Would a Linux distro be a significantly better choice for this low-end laptop?

[mikeymikec]

Asus X501U: https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/X501U/specifications/

It has an AMD C-60 1.0GHz dual-core processor in. Technically it has 2GB RAM but the graphics uses a chunk and brings it down to 1.6GB. ASUS in their great wisdom put Win8 64-bit on it.

I would upgrade the memory but this laptop apparently requires significant dismantling to get to it (take the front + kb + touchpad off, disconnect LEDs, HDD, CPU HSF, grounding tape, take the board out) and frankly I don't fancy risking it, let alone having to potentially do it a second time if it doesn't like the new memory. The thing that really galls me is that the memory is in a position that would have been ideal to have put a trapdoor to get to it from the underside of the laptop, but Asus just didn't bother to do that.

For now I'm going to get all the Windows updates on it and have it do the Win81 upgrade in the hope that when it has all of that work out of the way then maybe performance won't suck quite so badly as it does right now (it spent 6 hours straight yesterday processing Windows updates). I'll also try streamling the Windows installation and jettisoning every last bit of unnecessary software but in short I'm not hopeful that it will result in a "could be faster, but is just about barely adequate" laptop.

Would say a Linux distro perform significantly better in peoples' opinions? If so, recommendations please. Obviously the suck-tastic processor won't be miraculously transformed by installing a new OS, but a boot and settle-down time which isn't an exercise in testing saint-like patience would be worthwhile IMO.

 

[Charlie98]

They actually sold that... 1.0GHz/W8/2GB RAM? ...and you bought it???

I put one of the Mints on my old PATA single-core Dell laptop (2GB RAM) and it did pretty well. It certainly booted faster and navigated well enough. Mint still requires some amount of tweaking and user knowledge, which I wasn't prepared to do for a 9-year old laptop that sees very little use now.

Given the specs on that machine, and if you are familiar with Linux... I'd say that would be about the only avenue.

 

[mikeymikec]

I didn't buy it It's a customer's computer. I'm familiar with Linux but I wouldn't rate my knowledge of it in the same league as my Windows knowledge.

 

[TheELF]

Well,you do need a 64bit os for all of this secure boot - uefi crap,you can boot up 32bit but it will most certainly need tweaking to do so.

I would suggest a puppy variant,just because it will be pre configured with everything a basic user might need and with the most usefull things having icons on the desktop from the get go.

 

[mikeymikec]

Well,you do need a 64bit os for all of this secure boot - uefi crap,you can boot up 32bit but it will most certainly need tweaking to do so.

I would suggest a puppy variant,just because it will be pre configured with everything a basic user might need and with the most usefull things having icons on the desktop from the get go.

Gah, I had forgotten about UEFI, I would need to check if I can disable it.

 

[jae]

What are you (or your customer) expecting to use it for?

 

[mikeymikec]

The basics. The customer originally wanted me to teach her how to e-mail mainly, but this is her first computer.

 

[FrankRamiro]

Asus X501U: https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/X501U/specifications/

It has an AMD C-60 1.0GHz dual-core processor in. Technically it has 2GB RAM but the graphics uses a chunk and brings it down to 1.6GB. ASUS in their great wisdom put Win8 64-bit on it.

I would upgrade the memory but this laptop apparently requires significant dismantling to get to it (take the front + kb + touchpad off, disconnect LEDs, HDD, CPU HSF, grounding tape, take the board out) and frankly I don't fancy risking it, let alone having to potentially do it a second time if it doesn't like the new memory. The thing that really galls me is that the memory is in a position that would have been ideal to have put a trapdoor to get to it from the underside of the laptop, but Asus just didn't bother to do that.

For now I'm going to get all the Windows updates on it and have it do the Win81 upgrade in the hope that when it has all of that work out of the way then maybe performance won't suck quite so badly as it does right now (it spent 6 hours straight yesterday processing Windows updates). I'll also try streamling the Windows installation and jettisoning every last bit of unnecessary software but in short I'm not hopeful that it will result in a "could be faster, but is just about barely adequate" laptop.

Would say a Linux distro perform significantly better in peoples' opinions? If so, recommendations please. Obviously the suck-tastic processor won't be miraculously transformed by installing a new OS, but a boot and settle-down time which isn't an exercise in testing saint-like patience would be worthwhile IMO.

I have a C-50 with same 1.ghz 2gb mem,and i put it on my scrap cause it's useless,maybe if you just browse that's about it,streaming is crap

 

[JackMDS]

I didn't buy it It's a customer's computer. I'm familiar with Linux but I wouldn't rate my knowledge of it in the same league as my Windows knowledge.

Under this situation you are going to put on Linux?

The computer was sold as a Win 7 computer.

The basics. The customer originally wanted me to teach her how to e-mail mainly, but this is her first computer.

As describe above Speed is Not going to be an issue an Issue.

 

[mikeymikec]

Under this situation you are going to put on Linux?

If it's the difference between a usable computer and one that responds at a glacial pace, sure.

The computer was sold as a Win 7 computer.

This one wasn't, unless a third party made a very convincing Asus 'system spec' sticker as well as putting a Win8 sticker on the underside

 

[Insert_Nickname]

This one wasn't, unless a third party made a very convincing Asus 'system spec' sticker as well as putting a Win8 sticker on the underside

Just a thought, but have you tried the x86 version of 8.1? In my experience Brazos-based APUs tend to run that way better then the x64 version. Also helps with the limited RAM.

Brazos simply isn't geared for x64. Its something about the architecture of the CPU core.

 

[mmntech]

That processor is certainly not going to win any races. It's about as fast as the Galaxy S III, so it's perfectly capable of running Linux.

I think something like Puppy or Lubuntu would probably be your best bets. I'm not sure Linux is a good idea for a customer's first computer though. Sounds like they'd be better off purchasing a tablet. I'm guessing they bought this laptop dirt cheap without knowing what they were buying or doing any research.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

That processor is certainly not going to win any races. It's about as fast as the Galaxy S III, so it's perfectly capable of running Linux.

Problem isn't necessarily CPU related. If its capable of Linux, then its capable of x86 Windows 8.1. More likely the reason for the low performance is a 5400RPM HDD.

 

[kommisar]

Your best bet is a 32bit linux running lxde. This combination will be the best balance between functionality and low ram usage. My suggestion - try debian live i386 lxde and see how it works. If it is sufficient then install to the hard drive. To try running from a usb stick, download the iso including the nonfree firmware (maybe necessary for the wireless card) from here:

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/u...bian-live-8.0.0-i386-lxde-desktop+nonfree.iso

Then follow these instructions to copy the iso to a usb stick:

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch04s03.html.en

You will then have to set the bios/uefi to boot from the usb stick. You will have to turn off secure boot. Debian jessie is pretty good about booting under uefi, but you may have to enable legacy mode if it can't boot.


Running the live distro will give you an idea of how the system will run with that cpu and modest ram. 2Gb should be just enough for the lxde desktop environment and iceweasel to function. You probably wont be multitasking with this system though.

 

[kommisar]

Just to give you an idea of memory usage, I have an older thinkpad running debian i386 lxde live booted off of usb and the system ram usage with desktop and chrome browser with 3 tabs open is about 1.2GB.

 

[zanejohnson]

i have an old pentium m 1.7GHz / 2GB Dell laptop running Ubuntu 14.04 + KDE4, runs awesome, great laptop for just sitting in front of the TV with browsing and what not..