convert an old laptop

[umakemebetter]

i read an interesting article on Digg today

i have an old Dell Latitude CPx, runs great (slow, obviously), but just the way it should run.

650MHz running Windows XP is crap, but i've heard that certain versions of linux will be blazing fast, and new at the same time (sorta like mobile Debian Linux, which is blazing fast on my 400MHz Nokia N800)

new OS running smooth + ghetto P3 650Mhz seems unreal to me - but apparently its doable with these versions of linux.

I was wondering if theres any versions that would work well as a Media Center? - i wanna use this old lappy with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and connect it via RGB to my 720p TV

its specs:
650MHz Pentium III, 256MB PC100 (512MB max), DVD-ROM, 20GB Hard Drive

i really just wanna do some web surfing and online video streaming (Youtube, Sopcast, etc.)

u think its possible? because with its current Windows 98 installation, doing that'd be sluggish as hell - but maybe with Linux it'd run fine

 

[Ð88]

you can try but IMO there will be a lot of headaches setting it up as a media center computer because I have found through past experiences that finding plug-ins to view online streaming media is hard to find for linux operating systems.

 

[umakemebetter]

but i've already located the video driver plugins, and SopCast for linux, as well as divx

 

[wmorri]

You might want to check out Ubuntu or their derivative Xubuntu. Ubuntu would be able to run just barely with the about of ram that you have. But Xubuntu would work fine on your system. That is if all you want to do is surf and stream video.

http://www.ubuntu.com
http://www.xubuntu.org

Cheers!

 

[disturbed13]

dont forget about DSL
Damn Small Linux
its on the order of only 50 KB
and is just as stable

 

[Ð88]

but i've already located the video driver plugins, and SopCast for linux, as well as divx

im not talking about the video drivers but if you've got things figured out then go ahead