Ubuntu or Xubuntu to and 5 year old laptop

[cazz]

I have a 5 year old HP that I was thinking about install the new ubuntu. I use now a little older version of Xubuntu and it works nice but have a little problem with my 3G modem.

I wonder how much performance do I get to use Xubuntu instead of Ubuntu?
Do Ubuntu have something more then Xubuntu about the hardware and that?

I know the Xubuntu is good on old computer and that but my is not so old?

[bribera]

Realistically, the performance differences are small. I use xfce on new machines and old; it can use less memory than Gnome and KDE, but sometimes doesn't. By default Xubuntu starts a lot of gnome services to enable use of common gtk applications.

Here's a little benchmark of the three; they're just about the same: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=650&num=2

Go with whatever lets you use your modem.

[cazz]

Thanks for you replay

yes what I can see it is not so much performance I save with the Xubuntu then Ubuntu.

Was thinking maybe the Xubuntu don't have same support of the hardware because I never get my 3G modem to work but alot of other that run Ubuntu have make it work.
And maybe now the new ubuntu 9.10 have better support for that.

[bribera]

Was thinking maybe the Xubuntu don't have same support of the hardware because I never get my 3G modem to work but alot of other that run Ubuntu have make it work.
And maybe now the new ubuntu 9.10 have better support for that.

Hardware support is typically a kernel issue, so you should not see any difference between Xubuntu and Ubuntu in supporting your modem. However, you're right in thinking that you might have better luck with 9.10 -- it uses a newer kernel and therefore supports the most hardware out of any version.

[drawkcab]

9.10 should support more 3g stuff, but as others have said, that updated support should be available in xubuntu too!

If your laptop is really slow, you should think about installing lxde from the software center. Xubuntu will allow you to fire up either xfce or lxde (lighter and faster) from the log in screen.