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    OS for netbook with 4GB SSD

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by kafro, Jul 1, 2009.

  1. kafro

    kafro Notebook Geek

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    I found a netbook for $180, EEE PC 900A, n270, 1GB RAM, but only a 4GB SSD.

    I'm pretty strapped for cash being in college, but the most intensive programs i'd run would be SNES emulator, watch videos, surf the web, and watch HULU fullscreen!

    I have a desktop I could access remotely and a 16GB flash drive for storage, but am not sure what OS I can even put on a 4GB SSD and not have it slow down a lot? I've found some Ubuntu's that are around 250MB (I think), but do those OS just plain suck?

    I plan to upgrade the SSD later, but I'll have to wait until their below $50.

    Thanks!
     
    kafro, Jul 1, 2009
    #1
  2. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Nlited Windows xp with flashpoint ("accelerates ssd performance by a lot").
     
    jackluo923, Jul 1, 2009
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  3. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    Linux, Ubuntu work great on netbooks and on SSD!

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Jul 1, 2009
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  4. ATG

    ATG 2x4 Super Moderator

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    Umm..I'm not really sure you'll be able to run SNES emulator on that netbook and watch videos/hulu....depends..
     
    ATG, Jul 1, 2009
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  5. kafro

    kafro Notebook Geek

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    I've read reviews that it runs emulators fine, but have heard HULU can chop up fullscreen...what hardware limitation is this?
     
    kafro, Jul 1, 2009
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  6. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    My Pentium III ran SNES emulators
     
    JCMS, Jul 1, 2009
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  7. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

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    my blackjack II phone can run SNES/NES emulator...

    4GB... i guess you could try lite versions of linux(DSL on the smallest end)... your flashdrive could be the program installation point...
     
    paper_wastage, Jul 1, 2009
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  8. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Overclock your CPU for watching HULU or anything else Flash based. Flash stuff is CPU intensive, and stock 1.6GHz Atom usually just doesn't cut it.

    For OS, absolutely nLite XP works beautifully. Fast and compatible with tons of apps and older games.
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 1, 2009
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  9. Relativity17

    Relativity17 Notebook Evangelist

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    Relativity17, Jul 1, 2009
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  10. MisterQ

    MisterQ Notebook Consultant

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    What I would do is: Put nLited XP or a tiny distro of Linux, and save the SNES emulator on the flash drive. I was able to put nLited XP on a 2GB Eee PC 2G Surf, and had around 1GB of space left. I'm not a Linux expert, but I've heard of Damn Small Linux being pretty small.

    I'm not exactly sure on Hulu (I don't live in America), but I can play YouTube fine on my Intel Atom 1.6GHz, it gets all unplayable when I play it in YouTube HD.
     
    MisterQ, Jul 2, 2009
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  11. USLaptopUser

    USLaptopUser Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you config Windows XP well (delete unnecessary files, stop unnecessary services) you will have 2.5 - 3.5 GB free space and fast startup system.
     
    USLaptopUser, Jul 2, 2009
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  12. kafro

    kafro Notebook Geek

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    Sounds like an awesome little machine then! Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll look into overclocking the CPU then. I know playing HD movies runs the CPU at 50%+, i'm guessing streaming HD videos will too...will this dramatically decrease the life span of my CPU if it's overclocked and running near 100% when I watch videos or will I not have to worry about nothing more than the PC heating up?

    Thanks!
     
    kafro, Jul 2, 2009
    #12
  13. de.1337

    de.1337 Notebook Evangelist

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    Damn Small Linux is pretty small (core installation always under 50 MB). Puppy Linux is also small (and nice). And there are probably lots of other smallish Linux distros out there, too.

    Also, I'm wondering if Ubuntu Netbook Remix is any smaller than straight Ubuntu.
     
    de.1337, Jul 2, 2009
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  14. Deathwinger

    Deathwinger Notebook Virtuoso

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    Isn't Ubuntu crap with battery life though?
     
    Deathwinger, Jul 3, 2009
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  15. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    Something like Easy Peasy(linux) or Ubuntu and even Fedora would work great on the EeePC. But an nlited version of XP would also run decently.
     
    Thomas, Jul 3, 2009
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  16. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    :confused: That was someone said with Linux before as well. You need to set your conf file to take in consideration of every single device on the comp. Ubuntu does not come with ACPI built-in ;)

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Jul 5, 2009
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  17. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Technically, yes. If it's within temperature specs, then really it's a small degradation. Perhaps it will die if you use it 24/7 a 100% CPU usage at 2.0GHz, in about 3-4 years. In other words, it will but not within the perceivable lifetime that you'll keep the unit.
     
    HTWingNut, Jul 5, 2009
    #17