Hey Fellers!

I've decided that I want a 2nd 'puter- and I think I'll make it my first laptop. Want to get something used, probably no more than $150.

Please give me some recs as to what are some good sturdy "workhorse" older laptops. I'm going to install Slackware on it, and use it as my platform to learn the ins and outs of slack. I'm not a gamer- so I just need pretty basic video and do want pretty decent sound...and a built-n DVD drive.

What makes and models have a reputation for enduring? Which should I avoid? I'd imagine at that price point, pretty much everything will be old enough to be Linux-compatible? Any ones with proprietary/problematic hardware/drivers that I should avoid?

Nothing too ancient...but it doesn't have to be state-of-the-art either.

i've had good experience with dated hp laptops. twice actually. currently hp 530 running crunchbang and slitaz. boots up just as fast as my dual core desktop (which is not exactly new either, but better specs).
battery life/condition/charge is a major concern with used laptops.

I've had good experiences with old Dells, but it was a few years ago.

Depending how old we're talking about - Thinkpad T40 / T400?

Thanks, guys!

Yeah...the battery issue is partly why I want to stay <$150- I pretty much plan on having to get a new battery- and I'll price them first, for any 'puter I'm thinking of buying.

[gasps] That's it! Those are the ones I used to always look at, years ago! And I've had good luck with an IBM desktop I bought new in '99. (Used it till '07...and then sold it, and it was still going strong....with it's 500MHZ processor and all )

Dell Latitude C and D series work well for me. I have two D series running Slackware currently.

I pulled the trigger on one of these last weekend. I'm waiting on it.
No. I have not researched yet what I can do with it.
price was right and I figure I can run off of a frugal install off of external SD flash drive class 10 till I figure out what
is possible.

A couple of months ago a pulled the Trigger on A Dell E4310 for 200 bucks. But it was a I5 with 8 gig of ram and 500 gig hard drive with Windows 7 Enterprise. The wife ended up with that one and I ended up with her older Compaq CQ 57 which is also Linux friendly as hell.

Another model I would check is a Acer Aspire 5534. Look for 4 gig of ram. Some cheapo ones on Ebay for that model also and I sold
ours for 200 bucks to cover the Dell purchase.

Lastly. I am installing Windows XP SP3 on one of my M&A Netbooks to gather back the money I spent on the Chrome Book I bought.
As soon as I get all the drivers sorted. It is going on the market for 100 bucks. I tried selling it with, (does not matter which version or distro), Linux on it but the women who wanted it eyes glazed over when I told them it was not XP. Wasted breath and time
on showing how much better.

Nuff said by me I guess.

Edit: Oh yeah. Samsung RV510 with 4 gig of ram is a workhorse and Linux friendly also.

So many good options!

I think I'm going to snag a Thinkpad R61 Core 2 w/DVD+RW for $96 shipped, to get me started. Comes with AC adapter and batteries are cheap. For just playing with Slackware and typical farting around, it should do fine.

I'll let ya's know!

Thanks, all!

EDIT: Ebay item# 301167921442 -Hope it'll be decent! Whadduyas think?

Hope you get a good'n Lenovo Thinkpad has my vote. There are a ridiculous number of them available on eBay for around $100 US because "they aren't Win8 approved" or just run slowly on it. Run great on Linux.

There are so many choices, I am not sure how you are going to narrow it down. I have installed Debian 7.x on three old laptops so far.

Currently I am typing on a Dell Inspiron 1420 which is my main everyday computer. The installation (by Debian 7.4 net install CD) was easy, as it didn't require me to search out and download any proprietary or non-free drivers. It's working great.

To get my Dell Latitude D800 running optimally, I had to get two non-free drivers, I think there was one for the graphics and one for gigabit ethernet (Edit: on second thought, that must have been the wireless network adapter); I used a second laptop to download the non-free drivers, and a USB flashdrive to transfer them to the D800 at installation time, and that worked fine. I understand I could have installed the drivers later, but the installation script gave me the option of providing them on the USB stick. The D800 is now my home file server, with storage on two USB-2.0 external drives. It is a nice low-power rig, using only 23 watts of AC power when idle (that's the total including the two external drives when they are spun down), but capable of fast transfers when the need arises.

I also have a Dell Inspiron 1000 which installed without a hitch and is working fine. It is a little heavy, a little slow, and a little hot, and the battery died about the time the 90-day warranty expired, but it makes a fine home computer for the kids to do their homework, or goof off.

If I was going to get another, I might get a Dell Latitude D630, or maybe get away from Dell. I've heard good things about Thinkpads.

Yeah, I was surprised to see what can be had for only $100. I checked the seller's feedback on toolhaus.org (Always check an Ebay seller's feedback on that site...it tells the real story..) and the guy has been selling with that account for well over a decade and has very good feedback- which is a difficult feat to pull-off in the electronics category [he sells electronics almost exclusively]...so I'm thinking the R61 should be O-K. Of course, the battery is likely to be mediocre at best....but I'll mainly be using the laptop around the house, and with a wired interweb connection....so I can use it on AC just as easily.

I'm so glad that I posted this thread, as I had forgotten all about those Thinkpads!

And the nice thing is: There seem to be so many of them around, still, that parts/whole machines for parts seem to be cheap and plentiful...should the need arise (I'm not the throw-it-away-and-get-a-new-one type...I fix things- if it makes reasonable economic sense to do so at all)- and it appears to be about the same vintage as my desktop.....so they should get along well

As soon as it arrives, I'll throw my live AntiX CD in it and see how it works...and if it's O-K, I'll proceed with my Slackware tinkering!

I guess when it comes, I should also open it up and see if needs cleaning in there..? (I still even have electrical contact cleaner left, from when I had to fix my mother's air conditioning.....)[I know....just the air-compressor should be enough...]

Heh, yeah, I was going to start checking-out some Dells, too....but I knew that if I started looking at too many choices, it would end up taking me weeks to actually pull the trigger on one- so I saw a Thinkpad that had what I needed, and for under $100, shipped...so I went for it. I think it has the gigabit ethernet, too...uh-oh! Not sure what graphics it has...but I'm assuming it's not the Nvidia one that was known to take a premature dump, or it likely wouldn't be still working. We shall see....

How's the build-quality/sturdiness on the Dell's?

ThinkPads, ftw. My favorites are the T43 (single processor) and T61 (dual core).

Surveys of laptop reliability seem to give different results:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/l...-win-hp-fails/
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/buying-ad...kers-revealed/

Thinkpads seem to have a good Linux reputation:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
I like mine, although it's a bit older that anything you'd be buying: an original IBM!

My understanding is that Dell corporate laptops hold up fairly well but the consumer offerings aren't as well built. I know the Dell models I've used from work didn't necesarily feel rugged but were subject to a lot of abuse and seemed to handle it OK.
I've sadly never owned or used a thinkpad, bar some brief testing, but for some reason I've always wanted one.