On Wednesday 04 November 2009 10:44:52 Conor Wynne wrote:
> Hi lads,
>> I've been procrastinating for bloody ages, but I'm leaning towards a
> mini10 with linux on it.
It rocks. Make sure you get the Mini 10v. It's got a more compatible chipset than the regular 10's. I have a 10v and love it!
> I see that you can now get it with the HDD, so my question is, would you
> get the SSD or the HDD?
>> Advantages of the larger HDD are obvious, but what about battery life?
> Is it really better with the SSD?
I got the 16GB SSD - light, fast and I got a portable external usb HD which easily fits in my bag to carry around the other 250MB of my life when I need to. My understanding is that modern SSD's load balance writes to the disk which mean that disk lifespan is good. But I'm not an expert on this area. Also, SSD's would be less prone to damage when in use (bumps on a train journey, etc) due to less moving parts.
> I'll go for the 6 cell battery (obviously)
I get a couple of hours out of the standard battery that comes with the Dell but haven't monitored it that closely. The batt life depends on whether I'm compiling KDE or writing my memoirs in Vi :-)
>> And what's the craic with the limited writes, is that true or rubbish?
> Can I happily change distro a few times and not worry?
Yes. And I strongly recommend upgrading to the Ubuntu 9.10 netbook remix. It's great. You'll just need access to a wired internet connection briefly to get the restricted wireless drivers installed after the upgrade. Everything from skype sound/video/etc worked out of the box after the upgrade for me. No probs. Again, I'm on a 10v.
Also, I opted for full disk encryption when I installed 9.10 and haven't noticed any significant slowdown. Very happy with Ubuntu One too. For me 9.10 remix is an exceptionally polished distro. I would go as far as to say the best ever OS release! (and normally I'm a sceptical old fool!).
> Help me decide or it will be another two years before I get my own
> laptop back.
You won't regret it!
>> Would you stick with the dell distro (ubuntu 8.04) or would you change it?
>> Regards,
> Conor.
>> p.s.: Damn this cold and now rainy weather, and I was just about to pop
> to the shops....
>
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