[Cialug] New members looking for test laptop

[Don Ellis]

I like using virtualization. VirtualBox works pretty well most of the time.
I like to compare VMWare and Parallels and see what each of the three is
missing.

You may not get a full emulation, especially when using the more ambitious
UIs, but a lower-end laptop would probably show very similar limitations.
You will get a pretty good taste of each distro. And, if you want, you can
switch to full-screen mode and won't even see the host OS unless you want
to.

--Don Ellis


On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 2:32 PM, chris rheinherren
<c.rheinherren at gmail.com>wrote:

> I generally use virtualizations to try out other distros using Virtualbox
> myself.
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 2:27 PM, David Champion <dchamp1337 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > There are several places that will sell you a refirbished laptop, i.e.
> > Newegg.com or Tigerdirect, for about $200. You can also go look at what
> > these guys have, over in Clive:
> >
> > http://midwestelectronicrecovery.com/outlet-store/
> >
> > Another option for trying out Linux distributions, if you have a PC
> running
> > Windows or a Mac, is to use virtualizations. Virtualbox is free and very
> > easy to use.
> >
> > -dc
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 1:51 PM, wdmtrader <wdmtrader at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > My son and I are new to the group so please gently correct me if this
> > > request is inappropriate.  We are looking for a cheap laptop to
> > experiment
> > > with various Linux distros.  We would like to experiment with Ubuntu,
> > > Fedora, and others.  Can you please recommend where we may find
> something
> > > under $200 (free is even better)?  What specs should we be looking for
> > > (RAM, CPU, DVD, DVI/HDMI out, etc.)?
> > >
> > > On a related note, is there a good resource that compares/contrast
> > various
> > > distros?  What are the trade offs for choosing Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint,
> > etc.?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Scott Burklund
>