The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    has any one run linux on the really cheap emachine?

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by havasuyahoo, Dec 16, 2008.

  1. havasuyahoo

    havasuyahoo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
  2. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

    Reputations:
    1,806
    Messages:
    5,921
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    206
    It's got a single core processor which is pretty outdated, definitely something to consider (especially seeing as you can get a much nicer Dell from Dell outlet for the same price, and not have to deal with a rebate).
    Beyond that, it has ATI graphics, something linux users generally tend to shy away from.
     
  3. havasuyahoo

    havasuyahoo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I think it will be fast enough with linux. My laptops take a lot of abuse they travel in my bicycle bag get rained on and pumice gets in the dvd player I would rather get a cheap one and replace it frequently. I'm more worried about the wireless drivers.
     
  4. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

    Reputations:
    1,806
    Messages:
    5,921
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    206
    Are you under the (incorrect) impression that Linux magically makes a computer faster? "Fast enough with linux?" Well, fast enough in general depends totally on what you're doing with your computer.
     
  5. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

    Reputations:
    1,988
    Messages:
    5,253
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    ATI has very good linux support nowadays.
    I have a similar machine and it runs linux just fine, runs Vista just fine even.
     
  6. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    5,868
    Messages:
    5,889
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    206
  7. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,557
    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I will be honest. I just installed ubuntu 8.10 on my studio 15 sunday and all major drivers worked out of the box. wireless, touchpad, ati graphics, sound, bluetooth. 8.04 did not do that...so if you get the studio which i recommend from the dell outlet - great deal, i think you will have an easy time getting everything to run great. And just an fyi, i got the laptop in my sig for 507 shipped from the outlet...not much more than yours, but much better specs.
     
  8. havasuyahoo

    havasuyahoo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have installed linux on desktops that are considered antiques and they worked fine. The problem I've had with my laptop is installing wireless with the broadcom card.
     
  9. Tinselworm

    Tinselworm Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,303
    Messages:
    1,307
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
  10. T-Q

    T-Q Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    40
    Messages:
    140
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 on a computer with P4 2.8Ghz, 512MB RAM and Integrated graphics. It's more than enough for the basic needs such as watching Youtube, surfing and instant messaging.

    I think anything better than that should be OK.