Best budget machine.

[Brickwizard]

I don't long for yesteryear all that much but do you remember when a computer came with entire reams of paper

I bet you remember when all the schematics were included, great to look at but with micro circuitry you still could not do a DIY fix without a microscope

 

[KGIII]

I bet you remember when all the schematics were included, great to look at but with micro circuitry you still could not do a DIY fix without a microscope

The hobby is still doing great today! People micro-solder all the time. People even re-ball CPUs! It's amazing how far the hobby has come today.

But, I absolutely remember schematics. (I think I mentioned 'em.) You'd even get the schematics for the power supply - sometimes even the monitor. In hindsight, I should have saved all that documentation. It has some historical value and I'm sure that not all of it was preserved. I should have also kept copies of so much software... (I've been 'computing' for a long, long time.)

 

[jronpaul]

That's some really weird CPU and memory use... TBH I'd expect that from a site using crypt-mining scripts. If you're running web apps, it can push your usage up, but even then, you'd have to overload it with 1.21 Gigatabs (film ref.)

In all seriousness, if you haven't tried doing a full reinstall (you can export your bookmarks and import them) then I suggest you do. Export your bookmarks to you home dir, purge FF and the config dirs and do a fresh install. You can then import your bookmarks and you'll have a clean slate and default settings. Alternatively, you may want to use an upstream AppImage of FF just to see if the fault is the version you're running.

There are some other considerations:

• Heavy theming + loads of extensions/plugins, etc.
• Erroneous scripts (incl. crypto-miners) on the sites you're visiting. Installing NoScript/Ublock helps.
• You're on an iGPU which means anything graphical like font AA and smooth scrolling to graphics acceleration will dent it.

You could try other browsers, too, as I suspect it's likely a glitchy config/version:

• Librewolf which is literally FF with a few privacy-enhancing changes and Ublock preinstalled (which may reduce the footprint for reasons of the above and the disabling of some FF "features"). I'm posting from it now (though I swapped out Ublock for NoScript as it's easier).
• Midori/Floorp/etc. browsers. All more/less the same, have their roots in FF, work well, render correctly, and are very fast and snappy. Thay're very lightweight.

One thing I can say is there's no way that machine of yours is too low specc'd... unless it's CPU optimizations like h/w decoding for newer toys like HEVC/x265 and AV1 vis a vis straming video, or AVX2 vis a vis some weird browser game (if browsers have come that far).

thanks for the info...
right now i have no extensions running. and default plugins

i am trying brave, but was unaware of all those other options u mentioned.
this is a fresh install.. but i cant remember if i copied over my .mozilla dir after the fact.,
i believe i did what you mentioned..
exported my history/bookmarks and started new..

 

[Fanboi]

thanks for the info...
right now i have no extensions running. and default plugins
View attachment 23937View attachment 23937
i am trying brave, but was unaware of all those other options u mentioned.
this is a fresh install.. but i cant remember if i copied over my .mozilla dir after the fact.,
i believe i did what you mentioned..
exported my history/bookmarks and started new..

Brave may be useful in that it's chrome-based, so it's a different kettle. When I say a fresh install, I mean not copying .mozilla as well, but try some other browsers, it may just be that particular version of FF, too.

 

[jronpaul]

Brave may be useful in that it's chrome-based, so it's a different kettle. When I say a fresh install, I mean not copying .mozilla as well, but try some other browsers, it may just be that particular version of FF, too.

right..
i tried it by not bringing over .mozilla.. and just import bookmarks..

im on an acer now.. ill give it a shot..
using brave.
12G ram
AMD Ryzen 3 3350U
Core Count: 4

 

[MikeWalsh]

@jronpaul :-

i am trying brave, but was unaware of all those other options u mentioned.

Oh, that's barely scratching the surface.

There's also:-

• Chrome
• Chromium
• Iron
• Slimjet
• Opera
• Vivaldi
• Ungoogled Chromium
• Iridium
• Thorium
• M$ Edge 4 Linux
• Yandex browser

(all Chromium-based)

Then there's:-

• Firefox
• Librefox
• Waterfox
• Pale Moon
• Basilisk
• Midori
• FloorP

(all 'zilla-based)

And then there's the 'odd' stuff:-

• Min
• Netsurf
• Otter
• NetRider
• Dillo
• Falkon
• Tor
• K-Meleon
• Links

......etc, etc (none of which really fits into a neat category). That's a coupla dozen or more alternatives to keep you busy for at least a few days! Doubtless I've missed several others out, but, er......it goes to show, Linux is NOT short of browsers.

In that one respect, we're perhaps better served even than Windows.


Mike.

 

[jronpaul]

@jronpaul :-


Oh, that's barely scratching the surface.

