $35 for a 88mah battery to get 6+ hrs. but the battery weighs as much as the Eee

There is an issue with wifi, but Frisbee will solve... to use ethernet, SNS will work.

Sum it up... under $100 for a 900a and maybe get a new battery, or big battery. These older Eee have very good/excelent keyboards, and a Gig of RAM.