Netbook suggestions with Slackware
 

I'd like to find something I can use for web surfing, which for me, means a keyboard too. Preferably something that is compatible with Slackware, although a different distro is acceptable. No Windows(R) of any type.

My goals:

1) Something that boots fast to search information quickly on the web during conversations, watching movies, etc.

2) Something that runs on a battery during some emergencies rather than a full desktop system running from an electrical receptacle.

3) Useful when traveling.

4) Runs wired or wireless.

5) This is not a primary system. Very much a secondary system.

I do not want anything that uses or depends upon web apps, specific vendors, or presumes I'm connected, like a Chromebook system.

Suggestions welcomed. Thank you! :)

Well, if you don't use the device to write longer textfiles, it looks like you will have to look for a tabletcomputer.

I have a Subnotebook Lenovo Thinkpad x100e (with Slack64-14), but always when I sit in a train and see (many) other people with their tablets, I find that this devices are more useful than my Subnotebook.

Markus

Just some general recommendations:
-If you go for a netbook, keep yourself away from netbooks with Intel's GMA500/600/3600/3650 video-chip (all those are inbuilt into Atom CPUs), they are just relabeled PowerVR chips with really bad Linux support.
- If you want something fast and long-running consider a SSD instead of a mechanical drive, but go for one of the cheaper SATA II SSDs, most SATA 3 SSDs are not power-saving at all. For faster boot you may also consider to tweak Slackware's boot scripts and/or use the hibernate feature.

I'll never stop loving ThinkPads. The X-Series aren't Netbooks in the first place, but small enough to be carried all day long. Whats your price limit?

I have an HP mini 110-3018. I equipped it with an 80G SSD which is enough for me and indeed it make the netbook much faster.

How do tablets support typing? Surfing the web often needs a keyboard.

I haven't yet seen a true free/libre tablet available. Just Real Soon Now stories. Most of what I have seen indicates a lot of proprietary thinking in tablet design. I don't have the time to hack a tablet. Hence my focus on netbooks.

Thanks. Do you have a recommened chip set?

I haven't decided. :)

Look at http://zareason.com/shop/zatab.html

Once I have money, I want to buy one of those ZaTabs and make my own ARM port run on it. For this reason alone, I started working on the port again this week after suffering from lack of spirit for more than half a year.

Eric

I have a little Samsung N145 plus which is my favorite of all my computers. I have two desktops and a traditional-sized, much more expensive laptop, yet I use the Samsung for everything besides media. It's extremely portable, runs Slackware fine, and performance wise it meets my needs. I do a lot of web browsing, text editing, and programming on it. And when my two desktops went on the fritz at the same time once (strange fluke, that), I hooked it up to my big monitor and sucessfully used it as a home entertainment system. :)

I also think it looks much nicer and has none of the "cheap" feel of many other netbooks I've come across. I paid all of $220 for it on sale.

I'm using a £150 netbook now, I suppose it was just put together from odds and ends they wanted to get rid of, as it was very cheap and very bottom of the line in all departments, but I use it for everything now. It's completely usurped the full size laptop.

It's an eMachines netbook with a 10 inch screen and the atom N450 processor. The onyl drawbacks are that it sometimes struggles with 720p playback, depending on codec, and the SD card reader doesn't work.

I have an Intel Atom N455 Netbook and Slackware works great. It's easy to install with unetbootin, all the programs that you need are, if not: .Slackbuild .

My three year old Acer Aspire One netbook runs Slackware 13.37 very well, but X crashes on 14.0.

my 5 years old Acer Travelmate is running on Slackware 14.0 smoothly :)

The graphics card will likely be the biggest headache. The newer Intel cards are not well supported and may even be accompanied by an Nvidia card with Optimus, which is also not well supported.

I have an ASUS Eee PC 1015PN and it works well. It says it has Optimus and it does, but it has a type of graphics switching that requires reboot to switch settings and one of the settings is Optimus. The other two settings are to run one of the two graphics card at your choice. Both are supported under Linux, so I just don't use the Optimus option. The only problem with it is that it really can't play 1080p, and the advertising is ambiguous on purpose. It works for what I need and is portable.

I run Slackware 14 on a ThinkPad x230. It already got the Ivy Bridge and an Intel 4000 graphics card. Works fine. Even on a FreeBSD 9.2-RC2 the Intel card is supported. Maybe I have to add that I updated my kernel to 3.6.3. Again, I know a x230 is not a Netbook but I don't think the graphics card will be such a pain in the brain.

Member Response
 

Hi,

Optimus on some equipment does require additional work to get things going. While others just won't work.
On my Dell XPS it took some time & effort to get things going with BumbleBee: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ml#post4801567

I do think you should really look at the video adapters for the netbook. If you use 'Optimus' the battery won't last long.