Need your suggestion for slow computer!!!

dimebag_bog · n00b Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 7

Hi, I got a laptop 150mmx, 48MB ram and 2.1GB HD.

It's my girlfriend's laptop... she only needs it for office tools (word, excel, ect...), browse on internet (opera) and for playing MP3s.

She had Windows 98 on it... and guess what?? not stable!!! So I suggest to install linux with openoffice instead....

I installed Red Hat 7.3.. But it's way too slow!!! (they put so many junk in their distro). So I decided to install Gentoo (I know it's really fast so..)

Right now, it's still compiling at stage1.

Here's my questions :

I want the fastest combination of softwares to be able to run openoffice smoothly. So I won't even touch KDE (eats too much ressources). Gnome might be an idea, but I'm not sure if it's gonna be fast enough.

Other options are Enlightenment, Windowmaker, ICE

So which Window Manager should I install ???
And which browser and MP3 player ???

By the way, she's a total newbie at linux.... It's the first time she will use it... so please don't suggest anything complicated to use

dufnutz · Apprentice Joined: 01 May 2002 Posts: 209

I'd set her up with window maker that way she can still have "icons" to launch applications and its very lightweight, if you want something even lighter you'll have to go with flux/blackbox but lack of icons might throw her off if she isn't into learning her way around a linux system

DNH · n00b Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 60 Location: Ann Arbor, MI

I'd hook her up with fluxbox and install idesk for icons. It is quite nice and light. Moreover, you can get icons on the desktop and still have the fluxbox menu. Here's a screenshot. Note that you can also include a caption beneath the icons, I just choose not to.
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The answer

kermitjunior · Apprentice Joined: 04 Aug 2002 Posts: 167

Malakin · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 6:07 pm Post subject:

phong · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 6:20 pm Post subject:

I've also heard lots of good things about the flux/idesk combination and there's also waimea (I am going to try this one shortly on one of my lesser machines.) I've personally gone from stage1 on a P100 with 64megs of RAM and about that much hard drive space. If you don't need MS Office compatability in the office apps, you can go with lighter weight choices than OpenOffice... Personally using the aforementioned system for a period of time (actually, when I was using it for my work desktop, it was running KDE under Mandrake - yes, it was PAINFULLY slow), and trying various browers, I determined that Opera was easily the fastest under low-ram conditions.
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rommel · Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2002 11:30 pm Post subject:

i like the fluxbox/idesk look.....very cool

dimebag_bog · n00b Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 7

Thank you for your advices...

I installed Fluxbox and it was fast enough. But unfortunately, openoffice is way too slow

It takes 2 minutes to open, and when you type some letters in word, they appear 5 second later!!!

So I have to install the stupid Windows 98 back and hope everything will run fine....

tirantloblanc · Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2002 7:21 pm Post subject:

dimebag_bog · n00b Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 7

I need openoffice. It's my girlfriend's laptop and she works with MS Office 2000 at school... So only openoffice is fully compatible with MS Office...