Hello everyone.

If this isn't the right place for this question, let me know and I'll start it in a different section.

I am wanting to make the switch to Linux (at least on one of my laptops) to learn and, when comfortable, switch my main one over permanently. As for my usage, I research and read on things that interest me (Opera browser), email friends (Hotmail), and Word processing and spread sheets (Apache Open Office). Not really much else. Quit social media over a year ago and don't miss it a bit. I'm a pretty simple guy.

I have narrowed down my distro choices to Mint, Elementary, or possibly Linux Lite. My laptop may end up making that decision for me. I know I could dual boot with both Linux and Windows, but by using two machines, if I screw up at least I'll have one good machine to get back here and find help. I see the Acer as a "test bed" of sorts to help me along the Linux learning curve. Mint and Elementary seem to be good choices for beginners like me. At least according to the Wild Wacky Web, and Linux Lite may be an option for "hardware challenged" laptops like my Acer.

The simple Acer specs are this:

Acer Aspire 7250 / Model AAB70
AMD E-450 1.65 GHz
32-bit
Radeon HD6320 Graphics (I believe on-board not a separate card)
4G RAM
75G HD (long story---don't ask)


If I've forgotten anything or if there is something else I can pull out of the Device Manager that is needed, let me know and I'll post it. Or if the Acer is just another doorstop, let me know that too and I'll search out another used machine to learn on. Anxious to learn, but smart enough to know it's a process and where my limitations lie.

Thank You


People cannot learn by having information pressed into their brains. Knowledge has to be sucked into the brain, not pushed in. First, one must create a state of mind that craves knowledge, interest and wonder. You can teach only by creating an urge to know. Victor Weisskopf

I'm running Mint on a older 64bit Aspire that shipped with 2gb ram(I bumped up to 6gb). The best way to figure out is "Live Boot" the distro of your choice and see of everything works(network, usb, printers,speed,etc) You might find this link useful. https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ro-4175623119/

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Thank you Mill J.

That link and the "How to Choose a Distro" link were among the first I read when I found this sight.

My worries are this....

1) I had heard that Linux and AMD didn't play well with each other, but that may have been from a long time ago and probably anecdotal at best.

2) Being only 32-bit and not wanting to make any hardware changes to my testing platform.



Even though I am pretty much the only one using the main laptop (it replaced the family desktop years ago), there are occasions where my wife will use it. The main machine is "newer-ish", but if I mess it up I'm in trouble with her. And as any married man knows, that's not the best situation to be in. Upgrading the hardware in the old machine may not be practical and for the money involved to do so, I may be able to find a "newer" machine better suited for my wants.

I've never had problems with AMD stuff, most of my computers use them. Radeon cards work much better than nvidia cards in my experience.

There should be no need to upgrade any hardware. I've run Linux on an old Compaq with 512mb ram, AMD single core cpu, and 80gb hd.

I'd say live boot the 32bit mint iso, and let us know how it runs. It won't modify your current os.

My advice is to give it a go on the old-ish laptop. I get the wife thing, I don't touch her Win 7 machine unless there is a problem I can address.

32 bit distros are disappearing, so make sure which ever you choose, 32 bit is available.

AMD hardware has always worked well for me. I suspect you saw comments from people with little real linux experience.

Good advice above, try live distros first.

The video hardware may be a problem, I know some old hardware was not well supported. If you do have video problems, post here, there are lots of people to help.

Never really heard OR had any issues with Linux and AMD. Running Mint on a quad core AMD A6 with no issues, file server is Debian command line on a dual core AMD, and I know I have ran it on other AMD CPUs with no issues.

Yeah 32 bit distros are slowly going away...so that will have an effect on the distro you pick.

I am totally with you in terms of the wife lol. Keep her happy with her machine, don't mess with it. I think if it wasn't for my wife's attachment to some of her games, she could probably use Linux.

I've been test driving Mint for a little while and I think it's an excellent transition distro for someone who has came from Windows and wants to try Linux. I came from more of a command line background with my Linux file server, and since diving back into using Linux as a desktop with Mint, I haven't had to touch the command line at all. I'd give it a test drive with your hardware though to make sure it will play nice. The Ubuntu versions may be an alternative option to check out too...just make sure and get a low resource one...Xubuntu, etc.

Best of luck and have fun! And if you issues let us know.

Thank you all again.

Does anyone have opinions on Linux Lite? Mint is the way I would like to go. Just have to research the 32-bit thing.

hat_man,

Your CPU is not the fastest but you have plenty of RAM, so try the 64 bit versions of Linux Mint MATE (or Xfce), Xubuntu, Lubuntu, MX Linux or antiX.

Linux Lite 4.4 looks like it is worth a shot as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxgZX8dgp-g

Why do you think your laptop is 32-bit only? AMD hasn't made a 32-bit only cpu since 2006. Your CPU supports 64-bit.

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I used to use it on older machines and still keep up on it, it's a really nicely done distro. Clean, uncluttered, fast. Makes a good transition from Windows.

hat_man,

Since your laptop is 64 bit, I would also add Zorin Core to the list I gave you previously.

Scroll down on the following link and download the Core version, not Ultimate:
https://zorinos.com/download/

As you have a preference for Linux Mint, do try the MATE or Xfce versions first.

The operating system is 32-bit. Is there a better place to look for more information?

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Operating system might be, but the processor fully supports 64-bit OS. They simply put 32-bit on it because when Windows 7 was first released, support for 64-bit still wasn't considered as good as 32-bit. To truly know, you would install something like CPU-Z to look at your cpu's capabilities. Or just look up the CPU data sheet. But it supports 64-bit.

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hat_man,

Download CPUZ:
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Install it and run it.

The Instructions value will be AMD64 for a 64-bit CPU.

This is your CPU:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bobcat...s%20E-450.html

AntiX & MX Linux do both 64bit & 32bit, download a 64bit, & give it a try, (my old Acer came with a 32bit O/S, but is actually a 64bit processor).