There's also:-

• Chrome
• Chromium
• Iron
• Slimjet
• Opera
• Vivaldi
• Ungoogled Chromium
• Iridium
• Thorium
• M$ Edge 4 Linux
• Yandex browser

(all Chromium-based)

Then there's:-

• Firefox
• Librefox
• Waterfox
• Pale Moon
• Basilisk
• Midori
• FloorP

(all 'zilla-based)

And then there's the 'odd' stuff:-

• Min
• Netsurf
• Otter
• NetRider
• Dillo
• Falkon
• Tor
• K-Meleon
• Links

......etc, etc (none of which really fits into a neat category). That's a coupla dozen or more alternatives to keep you busy for at least a few days! Doubtless I've missed several others out, but, er......it goes to show, Linux is NOT short of browsers.

In that one respect, we're perhaps better served even than Windows.


Mike.

ok, well ill take brave for a ride 1st and see where it goes..
so far, on this acer.. everything's been ok

 

[aeiou]

I've been browsing a few different places for a high value laptop, and I just don't trust Amazon or Google anymore to give me a straight answer as far as recommendations.

It is planned to be a gift for a friend. Chrome books are definitely out. Id like to get something that can run a real OS, and plan to put Linux mint on for him from the start. Price is a factor, but it doesn't have to be the cheapest option.

Priorities are:

1.reliable/durable
2.decent specs, but doesn't need to be a gaming PC. I think he'd be most happy with a good display, and good wireless card with decent range.
3.battery life
4.price

I was looking at a Thinkpad, because their quality is legendary, though I've heard the quality has gone down quite a bit since the brand being acquired by Lenovo. Disappointing, because Lenovo was my top choice for value, they seem to provide very good value for features vs. price.

Id love to hear people's thoughts for what is the best budget laptop for '24. Thanks!

this may help in your search

List of Ryzen CPUs with dedicated NPU for on-chip AI processing

In this article, we list out the Ryzen CPUs with dedicated NPU for on-chip AI processing for specific workloads. Read to know more.

www.faceofit.com

Meet the Intel Core Ultra processor lineup, with built-in NPUs for AI, and Arc graphics

Meteor Lake has landed, ushering in the era of the AI PC.

www.tomshardware.com

Though I'm not a fan of Windows, I definitely like Micro$oft's own laptops, they have a whole lineup starting at the bottom and it goes up from there. A Laptop with an Intel i5, 8gb of RAM and 256ssd/NVMe is very affordable and will run most any Distro of Linux, seamlessly. However, it appears that all the new Micro$oft Laptops will be powered by Snapdragon ARM processors.

 

[Fanboi]

However, it appears the all the new Micro$oft Laptops will be powered by Snapdragon ARM processors.

So... "Applesoft" or "Micropple" anyone? Not that MS haven't copied Apple plenty times before...

Funny thing is when SBCs and mobiles started becoming competitive with x86 platforms for, let's call it, "business workloads" as an umbrella term, I thought, "Ah hell, or lower- to mid-tier laptops are going to be glorified tablets." Then they went and brought out the weird flexi-books (IDK what the proper name is, I call 'em that; they're laptops that fold into tablets or tablets the unfold into laptops, not sure which). Then Apple launched its M1. Then Intel tried to make hybrids...

Was only a matter of time I guess. Future's probably ARM64, ladies and gents (I doubt we'll (ever) see desktop quantum computers, lol).
Better get some decent virtualization (ARM emulating x86 will be a lot harder than x86 emulating ARM) because I'm wondering how much proprietary stuff will actually get ported if it's > 5 years old, let alone 10+. I guess the upside of the Free Software ecosystems is most of our stuff already runs on ARM.

Edit: botched phrasing.

 

[KGIII]

DK what the proper name is

I believe the proper name is 'convertibles'.

Future's probably ARM64

Unless X86 steps up its game, yup. Right now, ARM is faster and more efficient.

I doubt we'll (ever) see desktop quantum computers

Yup. As for the moment, the pundits largely agree that there's no expected use for quantum computing on the desktop. The quantum computer isn't going to be good for the types of tasks done on your traditional desktop computer.

Or so they say...

 

[aeiou]

So... "Applesoft" or "Micropple" anyone? Not that MS haven't copied Apple plenty times before...

Funny thing is when SBCs and mobiles started becoming competitive with x86 platforms for, let's call it, "business workloads" as an umbrella term, I thought, "Ah hell, or lower- to mid-tier laptops are going to be glorified tablets." Then they went and brought out the weird flexi-books (IDK what the proper name is, I call 'em that; they're laptops that fold into tablets or tablets the unfold into laptops, not sure which). Then Apple launched its M1. Then Intel tried to make hybrids...

Was only a matter of time I guess. Future's probably ARM64, ladies and gents (I doubt we'll (ever) see desktop quantum computers, lol).
Better get some decent virtualization (ARM emulating x86 will be a lot harder than x86 emulating ARM) because I'm wondering how much proprietary stuff will actually get ported if it's > 5 years old, let alone 10+. I guess the upside of the Free Software ecosystems is most of our stuff already runs on ARM.

Edit: botched phrasing.

Micro$oft's convertible devices are also called 2-in-1 Laptops. Basically a Tablet with a detachable keyboard, though running Windows instead of a Tablet OS.