It's crazy how much you can still do with 4gb of ram

[super_user_do]

Hi all! I needed a backup laptop to bring in my trips because my main one is too expensive and my memory is really bad. I have therefore bought a nice Thinkpad L512 for 50€ and I've got to say the performance on Linux are really good! They are so good that I can still proficiently code, watch videos online, program and even join relatively crowded zoom calls for work. I just wanted to share my joy with you. Have you ever resurrected a computer with linux?

 

[PuppyHome]

Hi all! I needed a backup laptop to bring in my trips because my main one is too expensive and my memory is really bad. I have therefore bought a nice Thinkpad L512 for 50€ and I've got to say the performance on Linux are really good! They are so good that I can still proficiently code, watch videos online, program and even join relatively crowded zoom calls for work. I just wanted to share my joy with you. Have you ever resurrected a computer with linux?


View attachment 24560

Oh, yes. Thinkpads and Linux equals a great match. Used to run Lubuntu on a Thinkpad T-42 (32bit if I remember well). Might have been a T-40, dunno.

Have fun with it.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

I bought an Acer C720 chromebook off of Ebay for $27.00 a few weeks ago and installed Fedora 41 on it. I'm using it right now actually.

Here are the specs:

user@fedora:~$ inxi
CPU: dual core Intel Celeron 2957U (-MCP-) speed/min/max: 798/800/1400 MHz
Kernel: 6.13.5-200.fc41.x86_64 x86_64 Up: 1d 5h 0m Mem: 3.13/3.69 GiB (84.8%)
Storage: 14.91 GiB (59.4% used) Procs: 253 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.37

The above output is with 7 browser tabs open and about 7-10 office documents open and a couple of terminal windows open. I have found chromium to use less ram than firefox so I've been using that as my browser.

I thought this was such a good deal I bought a couple more of the same machines. One each for my parents and an extra one for me. One of them came with only 2 GB (the ebay seller refunded me $16.00 for the 2 GB machine) and I'm still able to use it! Basically four fully functional laptops for about a $100.00 or a little less.

 

[KGIII]

They are so good that I can still proficiently code, watch videos online, program and even join relatively crowded zoom calls for work.

Absoluely. I run VMs with that much RAM.

You do need to tailor your expectations, but you'll have a satisfactory experience if you do so. It's going to bog down if you have a ton of browser tabs open (and active) at the same time - that sort of stuff.

But, if you just want to stream a video in the background while working, it'll do that. It'll do that just fine. It may bog down if you're trying to stream it in 4k while doing so but, again, that's about tailoring your expectations.

Heck, you could even do some light gaming, including some retro gaming, with those specs.

 

[super_user_do]

Oh, yes. Thinkpads and Linux equals a great match. Used to run Lubuntu on a Thinkpad T-42 (32bit if I remember well). Might have been a T-40, dunno.

Have fun with it.

Well, 32bit machines are old, it's an extreme usecase!

 

[super_user_do]

Absoluely. I run VMs with that much RAM.

You do need to tailor your expectations, but you'll have a satisfactory experience if you do so. It's going to bog down if you have a ton of browser tabs open (and active) at the same time - that sort of stuff.

But, if you just want to stream a video in the background while working, it'll do that. It'll do that just fine. It may bog down if you're trying to stream it in 4k while doing so but, again, that's about tailoring your expectations.

Heck, you could even do some light gaming, including some retro gaming, with those specs.

free and open source games run good for the most part. I have tried Xonotic and Unvanquished and minecraft run well, but the lack of vulkan support for the GPU is palpable

 

[KGIII]

the lack of vulkan support for the GPU is palpable

Yeah, that will make a difference. The computer I use for retro gaming has just the onboard Intel HD graphics and it supports vulkan reasonably well. I have yet to put a dedicated graphics card into it because I'm not sure I can justify it.

