this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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210
Hey! I found this old laptop for $500. Do you think I should buy it? Can I run Linux? Arch obviously. (discuss.online)
submitted 11 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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;-)

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 hours ago

I don’t know. You should make sure it doesn’t have a Realtek Wi-Fi card. Otherwise, it looks fine. I found the Linux Hardware report for it here: https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=7144bb41

I think the price to performance doesn’t look the best, though. Maybe go for a Thinkpad instead?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 hours ago

I'm in tears, I've finally found the version of this toy I had as a kid.

Thank you so much for this shitpost, sincerely.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 hours ago

If it’s like the older vtech educational toys it uses some z80 processor, so you won’t be able to run Linux but you can a few different hobbyist microcomputer operating systems like zeal8bit and fuzix.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

You joke but it would be an awesome project. Maybe replace the screen with a real LCD, shove an rpi inside etc.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago

"diy dr.k" on YouTube did something similar with a barbie kid's laptop

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, it’d be really cool if it could run real OS inside it, and can play sound from the builtin speaker it apparently has

[–] [email protected] 52 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Temple OS or bust

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 hours ago

Terry would be so proud. And racist and scared. But also proud.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 hours ago

Oh, now you’re talkin!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 hours ago

Bet it can run doom.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 hours ago

Hanna Montana, and you're good to go.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

this might unironically run linux depending on the specs

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

On a Z80?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 hours ago

You may want to also post this to [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 hours ago

I wonder what CPU it has. You should tear it down and see if you can get some custom code running.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 hours ago

Someone with NetBSD is already scouring eBay.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Is that just a model, or is there actually a display in the middle that does something?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 hours ago

Yes, there's a monochrome display in the middle. It's kinda like a TI-86 calculator aimed at children.