New to the world of Ubuntu!

[Danoz]

Just dropping by and saying hello. I'm very, very new to the world of Linux-- and I've found myself using Ubuntu by chance. I've been using a Sony Vaio laptop (which has since been RECALLED for severe overheating/loud fan) and I was looking at being 5 weeks without a computer while Best Buy shipped it away to be fixed. I dropped it off yesterday. In the meantime, my mom offered to mail me this laptop she bought on Ebay for a couple hundred dollars last year while I wait for mine to be fixed. It was so riddled with spyware and viruses and registry problems, that I did decided to reformat--only to find that her self-created "backup" disks were completely corrupted.

I decided to give Ubuntu a shot.

Amazingly, within 10-15 minutes I had a working computer-- running several times faster than the severely broken XP. After some tedious troubleshoobing I got the wireless and graphics card drivers to work using Envy and some other programs-- getting used to the unique way Linux installs applications in the process.

It's a bare bones laptop:
380MB RAM
AMD Sempron 3000
ATI Radeon Xpress 200m
60GB HD

Yet, it's been running Linux like a dream. Being already familiar with Gimp, Wings3D, Audacity, Firefox and the works-- I've especially enjoyed the flexibility of Pigeon for both IRC and AIM and the use "evolution mail." The preinstalled freeware is great, and the computer runs faster than my Sony Vaio with 2 GIGS of RAM and great specs.

For the next 5 weeks while I wait for my laptop I'll be experimenting in Linux... the only thing I can't seem to do, so far, is get my darned external monitor connected as additional desktop space (all in good time).

I look forward to this chat! When I get my main machine back, I may need to partition and use Ubuntu over that bloated, Vista Business I've been using for the last two years.

[crimesaucer]

You might like to try xubuntu with that laptop. It should be faster and lighter.

[jimi_hendrix]

or if your willing to take the extra time to learn how to use it...open/black/fluxbox would be good to i think

[Northsider]

I've been using a Sony Vaio laptop
I absolutely hate them (Vaios)! My laptop is a vaio and was so loud my dad thought it was the next door neighbor's leaf blower. It overheated so often I couldn't even get through an OS install with it forcing shutdown. I have a great desktop now and my vaio is collecting dust... ahh well, great to hear you are enjoying linux.

[MaxIBoy]

I had trouble with the external monitor too. Haven't worked on it for a while, but from what I found before I gave up on it, you have to edit xorg.conf and you'll need to reboot every time you connect the monitor for it to work.

With an old computer like that, though, you'll have trouble using the external monitor for extra space. Your graphics card will only be able to handle a certain number of pixels at a time. So even it you do manage to get them working as seperate (not cloned) screens, you'll probably be stuck with an unusably low resolution.

[L815]

I absolutely hate them (Vaios)! My laptop is a vaio and was so loud my dad thought it was the next door neighbor's leaf blower. It overheated so often I couldn't even get through an OS install with it forcing shutdown. I have a great desktop now and my vaio is collecting dust... ahh well, great to hear you are enjoying linux.

I have a vaio and it's very quiet :)
The only thing that is loud are the touchpad buttons haha!

[Sinkingships7]

Sounds nice.

This really should be moved to Testimonials & Experiences, when a mod gets the chance.

[Danoz]

I absolutely hate them (Vaios)! My laptop is a vaio and was so loud my dad thought it was the next door neighbor's leaf blower. It overheated so often I couldn't even get through an OS install with it forcing shutdown. I have a great desktop now and my vaio is collecting dust... ahh well, great to hear you are enjoying linux.

It started out decent enough, but slowly but surely it got hotter and louder as the time went on. I bought a 4 1/2LB computer for convenience, but by the time I'd purchased an additional cooling fan and additional USB ports it was clunky even in the bag. And yea, funny you mention the "leaf blower" because I was convinced the thing was a 4 pound lawnmower.

The sad thing is that it has great specs and I blew 2 grand on it after the 3 year warranty (oh imagine the powerhouse of a Desktop I could have built with 2 grand!!). Hopefully when they send me a replacement it holds out better than this one! I believe I talked the guys at Best Buy into giving me a different laptop of equal value-- but I have to wait out the warranty process while they ship it off to Sony.

If it doesn't hold up, a couple years I'll be looking into a desktop since I have this Linux machine now and a work laptop, anyway.

[Danoz]

I had trouble with the external monitor too. Haven't worked on it for a while, but from what I found before I gave up on it, you have to edit xorg.conf and you'll need to reboot every time you connect the monitor for it to work.

With an old computer like that, though, you'll have trouble using the external monitor for extra space. Your graphics card will only be able to handle a certain number of pixels at a time. So even it you do manage to get them working as seperate (not cloned) screens, you'll probably be stuck with an unusably low resolution.

Probably true. I'll wait until I get my Vaio back to bother with the extended screen.

[Danoz]

You might like to try xubuntu with that laptop. It should be faster and lighter.

I read about xubuntu, though right now Ubuntu feels very fast and light-- even with those specs there's little to no delay with startup, opening programs etc... it's quite impressive. If I start to feel bogged down I'll give xubuntu a shot.

[Daveski]

I read about xubuntu, though right now Ubuntu feels very fast and light-- even with those specs there's little to no delay with startup, opening programs etc... it's quite impressive.

You wait 'till you see it flying on your Vaio...

[Bölvaður]

I'd say keep Ubuntu.
I have xubuntu on a 4-5 year old laptop, but only because ubuntu took more ram than I had. xubuntu is really good but no need if your system can handle it with no problems.
you should try to monitor the resources though, perhaps with system monitor or even conky if you feel like wasting some hours making something look pretty ^^

Btw I love your attitude, you are true linux user :KS

[Sealbhach]

Yay! I use Ubuntu on my Vaio and it works quite well. The only issues are webcam doesn't work (I don't use it anyway), and I had to edit a config file slightly to get the sound working.

I've got Vista on another partition but i never use it. Will probably delete it at some stage.

Glad you're happy with Ubuntu. One of the best things for me is freely browsing without constant fear of viruses.


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