(Solved) This will be used in CLI mode to do some tiny programming and text file note-taking. Having WiFi would be nice. The price has got to be CHEAP. ARM is ok.
OP decided to kill windows on the Timberborn machine and go with Debian.
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Define cheap. 11" Dell 3140’s in like new condition with Intel N200 processors, 8GB RAM, wifi, SSD and a decent keyboard have been coming up on Ebay and Woot every few weeks for $170 or so. Debian 12 detects all hardware immediately on installation.
Find an old chrome book that has an x86 cpu and can do core boot. I got mine for $10.
Is coreboot that system where the machine basically boots into a FORTH interpreter that has vocabulary words to read and boot from various media. That would be sweet - Forth is a hoot once you get used to it.
For those needs, an old used thinkpad off ebay would be pretty ideal. Affordable, well built and reliable. Only downside is I think the smallest model is a 12"
Perhaps a Chromebook known for being compatible with being flashed with Linux?
Thinkpad made 10" models?
… I found the Thinkpad 10, which is a tablet computer and a bit ridiculous for OPs intentions (or mine, for that matter, I’m looking for me too, lol).
Edit: the comment I’m replying to didn’t mention size when I replied.
there’s the Thinkpad Mini 10 but like uhhh uhhhhhhhhhhh i wouldn’t recommend it
Ok I finally bit the bullet - Windows is blown away. I have not played Timberborn in over 2 months and having a windows machine on my network has always kinda made me feel like I had a spy in the house. Unfortunatly the wife works from home so there are still two windows machines I can’t do anything about. My ASUS Vivobook i7 15" laptop is getting Debian but no GUI installed. I don’t need a GUI to setup tailscale do I? Anyone know of a good settlement or city building game that is free and runs under Linux?
FYI, Timberborn plays just fine on Linux. Most games do these days.
Check out ProtonDB.com. You don’t necessarily need Steam either, so you could probably do it just CLI if you really wanted.
The issue so far is that I bought the Windows version of Timberborn on Steam, so it won’t install on my Linux box. Do you suppose since I own the Windows version, the makers of Timberborn would allow me to download the appropriate files for Linux? I thought I had gotten it working last night, but instead I was just streaming it from the windows box.
If you bought it on Steam, you get it in every “version” (for each OS) that the game was released on. If there’s a Linux runtime, then you’d have both the Windows version, and the Linux version.
Most games don’t have a Linux runtime, and that’s fine. All you need to do is go to “compatibility” in the game settings in Steam, and check the box. Then click the drop-down and select a Proton version (best bet for you is prob “experimental”), and most of the time that’s all you need to do. Protondb.com will tell you if there’s any tweaking needed, or if a specific version of Proton is called for.
This is exactly how the Steam Deck works. Try a gaming-centric distro like Bazzite if you want an even more seamless experience (based on immutable Fedora Silverblue with a bunch of tools and presets focused on gaming. Great for everyday, non-gaming use as well).
Proton is actually incredible. I’ve found that I’ve often gotten better results with running the Windows version of a game with Proton than the actual Linux runtime.
the i7 was originally mean to be a my take away bridge over tailscale when I am away from home, and a programming machine (or perhaps a look up machine while I program on the i5 desktop)
I have loaded the laptop i7 laptop up with Debian 12, next is Steam so I will try it there. The machine I was going to run it on would not complete a launch and just sat there with the fans going full blast and a black screen…
Ok, currently, Timberborn will launch but will hang hard after a short time. I used the wrong engine (?) so I will try “Experimental” and report back.
Even with experimental it hangs…
https://www.protondb.com/app/1062090?device=pc
Try any of the launch commands there? Pretty simple, usually just have to copy/paste.
I have Timberborn, btw, and it runs fine out of the box for me on Bazzite. Though I do have AMD. Though I don’t think Intel CPU should matter… Nvidia GPU, maybe. But Intel shouldn’t cause any issues with gaming.
Maybe try ge-proton. This is a slightly modified version by some dude named “GloriousEggroll” who basically releases modified versions of the newest Proton that are sometimes better with respect to compatibility. It’s what I use as my default (though I do have to update it manually. Experimental will update automatically). Discover store has “ProtonUp qt” or something like that, that makes it easy to download and when you do it automatically adds it as an option in the compatibility menu.
You can enable Steam Play in your Linux steam client through the settings, and you should be able to install and run any Windows game you have in Steam
Any model from any major brand made in the last 10 years off craigslist?
With that kind of spec I, don’t know what you’re expecting—anything that turns on will be able to do that.
The hard part is tiny: 10" diagonal screen and really cheap: like milk money cheap - - Perhaps a netbook would work, some of them were Linux based right?
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-3190-11-6inch-Gorilla/dp/B07RXH56C5/
$89. The alternatives are $180+, so this is about as good as you’re going to get unless you go second hand, and most of the time second hand is more expensive than new because people want to recoup the costs as much as possible without actually thinking about what a fair price is.
Netbooks, haven’t seen them in a decade. They were sluggish at best even running linux. The screens were awful. Seriously, I can’t recommend. A refurbished 10” tablet with a bluetooth keyboard would work 10 times better.
The Asus EeePC 1000H that I bought back in 2009 is a 10 inch monitor netbook. 160 GB HDD because I didn’t go with SSD, only came with 1 GB of RAM and cruicially was offered in both Windows XP and Linux flavor which was a bit niche at the time.
Its 32-bit single core (hyperthreading) atom processor is very slow at 1.6GHz, but it can still be used with antiX for my usecase.
If you manage to get hold of one of these old dinosaurs, I’d probably opt for an SSD solution, that’s a pretty big bottleneck.Just use a phone?
For programming?!
Zoomers takes notes on their phones, bet they do programming as well
Op didn’t say what she wants to do. I maintain my server with my phone. If I really wanted to, I could also work on it efficidntly
btw, I am a he/him : ^ ) But thanks for being inclusive.
too small, no keyboard - I tried using my phone with a USB keyboard and a OTG adapter and most keys work but for some reason escape did not.
Maybe check your local Craigslist or e-waste recycler? Someone on Craigslist near-ish me has a 10" Dell Inspiron laptop for $25. There’s also a HP mini 110 that the seller is asking way too much for, lol.
That size of laptop/netbook has kind of fallen out of fashion and it seems to be touchscreen tablet-likes in that size now. You’ll want to keep build quality in mind with the older machines because a lot of stuff is soldered together at that size and age, I had a HP Stream 11 and the hardware recently failed - it was e-waste when I bought it but it ran Linux well until it died.
Yeah, This sounds like the thing… I really have to limit the cost to “Recycle cans and bottles” money because we (wife and I) recently bought me parts for a mini-ATX workstation ~$500.00 i5 8gb memory and an SSD I already had.
No one is making 10" models. You’d need to buy a used netbook from 2010 to get a 10" screen. Get a normal laptop please.
If you can accept 11” the old intel macbook airs are what you’re asking for.
They’re in the free - $50 price range now.
I have a 1st Gen Surface Go running Kubuntu and it works pretty well. Oddly, the Stylus works better using Wayland than X11. I don’t use it for much other than note taking and remote access to my main computer, and they’re available on ebay for around $100-150.
I use a 2013 macbook air for this kind of thing. It works great!
@waspentalive theres some cheap intel n100 devices that you can get…
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook
