I want to get a very cheap use loptop so i can learn how to install linux. I want to test out a beginer skills. To learn how to program linux and play around with programing.

How many GB do i need?
Will window xp work?
Will IBM laptop work? Or any kind of laptop will work?

What else do i need to know before i get a use laptop?

I want to get a use laptop so when somthing go wrong i don't worry about it.

I'm new to the tech industries.

Nearly anything that will still be commonly available will work just fine. If you're not going to dual boot, 16 GB is FAR more than you absolutely need

Laptops that were designed for XP will, GENERALLY speaking, work fine.

Any kind of laptop will, in theory, work fine. The biggest things to watch for is the wireless chip (some have major issues, but most can be made to work with some effort, and many now work out of the box or nearly so) and graphics card. Intel wireless and graphics I often recommend for maximum ease of support if you can find both.

I'd try to get one made in the last 5-6 years (early core 2 duos and such)

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Try this http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/.

If you want a fairly impressive GUI and/or run the odd VM, the more RAM the better; min 4GB, although you can get by with less.

Do you want to dual-boot MSWin & Linux, or just Linux?
I'd recommend just Linux on this box to force you to really learn what's going on.

See www.distrowatch.com for a list of distros.
At the moment, Mint seems to be recommended for newbies, especially if you want a more MSWin-like experience.

This worth a read http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

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I saw a cheap laptop for sale,it has 512MB,use XP and it's about 10 to 15 years old.
Will it work for linux?

Also as for a beginner in the tech world, which linux program to start with?

What MAKE and MODEL is the laptop? I have a few Dell C400s which are P3s.

I like Crunchbang Linux - but I am prone to using Xfce4, so: sudo apt-get install xfce4*

A pentium 3 would work but it will give you a painful experience with Linux and it might even scare you away from wanting to learn it.

So I would suggest you to look for a intel core 2 duo computer with about 80GB hard drive and 1 or 2 GB of RAM.
If you can find one that doesnt uses broadcom wireless card will be best, That way your learning experience will be smooth.
If you have craigslist in your area you can start by looking there. Refurbished computer in newegg.com sometimes are good too.

Something like this in the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246883

Good luck to you