Help me dumpster dive

SteveDallas · 12-14-2005, 12:17 PM

The Dallas family has one computer that gets fairly heavy use... it's a home-built system with an Athon XP 2200+ processor and 768MB of RAM. The kidlets are at the stage where we're considering another computer for them, but it has to be done on a stringent budget. I see two options:

1. Take the old computer, 233MHz Pentium MMX and make something out of it.

2. Buy an upgrade for the grownups and give the kids the 2200 system.

Now for #1 what I've envisioned is running Damn Small Linux. It boots up well on old hardware and runs much faster than Winblows on the same hardware. It would give the kids Firefox and a basic word processor and paint program. Perfectly good. The problem is I'm not getting it to work 100%... it doesn't handle text properly when running flash applications, and that spells trouble for using Millsberry and Yahooligans. I'm sure this could be fixed with proper setup but it's past me and I'm not getting feedback from the DSL forum. At any rate these are remain critical apps... I'm not married to DSL though I'm liking it a lot as I try it out. What other options would you explore for a bare-bones linux distro for this purpose (which, may have the same problematic font options)? I'm running Fedora Core at work but that's different because I have new hardware and do 99% of my stuff at the command line.

For #2 I've got a spare CD drive, 40GB hard drive, and 17" monitor, so I'm looking at a case, motherboard, CPU, and memory (assuming sound, video, and network intergarted on the motherboard). These caught my eye.

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131512
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819104241
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505

Even at that pricing I'm not sold... would rather do #1 and wait for another couple hardware cycles to pass. But it has to be a noticable upgrade from what we have now or it's not worth the effort.

Thoughts?

Troubleshooter · 12-14-2005, 12:50 PM

One thing I've found recently is that flash has become so resource intensive that a 233 may have difficulty with it.

mbpark · 12-15-2005, 10:25 AM

Flash on a Pentium 233 MMX is painful.

Better to get a new motherboard and CPU.

Mitch

tw · 12-16-2005, 07:24 PM

The Pentium 233 belongs on a network where it can access selected Internet functions. I still use a few 486s to access the internet. However I must avoid Netscape, Adobe after version 5.0, and other CPU intensive programs that are poorly written or that do so much more than I need (ie moving advertisements). Still even a 486 works fine for many function - as would the 233.

However 486s would long ago been retired if using Windows 9x/ME (pathetic) software. 486 is sufficiently faster due to Windows NT 4.0. 486s also serves as data backup. One serves as a print server. It also serves as a test station to learn which application software is so pathetically designed as to waste CPU cycles. Or to better learn what software is really doing. In your case, a platform to learn about derivatives of Unix. And as a platform to appreciate what new features make computer living better.

12-14-2005, 12:17 PM	#1
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Help me dumpster dive The Dallas family has one computer that gets fairly heavy use... it's a home-built system with an Athon XP 2200+ processor and 768MB of RAM. The kidlets are at the stage where we're considering another computer for them, but it has to be done on a stringent budget. I see two options: 1. Take the old computer, 233MHz Pentium MMX and make something out of it. 2. Buy an upgrade for the grownups and give the kids the 2200 system. Now for #1 what I've envisioned is running Damn Small Linux. It boots up well on old hardware and runs much faster than Winblows on the same hardware. It would give the kids Firefox and a basic word processor and paint program. Perfectly good. The problem is I'm not getting it to work 100%... it doesn't handle text properly when running flash applications, and that spells trouble for using Millsberry and Yahooligans. I'm sure this could be fixed with proper setup but it's past me and I'm not getting feedback from the DSL forum. At any rate these are remain critical apps... I'm not married to DSL though I'm liking it a lot as I try it out. What other options would you explore for a bare-bones linux distro for this purpose (which, may have the same problematic font options)? I'm running Fedora Core at work but that's different because I have new hardware and do 99% of my stuff at the command line. For #2 I've got a spare CD drive, 40GB hard drive, and 17" monitor, so I'm looking at a case, motherboard, CPU, and memory (assuming sound, video, and network intergarted on the motherboard). These caught my eye. http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131512 http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819104241 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505 Even at that pricing I'm not sold... would rather do #1 and wait for another couple hardware cycles to pass. But it has to be a noticable upgrade from what we have now or it's not worth the effort. Thoughts?

12-14-2005, 12:50 PM	#2
Troubleshooter The urban Jane Goodall Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 3,012	One thing I've found recently is that flash has become so resource intensive that a 233 may have difficulty with it. __________________ I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law. - Aristotle

12-15-2005, 10:25 AM	#3
mbpark Lecturer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 761	Flash on a Pentium 233 MMX is painful. Better to get a new motherboard and CPU. Mitch

12-16-2005, 07:24 PM	#4
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	The Pentium 233 belongs on a network where it can access selected Internet functions. I still use a few 486s to access the internet. However I must avoid Netscape, Adobe after version 5.0, and other CPU intensive programs that are poorly written or that do so much more than I need (ie moving advertisements). Still even a 486 works fine for many function - as would the 233. However 486s would long ago been retired if using Windows 9x/ME (pathetic) software. 486 is sufficiently faster due to Windows NT 4.0. 486s also serves as data backup. One serves as a print server. It also serves as a test station to learn which application software is so pathetically designed as to waste CPU cycles. Or to better learn what software is really doing. In your case, a platform to learn about derivatives of Unix. And as a platform to appreciate what new features make computer living better.

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