Computing On the Go

[ptek]

I'm considering in buying a netbook, not too expensive, just for maximize my free time and do some computing while taking the bus/any other public transportation in my way to home, or even blogging.

Ubuntu or other linux distribution seems my favorite choice, although only recently I started using it. Among the various IDEs I tend to prefer Eclipse.

I'm wondering if I will have problems with the limited resolution of the display of most netbooks. Eclipse seems to like generous resolutions and Ubuntu itself uses large UI elements.
Is it possible to create some sort of minimalistic theme for Ubuntu or customize it so that using Eclipse would be viable on most netbook displays?

[Franko]

Sorry can't give you any advice on your questions...

But you should really post this in the "Other Operating Systems" thread or ask a mod to move it there, as it will then appear on the front page where more people will see it and hopefully give you the answers you need...

[ptek]

Thank you Franko. I'll ask for thread move then.
------
(Thanks also to the moderator who nicely moved it)

[odin]

There are plenty of options when it comes to lightweight minimalistic window managers on Linux. You might want to look at Xfce (try out Xubuntu for example). PuppyLinux and Damn Small Linux are other (very) lightweight distros.

[runequester]

ubuntu 11.4 uses the unity interface which seems to be intended for netbooks. Older versions have a netbook remix option.

Options like XFCE work too. I've been using openbox a lot lately and love it, though its a bit more old school

Kubuntu (KDE) has for at least a version or two included the netbook version in the regular install

[brianb]

Ubuntu has a netbook version (or remix) or something they call it.  It was pretty decent but I didn't care for the netbook form factor very much.  I used it for a few weeks and never touched it again.  Screen was too small/low resolution but maybe that has got better.  Even with the minimal UI on the Ubuntu Netbook editition browsing most websites was painful.  (scrolling left, right, up and down.)

[hbarcellos]

Personally I think it's way cheaper and better to get a used notebook, max ram, get a new battery @ ebay and put a good SSD. I would NEVER EVER get an ATOM based computer. ATOM sucks really hard!!!!

BTW, this Franko guy was not banned?

[ptek]

There are plenty of options when it comes to lightweight minimalistic window managers on Linux. You might want to look at Xfce (try out Xubuntu for example). PuppyLinux and Damn Small Linux are other (very) lightweight distros.

Yep I already knew Xfce some long years ago. It is surely lighter on resources than the most popular window managers but I'm concerned about maximizing the display space. I guess it's a matter of experiment with it, even before buying a netbook. On the other hand, 10 inches displays are not a good choice for small widgets; I guess it's a matter of balancing what I want and what will I get.

[ptek]

Options like XFCE work too. I've been using openbox a lot lately and love it, though its a bit more old school

Didn't knew about openbox. I'll check it ASAP.

[ptek]

Personally I think it's way cheaper and better to get a used notebook, max ram, get a new battery @ ebay and put a good SSD. I would NEVER EVER get an ATOM based computer. ATOM sucks really hard!!!!

I would prefer a netbook for its smaller size. I don't pretend to do extensive development, only small projects, so I guess performance will not be a big issue.

Why do you say Atom sucks? Are you refering to performance or any other reason?

[runequester]

Didn't knew about openbox. I'll check it ASAP.

Give it a shot. Its very minimalist. Right click to open a menu, where you can set up launchers for stuff. Not really any icons cluttering the space, though you can set up a dock if you want it.

LIke I said, its kind of "old school linux" though, so not much eye candy, but sometimes its nice to just get stuff done

[CritAnime]

Netbooks are alright for day to day stuff. Like web surfing, emails, wordprocessing and light movie watching. I wouldn't trust Atom processors to do much more, even when coupled with say an Ion GPU. If you can afford it then go upto something like a Notebook sized system, they don't cost much more for a cheap and cheerful one.

As for a Linux distro for one then these are ones I have tried on my brothers Netbook. He was wanting something easy to use, would run well and be secure.

The new Fedora has had a nice update. Gnome 3 looks nice on a small screen and seems to suit the size well in terms of use of the space. Gnome 3 seems rather user friendly and has some nice inbuilt features. It certainly feels nice for a newcomer to Linux. The only issue I had was with some of the drivers to do with the graphics card. Other than that it seemed nice.

Ubuntu 11.4 has brought the Unity desktop to users. It looks a bit like Gnome 3. However it is still buggy. I had issues with the auto hide feature of the left bar. However it can be dropped down to the previous version of Gnome that they were using. No issues with drivers at all and felt incredibly user friendly. The synaptic package manager is easy to use, as is the new package manager they have made. It has to be said that Unity does not look as nice as Gnome 3 on the smaller screens of netbooks.

Linux Mint was the final one I tried. Its very lite and pretty snappy to use. However I don't like KDE as a desktop and I didn't think it looked nice on a small screen. I didn't really try all the features on this one because I had issues getting it to work with the network card. But try it and see what you think.

I would seriously reccomend trying a few different distros out before you settle on one. If you have a spare USB memory stick you can make live trials on it, instructions can be found on the various distro sites. Depending on how "hardcore" you want to go will determin which distro's to go for.

Hope this helps.

[klx300r]

I'd get an AcerOne 100 or 150 so you can load up the AROS distribtution 'AspireOS'..oh ya you can load that 'other' OS to do every day stuff quite nicely too:)

[Darrin]

Netbooks are for poofs.  Get yourself a laptop with a full keyboard and an 18" screen and a backpack and then take it out on the bus while elbowing people in the head and face just to post "I just got on a bus" on Facebook.

That's what a real man would do.

Don't forget to take a car power adaper on a 50' cable and plug it into the bus driver's cigarette lighter socket and then trail in down the walkway so that 70 year old ladies trip over it and break a hip.

[Tripitaka]

I don't get this whole Atom bashing thing. I was given a Toshiba NB100 (lucky me), It surfs the net fine, open office works fine for doing a bit of on-the-move word processing, it plays video smooth enough and I get to play the original fallout on the train (with the hi-res patch it runs at the correct resolution full screen). It does what it's meant to do and it does it well enough, and it's far easier to lug around then a full size notebook.
I guess it all depends on what your doing, if you fancy playing the latest games on the move your screwed of course but I don't do that. Not to forget of course that if your leaving a computer on all night to download a torrent, it uses less than 40W, bonus.