Latest on the laptop upgrade

Rightardia has written some articles about upgrading older laptop with open source Linux. We have discovered that current verssion of Ubuntu Linux (9.04, 10.04 and 10.04.01) and Fedora Linux (versions 12 and 13) are unstable on an older HP NC8000 laptop.Some reviews have noted instability in both the current versions of Ubuntu and Fedora.

Wirehead brought in the latest version of OpenSuse 11.3 in. It too was unstable after upgrading,

We tried the previous version 11.2, and it worked great even after upgrading. OpenSuse, which is owned by Red hat, is similar to Ubuntu Linux in many ways.  It uses RPMs for upgrades like Fedora. It is loaded with applications and utilities.

It also has the Yast superuser control panel that really lets a tech get into some technical weeds. The Yast firewall has features of a commerical corporate firewall.

Apprently OpenSuse is doing well in the Linux community. It is the leader in downloads according to Linux Format magazine. The OpenSuse 11.3 disk is included with latest version of Linux Format magazine..

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HP NC8000 laptop rebuild update

Rightardia rebuilt an HP NC8000 for $104. See the original article at http://rightardia.blogspot.com/2010/08/building-laptop.html

We also decided to upgrade the 10GB HD we had on hand with a Toshiba 60GB drive that cost $30.00. So for another $80.00, you can have a 60GB HD, another 1GB of RAM and a speedy wireless INTERNET connection. The total got up to $184.00.

Rightardia Also found a great padded case with an HP logo on it for $15.00 and a port expander for $12.00 ON EBay. An automobile PS charger was $5.00

What upgrades gave the most bang for the buck? The new hard drive improved performance, but the laptop flew when we added one GB of RAM. The 802.11 n adapter (D-LINK DWA-140 WIRELESS N USB ADAPTER DLINK 802.11n) really improved browsing speed.

We liked the port replicator, too.  It gave us two more USB ports and a better typing angle. The laptop is elevated, too, for better cooling. The port replicator has a Gigabit Ethernet port, two PS2, ports, a DVI and analogue video port and specialized audio ports including SPDIF.

The port replicator fits in the HP case so it is portable. We are very happy with this laptop. It has a P6 CPU that is quick, and You Tube video and audio is lag less.

With the laptop case and port replicator as well as a an automobile power supply, the complete system is under $215.00.



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Building a laptop

You can purchase a laptop for around $300 at Wal-Mart. Rightardia decided to build one using parts from Ebay.

We started by purchasing a bare bones HP NC 8000 laptop on Ebay. It came with a 1.7GhZ CPu, 512 MB RAM and a DVD player. The laptop cost $81.00 from Reclamere in Tyrone, PA. We have seen this laptop from other sellers on Ebay for under $50.00.Rightardia was able to get the laptop operational with a 1OGB hard drive, 512MB RAM, Linux Mint and an 802.11g wireless adapter. .

We had to purchase an external power supply and a hard drive caddy for the  expansion slot. The power supply cost $9.72 and the caddy cost $12.99. We also bought a used port replicator for $9.99, a HP laptop bag, a 802.11n wireless USB device  (D-LINK DWA-140 WIRELESS N USB ADAPTER DLINK 802.11n) for $20.00 and another GB or RAM for $30.00.

We purchased the missing parts form Hong Kong to save money. We got the HP NC8000 to work for $104.00, but this price didn't include shipping.  Be prepared for a two week wait or longer for Chinese parts.

We also decided to upgrade the 10GB HD we had on hand wih a Toshiba 60GB drive that cost $30.00. So for another $80.00, you can have a 60GB HD, another 1GB of RAM and a speedy wireless INTERNET connection. The total is now up to $184.00.

We recommend the 802.11n wireless USB adapter if you have an 802.11n gateway/router in you home. It was big improvement to the Netgear 802.11g wireless adapter we had been using.

We got a real HP case for $10 dollars and a port replicator for another $10 bucks. The port replicator offers:

• Dual 2.0 USB ports
• PS / 2 compatibility
• VGA
• Digital video out
• S-Video
• Serial port
• SPDIF audio
• Audio in/out
• IEEE 1394 firewire
• 10/100 ethernet

The operating system was free because we used Ubuntu Linux mint which worked great! We also recommend you purchase a laptop bag or case. If you have any laptop parts around your house, you may be able to trim these costs even more.

In summary, you can put together a nice laptop kit with case, upgrades and a port replicator for under $200. A key issue is the operating system. Linux Mint runs great on older laptops and is free. Expect performance losses if you use Windows XP or Windows 7.

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