[Dorset] Laptop advice please
Hi All Last night my laptop cover/screen broke again for the second time at the hinge. (Dell Inspiron 1525) It cost over £80 to repair last time and the same has happened this time, it looks as if the hinge puts a strain on the cover. As the laptop is getting old I'm thinking of a new one but what to get? Intel i3 with 300-500Gb drive, good screen and either HDMI or VGA output for the projector, SD card slot and Intel wireless N. I use it as my main PC, nothing special requiring speed or high graphics other than camera pictures, (minor improvements, cropping and aperture adjustments). Price range £200-£400 and wondered about a Tablet but it must have a keyboard, I can't get on with 'on screen' ones (Paul's Asus Transformer looked good but not now available). Does anyone know what to avoid as some of the specs I'm not sure on as it will only be running Linux (do not want M$!!!). It needs to run LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Digikam; I'm on Mint 14 cinnamon at moment. Keen on NovaTec as it's local (Portsmouth) and they give good service but don't know anything about Linux. HP, Acer and Asus seem to be OK but have heard of some problems with Linux on some models. Any help please? -- /Clive / /Powered by Linux Open Software / // -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-08-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Laptop advice please
Just a thought - but might a Chromebook suffice? The Acer C7 is £199, has the basic hardware spec you indicate, and can be configured to boot into Linux (proper) as well... On 12 August 2013 08:54, Clive Wills ecwi...@talktalk.net wrote: Hi All Last night my laptop cover/screen broke again for the second time at the hinge. (Dell Inspiron 1525) It cost over £80 to repair last time and the same has happened this time, it looks as if the hinge puts a strain on the cover. As the laptop is getting old I'm thinking of a new one but what to get? Intel i3 with 300-500Gb drive, good screen and either HDMI or VGA output for the projector, SD card slot and Intel wireless N. I use it as my main PC, nothing special requiring speed or high graphics other than camera pictures, (minor improvements, cropping and aperture adjustments). Price range £200-£400 and wondered about a Tablet but it must have a keyboard, I can't get on with 'on screen' ones (Paul's Asus Transformer looked good but not now available). Does anyone know what to avoid as some of the specs I'm not sure on as it will only be running Linux (do not want M$!!!). It needs to run LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Digikam; I'm on Mint 14 cinnamon at moment. Keen on NovaTec as it's local (Portsmouth) and they give good service but don't know anything about Linux. HP, Acer and Asus seem to be OK but have heard of some problems with Linux on some models. Any help please? -- /Clive / /Powered by Linux Open Software / // -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-08-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dor...@mailman.lug.org.**ukdorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-08-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Laptop advice please
On 12 August 2013 at 08:54 Clive Wills ecwi...@talktalk.net wrote: Last night my laptop cover/screen broke again for the second time at the hinge. (Dell Inspiron 1525) It cost over £80 to repair last time and the same has happened this time, it looks as if the hinge puts a strain on the cover. As the laptop is getting old I'm thinking of a new one but what to get? Intel i3 with 300-500Gb drive, good screen and either HDMI or VGA output for the projector, SD card slot and Intel wireless N. I use it as my main PC, nothing special requiring speed or high graphics other than camera pictures, (minor improvements, cropping and aperture adjustments). Price range £200-£400 and wondered about a Tablet but it must have a keyboard, I can't get on with 'on screen' ones (Paul's Asus Transformer looked good but not now available). Does anyone know what to avoid as some of the specs I'm not sure on as it will only be running Linux (do not want M$!!!). It needs to run LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Digikam; I'm on Mint 14 cinnamon at moment. Keen on NovaTec as it's local (Portsmouth) and they give good service but don't know anything about Linux. HP, Acer and Asus seem to be OK but have heard of some problems with Linux on some models. Any help please? I shouldn't write off Novatech too soon; they may not support Linux themselves, but they sell most of their machines OS free and their forums are very lively. When I bought my Netbook from them I was able to discover if it supported Linux by putting the right search terms in. -- Terry Coles -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-08-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Laptop advice please
Hi Folks, Last night my laptop cover/screen broke again for the second time at the hinge. (Dell Inspiron 1525) It cost over £80 to repair last time and the same has happened this time, it looks as if the hinge puts a strain on the cover. As the laptop is getting old I'm thinking of a new one but what to get? Intel i3 with 300-500Gb drive, good screen and either HDMI or VGA output for the projector, SD card slot and Intel wireless N. I use it as my main PC, nothing special requiring speed or high graphics other than camera pictures, (minor improvements, cropping and aperture adjustments). Price range £200-£400 and wondered about a Tablet but it must have a keyboard, I can't get on with 'on screen' ones (Paul's Asus Transformer looked good but not now available). Have you considered a USB keyboard to go with a tablet, (the tablet would have to have USB OTG or a standard Host connnection), a stand for the tablet might be quite a good idea too, either buy or make one yourself. -- Cheers Peter -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-08-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