I bought that computer similar to how/why you bought your computer. I wanted to see what I could get for $100. Well, I got a 6th gen i5 with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM. I did buy 32 GB of RAM for $20 on eBay. As it's a small form factor computer, I'm limited in graphics cards. I can get one that will work just fine for retro gaming for about $70. That kind of ruins the 'I got it for $100'. So, I have yet to be able to rationalize the purchase. I can just as easily spend that money on one of my more modern computers.

So, we had similar thoughts. In my case, I consider that computer to be completely disposable. In fact, I've already had my hundred dollars worth of use out of it, so it owes me nothing. I may do a real gaming computer and gift that one (set up as it is) to a neighbor's kid.

Also, if you want to have a bunch of tabs open, look into a browser extension like 'Auto Tab Discard'. It will unload your idle tabs from memory, preserving your RAM but making it quick and easy to still use your tabs. I use that even with computers that are pretty beefy.

 

[MikeRocor]

Hi all! I needed a backup laptop to bring in my trips because my main one is too expensive and my memory is really bad. I have therefore bought a nice Thinkpad L512 for 50€ and I've got to say the performance on Linux are really good! They are so good that I can still proficiently code, watch videos online, program and even join relatively crowded zoom calls for work. I just wanted to share my joy with you. Have you ever resurrected a computer with linux?


View attachment 24560

Pretty much -all- of my computers have been resurrected with linux. About the only computer that I've run into that I -couldn't- resurrect with linux is a 2002 vintage Thinkpad - and that's because the laptop is just plain dead. Even so, I'm using it as an air deflector in front of the warm air register in my computer room, though I can't really give linux any credit for that. Can't say I've ever seen another laptop with two optical drives in it - there must have been an interesting use case for that build.

Re. 4 GB of RAM: That's actually plenty of RAM for most (of my) purposes. About the only time I run into issues with -only- 4 GB is with a "modern" browser browsing "modern" web sites - and I only do that on my main machine (which has a lot more than 4GB of RAM). Like with money and sex, I'm sure it's possible to have too much RAM - but it takes an awful lot of it to reach that point.

 

[Brickwizard]

The 2011 M480 is a twin core 2 threads per core CPU, in its day it was one of the better mobile CPU's and no slouch, it only supports up to 8gb ram, but for most daily computing 4 gb is fine, but as its now 14 ys old I would be inclined to keep to a medium or light distribution such as,
Peppermint
Mint LMDE
Lubuntu
Parrot home'
Linux Lite
MX linux
but many others would fit the bill

 

[KGIII]

Can't say I've ever seen another laptop with two optical drives in it - there must have been an interesting use case for that build.

Some older laptops would let you swap in and out a tray with hardware on it, an extra optical media drive is one such example but it could be a hard drive or even a network card. There was a dummy plate that covered the port when it was not in use. You could also order them in various configurations.

As I recall, using them for a second HDD was the most common use - for those that did upgrade them.

 

[The Duck]

"It's crazy how much you can still do with 4gb of ram"​

I ran Linux desktops for years that were dual core and 4.0GB of ram without problems.

A lot of user's think you have to have 16 GB of ram and 8 core processors or you can't do anything.

Nonsense.

It all depends on what you need and what a user can afford.

I'm just now getting computers with quad core processors and 8.0GB of ram.

I've just now got around to having an SSD.

But yes you can do quite a bit of computing using a low powered computer with only 4.0GB of ram.

 

[MikeRocor]

"It's crazy how much you can still do with 4gb of ram"​

I ran Linux desktops for years that were dual core and 4.0GB of ram without problems.

A lot of user's think you have to have 16 GB of ram and 8 core processors or you can't do anything.

Nonsense.

It all depends on what you need and what a user can afford.

I'm just now getting computers with quad core processors and 8.0GB of ram.

I've just now got around to having an SSD.

But yes you can do quite a bit of computing using a low powered computer with only 4.0GB of ram.

I've only in the last few years got into systems with 8GB (though my current laptop has 12) and the only systems I have with SSDs are currently not using them (one's off line and the other is a thin client with a whopping 16 GB M.2). For a decade plus, my goto "PC" was a Poweredge with 4 GB of RAM but, between power supplies and disks getting a bit long in the tooth it was time to move on.

