this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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358
Hey! I found this old laptop for $500. Do you think I should buy it? Can I run Linux? Arch obviously. (discuss.online)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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;-)

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

yeah its very possible, Take a blow torch and arch linux iso (you need wizard to take it out of your pc you can find the wizard hiding in your tor browser he built a house inside of the tor browser.) then take a blowtorch and burn the iso into the pc front now it should be running arch btw.

[–] linearchaos 14 points 2 days ago

$500 might be a stretch, It weren't for the horrible keyboard, and horrible screen, it might be worth putting a raspberry pi into as a sleeper project.

Yes I realize it's a joke.

[–] Maroon 74 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Temple OS or bust

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago

Terry would be so proud. And racist and scared. But also proud.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 days ago

Oh, now you’re talkin!

[–] Dpof 1 points 2 days ago

Terry would be proud of you right after telling me to make him a Kebab

[–] ggppjj 50 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm in tears, I've finally found the version of this toy I had as a kid.

Thank you so much for this shitpost, sincerely.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

One person’s shit[post] is another one’s childhood 😘

[–] TotalFat 17 points 2 days ago (3 children)

"It belongs in a museum!"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

You belong in a museum.

[–] hakunawazo 3 points 2 days ago

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Just hang it on the wall

[–] [email protected] 45 points 3 days ago (3 children)

You joke but it would be an awesome project. Maybe replace the screen with a real LCD, shove an rpi inside etc.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago

"diy dr.k" on YouTube did something similar with a barbie kid's laptop

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

It does seem like it'd be pretty cool, though much rather them than me lol. I think shoving an rpi inside though would really betray the implicit spirit of the project. That would just be "can a raspberry pi run linux when I put in a plastic case shaped like a children's toy?" The answer would pretty obviously be yes. People are saying the processor in it means it probably couldn't run Linux which would make it a bit of a non-starter but there apparently other OSs that could be made to run on that kind of processor and that'd be cool to see.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah, it’d be really cool if it could run real OS inside it, and can play sound from the builtin speaker it apparently has

[–] iAvicenna 7 points 2 days ago

More importantly, can it run doom?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I don’t know. You should make sure it doesn’t have a Realtek Wi-Fi card. Otherwise, it looks fine. I found the Linux Hardware report for it here: https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=7144bb41

I think the price to performance doesn’t look the best, though. Maybe go for a Thinkpad instead?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Bravo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Realtek work great since 6.2

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I think it’s mistly okay. I had a bit of misery with my 8852BE on my new Thinkpad E16 (the card would just disconnect from the system until the next reboot occasionally), which was solved with some kernel parameters I found online.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If it’s like the older vtech educational toys it uses some z80 processor, so you won’t be able to run Linux but you can a few different hobbyist microcomputer operating systems like zeal8bit and fuzix.

[–] tehn00bi 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Man, I had a vtech “computer” as a kid in the later 90’s. I don’t remember what happened to it or what it was even actually good for.

Pretty sure this is what I had.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/395832416009?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=0qo80bobtii&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=R-vbXi9SRQ6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

...that's the POWER model: the unit posted above is the consumer version with the SX chip, no math coprocessor and fewer function keys...

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I bet my left nut it runs NetBSD flawlessly.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

What am I going to do with your left nut?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

First, I'll use a pair of rusty sizors to extract them, then I slice it into thin strips and fry with a little olive oil and garlic

I recommend with a grain of salt

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Use your imagination.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I think we might both like it…

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 days ago

You may want to also post this to [email protected]

[–] assembly 21 points 3 days ago

Bet it can run doom.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Be sure to wear your hacking goggles while flying through hyperspace, wouldn't wanna catch any bugs in your eyes at such fast speeds.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Oh, I’m not moving. I just always have wind in my hair. 😎😎😎😎

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago

Hanna Montana, and you're good to go.

[–] Hobbes_Dent 16 points 3 days ago

Someone with NetBSD is already scouring eBay.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I wonder what CPU it has. You should tear it down and see if you can get some custom code running.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

What I should do it toss a pi in there and tease everyone

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Is that just a model, or is there actually a display in the middle that does something?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 days ago

Yes, there's a monochrome display in the middle. It's kinda like a TI-86 calculator aimed at children.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

this might unironically run linux depending on the specs

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[–] linearchaos 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I you're going to hack one, this one is much cooler

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186640570101

there's a teardown here:

https://hackaday.com/2020/04/27/teardown-vtech-whiz-kid-luggable-computer/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Wwwwow. Yeah that is cooler. Is that just a repurposed oscilloscope?

[–] linearchaos 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Realistically with that screen size you could put anything in that thing. How do you get the impression that it might be a little smaller than it looks though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah, since it’s for kids, I think we need an adult sized hand in there for scale. Or a banana

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

@ravhall half a kilobuck just to make it happen? guess if that floats your arch boat, go do it and report back on your success!

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