Everyone owes me a high five, I just installed Ubuntu on my old pa-$hitty computer. It works flawlessly and I am pretty impressed. I am gonna keep my newest comp on Windows though, cause I need some programs (I know of WINE).

Smart move!

Never tried Ubuntu, but it can't be that different than any other...

I did that recently (in the last two weeks) and I'm very impressed. I have XP on dual boot but barely ever use it!

I tried OpenSUSE with KDE Desktop. Not bad but the driver support for Linux is still terrible. I got no drivers for my Soundcard, TV-card or printer. So this OS doesn't make sense to me yet.

I havent had any driver issues yet. The network card just works, and everything works faster then it used to. However, the OS takes slightly longer to boot up. I do like the look and feel of it though.

Ugh, I'm here at work having to re image Acer computers. Acer is the WORST computer brand EVERx100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
me=http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1493227/2/istockphoto_1493227_breaking_keyboard.jpg

Don't put Ubuntu on Acer Laptop / Desktop. They have a LOAD of compatibility issues. I was doing upgrades for a friend and he said he wanted to try Ubuntu or another Linux distro on it since he already has a few XP / Vista comps. Needless to say Acer has something funny in their mobo Bios that doesn't run well with Ubuntu.

I was eventually able to get DSL to run, but he didn't like it even after I changed the Windows manager to IceWM and gave it a WinXP similar theme (normal person wouldn't tell the difference).

I have tried Ubuntu / Debian on these and they work

Dell Optiplex GX260 (Ubuntu 7.04, DSL, Puppy Linux)
Gateway E3000 (Debian, DSL, Free Nas (BSD) )
Toshiba (No Comp # about 10 years old and will run DSL, had to move mobo into E3000 comp)
Dell Inspiron 1150 (laptop) - Works, but had to write a Network card driver (Ubuntu 7.04)

Acer -forgot the # ( Couldn't get Ubuntu / Debian to Boot from HD after multiple different installs, finally able to get DSL to boot off USB Storage Device and install)
Gateway 2450 (Couldn't get Ubuntu to Boot, pretty old comp so I expected that. Was able to run Puppy Linux)

Been using Ubuntu for a little over two months now. I dual boot with XP ( for photoshop and planting resources, GE seems to shut down when the KML loads and I haven't figured out how to change it. However, it doesn't do that when planting Donator Resources.)

funny, I'm on a work acer, I shoud install Linux to confuse the hell out of the poor teacher who uses this room. My job is to re image the computers in a school (church) and get them ready for use.

funny, I'm on a work acer, I shoud install Linux to confuse the hell out of the poor teacher who uses this room. My job is to re image the computers in a school (church) and get them ready for use.

IMO Acer's are ok for day to day word processing but for stuff I do, even with upgrades won't work for me. I think they're Cheap POS. ;)

Guess you can call me a Dell fanboy, though I do enjoy building my own comps, but my GX260 Optiplex was rebuilt from the ground up for gaming, photoshop and AutoCAD / gCAD.
Dell Finially Sells Open Source PCs (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs)

IMHO, Dell is allright, it will do everything I need, but Toshiba makes the best Laptop ever. Little shovelware, good hardware, and awesome design.

Dell selling open source is great, BTW.

Bleck, Dell?

I had one and decided building my own was the way to go, much more personalized. Usually cheaper than a comparable pre-made PC also.

yeah, building your own is the way to go, but if your a absolute technotard, Alienware ;woop is a good way to go. I didn't want to build a laptop, so I bought a toshiba.

yeah, building your own is the way to go, but if your a absolute technotard, Alienware ;woop is a good way to go. I didn't want to build a laptop, so I bought a toshiba.Alienware is a good way to blow lots of money on a shiny case and an okay rig inside.

Looking at their site, acoustic dampening doesn't cost $99. Buy some dampening foam when you get it for $15 and you're set.

Liquid cooling... if it told you what kind of set up is going in there it'd be nice. For all you know you're getting some crap radiator and 1/4 inch tubes that don't do squat.

'Additional storage drive' has a minimum size of 250GB for $100, you can get that same size at newegg for $60.

But RAM is where you really get raped. An extra gig of 800Mhz DDR2 for $175?! You can get that much at $50 nowadays.

And don't say shipping from an online store makes the difference, shipping for a whole PC is just as bad.

Yes, I can rant about Dell and their little pet Alienware for days.

- I don't like Alienware -

Was angry to see dell purchased them, for pretty much the same reasons. Nice looking case, but the insides could be better.

Pretty much I've only bought one dell directly from them, the Inspiron 1150. That was only because I needed a laptop for uni, and didn't have a lot of space for my desktop.

My GX260 came from an auction that UA did a couple summers ago. They had about 100 of them, and various other computers. Comp was only about 2 years old at the time and 100$ isn't bad for a decent comp I can upgrade :)

I just thought of it as a barebones that needed a little attention.

Linux Distros that work well with older computers

Damn small Linux
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org
Tested with PII and PIII 128mb of ram

Wolvix Cub
http://www.wolvix.org
Tested with PII 256mb of ram
Works well, especially with the Xfce Desktop Environment

Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux,org
Tested with PIII and PIV, 128 mb and 256 mb ram
Works alright, don't really like the IceWM Desktop Environment, and didn't work well for what I needed it to be.

The last laptop I bought new was a Toshiba. Worked pretty well with Linux except the faulty USB chip, and the details for the chip were never released so the driver could get fixed. I'm avoiding Toshiba for my next laptop; I just got an N800 tablet but the maker used Linux on it so for a compatibility discussion that doesn't count.

I'm also looking for a laptop with the AccuPoint type isometric mouse, so I won't burn my thumbs.