 

[The Duck]

I hear ya as I'm using a desktop atm with a dual core processor and 8.0GB of ram and it runs great for most things.

Google Earth online beta I guess is the version is a bit slow.

I believe this is fault of the Intel motherboard graphics.

Graphics:  Card: Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics Controller

It's a free 12 year old computer neighbor was throwing out.

 

[MikeRocor]

I love it when my friends/neighbors/relatives are ready to throw out their tech, though I sometimes feel bad for them. By the time they reach that point, they're usually so sick of it they don't even want me to try to fix it.

 

[The Duck]

What I like about folks throwing out their old computers is when they come over and see how well their old computer runs on Linux.

Do I feel bad hell no they could have ask for me to help them but they did not.

Most folks I know with their new Windows 11 computers are not very pleased with how they operate.

Windows 11 OS requires a powerful computer to give a good experience for the user.

Oh well ya buy cheap ya get cheap imo.

 

[dos2unix]

When we first installed slackware on a 486. (32-bit) it ran in a whopping 8MB of RAM. Mb not Gb.
About six months later we had a 32MB Pentium 586 system (still 32-bit), It didn't get much better than that.
Our 2MB Matrox Millenium video card was top of the crop.

 

[MikeRocor]

I try not to gloat (though it's hard) when they see their "trash" computer performing like a champ.

If they ask, I'll always try to resurrect MS Windows for them but TBH, I'm almost never successful. Often, they've already bought a new machine and just want me to recover their data - I have a much better success rate in that.

They all seem to truly despise Windows 11 but they feel trapped (even those who don't need or use any Windows-specific feature). They whine, "I don't want to have to relearn everything." And I ask, "You mean like MS makes you do every couple of years anyway?" But they will. not. change. And I reap the benefits.

Windows 11 OS requires a powerfull computer to give a good experience for MS.

True enough re. "cheap". "You get what you pay for" is a demonstrably false statement. Correctly worded, "You -don't- get what you -don't- pay for", although there are exceptions... like hand-me-down computers.

 

[The Duck]

They all seem to truly despise Windows 11 but they feel trapped (even those who don't need or use any Windows-specific feature). They whine, "I don't want to have to relearn everything." And I ask, "You mean like MS makes you do every couple of years anyway?" But they will. not. change.

Hits the nail on the head.

Windows 11 OS requires a powerfull computer to give a good experience for MS.

True enough re. "cheap". "You get what you pay for" is a demonstrably false statement. Correctly worded, "You -don't- get what you -don't- pay for", although there are exceptions... like hand-me-down computers.

I was a pipe fitter who installed water sprinkler systems in buildings for the state department.

I'm not much of a scholar so putting what I mean to say on paper doesn't always end with proper use of the English language.

I'm better at getting what I mean in perspective when I'm in person and not having to write it out.

 

[Brickwizard]

I'm not much of a scholar so putting what I mean to say on paper doesn't always end with proper use of the English language.

Don't put yourself down Leaky [leaky is site affectionate slang for a plumber in the UK] you have skills and knowledge others do not, so what if it takes you a little longer to compose and write a reply, there is no rush, I am an Oxbridge speaker so even I suffer when talking to Brits around the country who have strong local accents and paraphrasing, this site is not time-critical, so don't think you need to rush. And try to be clear in what you are saying. You have been a member around 18 months, and so far I cannot think of any occasion where I could not understand what you were trying to say.

Brian

 

[MikeRocor]

Hits the nail on the head.


I was a pipe fitter who installed water sprinkler systems in buildings for the state department.

I'm not much of a scholar so putting what I mean to say on paper doesn't always end with proper use of the English language.

I'm better at getting what I mean in perspective when I'm in person and not having to write it out.

I didn't mean to criticize your post, just ranting against a common saying that so misses its intended point.