Just bought an HP Laptop for $160 bucks... LOL

[mike_jmg]

Ok here is the thing

It is a Hp Pavilion ze4300
AMD Athlon XP 960 Mhz or something like that
256 Mb of ram
battery is completely dead, so i need to use the power cord all the time :rofl:
runs windows XP
40Gb HDD
Wire-required ethernet adaptor LOL
No system restore software

but feels kind of ok, since I was planing on taking a job out of my state and I didn't had one

maybe I could get a good use of this thing once I format it and remove norton antivirus that makes it really slow.

What do you guys think about my deal?
Also some thoughts about if a laptop needs drivers for the screen or speakers, since on the hp webpage I just found drivers for the touchpad, wlan (I was like wtf?), and some ATI stuff (also got me wtf?). Oh yeah and a BIOS update

Any comments on what to do, would be very much appreciated

Also just found out that maybe the replacement battery is prizier than my new laptop :rofl:

[mike_jmg]

44 views and 0 comments, at least insult me or something

[Eviltaco64]

Sounds like a decent laptop (f**k people who mock anything that isnt dual-core).
Try to find the cheapest battery and buy an external wireless card. That could make it a totally tubular AND MIGHT I ADD radical laptop.

[the_eternal_dark]

Actually, not a bad deal there. Here's a few tips: If you are still wanting to use Windows XP, get acquainted with nLite. Or move back to 2000. Or go with a Linux distro of your choice, in regards to your memory, try anything using the XFCE desktop (xubuntu - very easy to use, lightweight). If you're needing this for work, think about what you will need on it and make your choice based on your needs.

For drivers: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...eriesId=373113

If the device isn't listed on the page, then it is supported "out of the box" by Windows I assume. The screen shouldn't need a driver, but you will have resolution/display issues until you install the correct graphics driver.

Get a good PCMCIA wifi card, if your laptop has a PCMCIA slot.

Battery: http://www.electronics-batteries.com...ll_bl_5502.htm

or http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...ckout-restrict

just to get an idea about the cost for the battery. The starting costs I found were $40+ to $120+, and I personally wouldn't spend more than $60 for it though.

[Junixx]

I would recommend getting a lightweight distro of Linux, a pretty light one that I can think of would have to be Puppy Linux, it hasn't been updated in a while I think but it runs great even from the CD.

[Triv1um]

Old school.

That is simular spec to my old IBM laptop, i was running Win2000 (downgrade from XP) and ubuntu..

Sweet as a nut my friend.

[the_eternal_dark]

I would recommend getting a lightweight distro of Linux, a pretty light one that I can think of would have to be Puppy Linux, it hasn't been updated in a while I think but it runs great even from the CD.

If mike_jmg has never used Linux before, Puppy Linux is probably not the best starting point. I would say Xubuntu or maybe even Fluxbuntu (a very big maybe, flux is a bit more complicated than people give it credit) would be better candidates. Also, the ability to find help with any 'buntu is much greater than trying to find help with Puppy due to the size of the community.

[ICE]

Xubuntu would get my vote. Its very easy to use and its xfce desktop is a light as you will find.

[Axelius]

Hmm, I think the older AMD processors were pretty good, so AMD's 960 Mhz is just as powerful as some old Intel Pentium 4 with 1.4Ghz (or so). So even XP shouldn't be that much of a problem for this Laptop...

Even 256MB of Ram aren't THAT bad...when I bought my first Pc with XP on it it had 256MB of Ram as well...

I guess, if you find a cheap battery you will have a lot of fun with this laptop :thumbup:

EDIT: Are you sure, it's only 960MHz? Most of the other Laptops I have found have about 1.6-2.2Ghz???

[ICE]

There is an alternative to any of the above choices that I can point you towards. Pm me if you want to know..