Transitioning to Linux - Hardware Replacement Suggestions, Please

[Tom David]

Hello All,

I'm beginning to think about hardware replacement for my laptop before transitioning to Linux. I'm eager for some opinions from the JaxLUG for ideas.

What I need to replace is an 8-year old 64-bit Win10 Home machine - Dell 7579 laptop.

• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.90 GHz
• 12..0 GB RAM
• SSHDD - 512 GB, (150 GB Free space), 22.1 GB of program files on board
• Powered 'Docking Station' supporting dual-monitors, speakers, camera, keyboard, mouse, and 2 printers

My recent experience with a new high-speed fiber optic line suggests the processor may need to be a little faster or more capable and/or I might need to take the RAM up to 16.

My work is not coding or compiling. Mostly office productivity programs (LibreOffice) and IoT research which typically finds me with 10-15 Firefox tabs open. More importantly, I have never actually used the laptop without peripherals: keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. So, I don't really need another 'laptop' per se; unless it's the best solution.

Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to your thoughts. Hope to visit a JaxLUG meeting in person soon.

[Tim Holloway]

Heh. My main machines are all 2011 motherboard systems and they work just fine on almalinux 9. Stuff like that is exactly why Linux is attractive to people who don't want to scrap their current machines just to run Windows 11.

The box I'm currently running as my heavy-duty desktop (I use my Raspberry Pi for light stuff) has 24GB RAM. It's a used Dell Optiplex 7040 Small Form Factor I got off EBay.

There's only one thing wrong with it. It does get a little sluggish when it's trying to run lots of big programs at once. I think that bumping it up to 32G would solve that, but the 4th RAM slot is broken so I live with it.

The Pi, incidentally has only 8GB of RAM and I do musical composition work using Rosegarden on it in addition to its duties as a general web browser, mail client and master console for my VMs.

   Tim.

Oh, BTW, I have 64GB of DDR-5 RAM that I ordered thinking that it would get around the broken memory slot problem (it's a 2-stick kit). But it doesn't fit Small Form Factor, it wants the full-sized box model. Anyone who's interested, let me know. Crucial has announced that they expect their prices to go up thanks to the new tarrifs, and even though they are based in Idaho and currently building a new plant in New York, they do source a lot from the Far East. I got mine before "Liberation Day", so I can unload them cheap.

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