The give me Advice thread
 

Alright, I have an IBM Thinkpad 390E laptop with about a 4gb harddrive, something like 128mb ram, and I think a 700mhz processor. What I would like your help is to give me ideas of what to put on it. I am planning on reformating the whole thing because it's old as dirt and runs like shit with a spyware encrusted harddrive. I'd like suggestions on anything from your favorite programs, to your favorite operating system. I want this laptop to be as "lightweight" as possible, not in actual weight, but in the amount of programs/OS usage. I also would like to have a very smooth running and good looking box, while still being functional and accesible. I'm open to any suggestions, and ready to investigate anything.

To sum up what I need:
IBM thinkpad 390E Laptop
aprox 700mhz processor(not positive atm)
aprox 4gb harddrive
aprox 128mb RAM
must have support for PCMCIA cards

So firstly, let's start by getting some suggestions for a good operating system. I'm looking for something that is easy to use, has a GUI, and also has some customibility. It also needs to run smoothly on my system. This could be anything from linux to windows, just what you think I should use and why. You can also list some OS spefic programs that you think are a must, (windowsblinds, etc...)

Secondly any other programs that you use and love. Winamp, AIM, Trillion, etc...

I'd also be happy to spend as little on this as possible, but still any suggestions are appreciate.

Hum, I'm going to suprisingly say windows 98 here, provided you optimise it properly and put somthing like Windowsblinds on it (There is a free alternative somwear) if you want it to look nicer.

As for programs, Winamp of corse, Acronis OS selector (I think there older versions are free online) wich makes managing HDD's a lot less troublesome. Spybot S&D, Adaware, GIMP and a decent Virus scanner.

There are probably versions of Linux that would be good, but to be honest, I have not had experiance with Nix systems prior to Mandrake 9.2. So I dont know a lot about older systems.

Thanks Vie, I'm checking out that Acronis OS program right now.
Any ony else got any advice?

what brand of PCMCIA cards. i tested suse's live DVD thing and it worked. I have a dlink DWL-G650 xtreme-g card and it was recognized. Suse also runs really nice and looks good too.

one thing you might want to do is use Knoppix to test the hardware(it will also tell you your processor).

secondly, are there any upgrades your gonna do. throw in a bigger HD then maybe RAM, but knoppix/linux/suse should run fine on a good sized pagefile

edit: here is the suse link if you want to test it. the eval DVD and real versions run almost alike
http://www.novell.com/products/linux...nux/index.html

I am not planning on doing any upgrades to it because for one thing, they are damn hard to find and most of the ones I find are too expensive. My cards are going to be a generic wired one, I can't remember it's brand. I currently also have a Netgear 802.11b wireless card, but I am planning on getting a G network, so that would be the only thing changing. I'll look at suse and see what it's like. Thanks for the suggestions.

Anyone else have anything?

4 gig hard drive? That sounds like a portable audio player with internet abilites. Get a car cigerette adapter for it, and roam around for wireless access points or something.