Computer suggestions

JimW · 2017-09-28 16:53

Not exactly a Q4OS question, hence posting here.

My desktop computer is an HP Omni 100. This computer was given to me many years ago by a friend when their house caught on fire. The computer had heavy smoke damage on the display and some of the plastic case had melted from the heat. After cleaning it I was able to get everything working except the camera and the DVD drive. No big deal, I don't use the camera and use an external DVD drive. It has worked fine with Q4OS until about a week ago. I went to do a search for something (can't remember what it was) and when I started typing in the search box I was getting strange characters! Exited and tried again with the same result. So, I rebooted and still the same result. No "enter" key, no "backspace" or "Del" and many characters missing or combo's with escape codes. I changed keyboards and had the same result. Then tried booting from a live cd. No go. At the selection for Install or Live CD it would not accept an enter key! Also changed to another USB port with same result. So, something in hardware, not the keyboard or software..

So my question. In your opinion, would it be better to go buy a used computer or (what I have been thinking about) get a single board computer, like a PI? The problem with the single board computers are that I have no experience with them. I would like to be able to use the hard drive from my present desktop. Also, since I do occasionally make videos, I would need enough speed and memory to run kdenlive and render a 5 or 6 minute video without having to wait for 24 hours! In addition, I would like more than 1 usb port (though I could use a usb hub)
If you think I should give more consideration to a single board, which would you recommend? I'm sure Q4OS will run on almost all of them!

Ok, that's enough fighting with this laptop and windows 8!!!

Dai_trying · 2017-09-28 19:36

I have an early Pi and it is pretty slow in comparison to desktop Pc's, and although the newer models are significantly faster I would imagine they would not be able to compete with a modern-ish desktop system (anything dual-core above 1.6Ghz) and so I would recommend a used desktop system, and a big consideration should be give to ram.
I am not saying Pi's and such like are not good at what they do, just saying that desktops Pc's are more powerful by design. I love my little Pi for my hobby projects and am currently making a large(1.8m x 60cm) led pixel display screen which will be controlled from the Pi (so long as it can cope with it), hopefully I will have it all up and running to be used for a Christmas display.

crosscourt · 2017-09-28 22:32

I just bought a Dell Optiplex 7010 on Ebay with a i5 3.4ghz cpu and 8gb of ram/500gb hard drive and it runs great. You can get them for $100-150 or go a bit older and get a pc for far less.

My Dell Optiplex 780s were $35 complete.

Laptop I just picked up a Dell Latitude E5410 for $69 complete.

Dai_trying · 2017-09-29 03:48

I got a dual core thinkpad for free from somebody who said it was dead (BSOD) but I plugged it in and everything works great! It's now being used in the garage (Q4OS Scorpion of course ) and is very handy when I'm working but need to find some information for a project.
And there are many low cost machines available that are very usable when Q4OS is installed, my slowest is an AMD 1700+ single core machine with 1.5Gb RAM and it runs but I wouldn't want to use it for anything other than basic stuff and it was acting as a cctv server (using zoneminder) until I got a proper system, but it did the job without moaning too much .

crosscourt · 2017-09-30 00:46

Ive still got some Dell d430s with C2D cpus, and a one laptop with an Athlon X2 dual core.

All run Q4OS very well and in fact on Ebay there are so many older systems that run very well for $50 or less that its easy to find something to suit your needs.

Ive also got a Dell XPS with pentium 3 500mhz and a gateway system with a 300mhz pentium 2.

Use to have a lot more but Ive been cleaning out for quite some time.

Many of my pcs were throwaways like my Dell Dimension 570s. Cleaned them and did upgrades where needed and they run great.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-09-30 02:15)

tlmiller76 · 2017-10-15 05:20

I piked up a Latitude E5430 recently for $40. Spent $20 to double the ram and $15 to upgrade the wireless to a Wireless AC+ BT 4.0 chip, and runs fantastic. 3rd generation (Ivy Bridge) core-i5 with 8 GB ram and a 320 GB HDD with a 1600x900 LCD. Not the lightest laptop ever made, but runs great.

crosscourt · 2017-10-15 17:30

Ive got the E5410 from Dell with the i3 cpu, 8gb ram and a 500gb hard drive and extended battery with port replicator for $85. It runs great and youre gonna love your E5430.

crosscourt · 2017-10-18 17:34

Just picked up a Dell Optiplex 7010 usff for $50 so looking forward to playing with it and Q4OS.

JimW · 2017-10-18 21:21

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. I do appreciate the suggestions! I think I did imply how much I hate using this laptop with windows!!
I decided to go with a desktop and today got a Dell Optiplex 380 with a 320 Gig hard drive. Haven't booted it, but sure it has Windows on it. What is the possibility of me pulling my hard drive from my HP Omni 100 and putting it in the Dell? Will I have too many problems from differences? Or should I banish Windows*, install Orion on the 320 Gig hard drive and try to set up the 1 Tbyte drive I have as a second drive? I prefer to just use the 1 T drive, but don't want to re-install everything and risk loosing data. The drive bay is set up for two drives, but the cabling is for a single drive, so to use both drives I would have to order a new SATA cable or use the external USB connector I have.

*

How to banish Microsoft Windows
(usable by apprentice level wizards)
"Q4OS"
"INSTALL"!!
simple!

crosscourt · 2017-10-18 22:00

If the HP Omni drive has Q4OS on it, it well install just fine. I swap hard drives with Linux between systems all the time.

What drive you go with is up to you and couldnt you pull a sata cable from another system to use for that extra drive.
Reinstalling if you back up your data shouldnt be hard, as you can due a fresh install then slide over all your files/data but still have a backup just in case.

Optiplex 380 is a nice system and Optiplex's are rock solid and stable, using standard atx power supplies.

Ive got a Optiplex 7010 mini tower and SFF with i5 cpus and a USFF with a Pentium processor.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-18 22:03)

tlmiller76 · 2017-10-19 01:57

crosscourt wrote:

Ive got the E5410 from Dell with the i3 cpu, 8gb ram and a 500gb hard drive and extended battery with port replicator for $85. It runs great and youre gonna love your E5430.

I actually got a E6510 in the mail today. Lady left the company and had still been using it. Grabbed an old 60 GB SSD that had been in a desktop that died, threw it in there, and am going to put Q4OS on there since the MacBook didn't work out for me.

E6510
Core i7 M640
8 GB DDR3
Broadcom WiFi (however, it's just a wifi card, so Broadcom-STA will work, b43 MIGHT even work)
60 GB SSD

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 02:06

Very nice laptop but be aware of some heat issues with the i7 that have been reported. When using it make sure proper ventilation is available under the laptop and its not setting on a soft surface.

Ive gotten a lot of free systems that people throw out on my property where Im the maintenance manager but would love to see a E6510 show up at my door.

Broadcom STA should work but only seen a few of these.

SSD is really going to make this laptop fly.

Still waiting for my Dell Optiplex 7010 USFF which will be running Q4OS 2.4 eventually. Very small system that uses a 2.5 inch hard drive and Ill take it up to 8gb ram now and eventually upgrade the pentium 3.1ghz to a i5 3570.

tlmiller76 · 2017-10-19 02:50

Didn't even have to do broadcom-sta-dkms OR firmware-b43-installer. The wireless (Broadcom 43224) worked "out of the box". I'm here on chromium in Q4OS on wireless.

THIS runs very nicely. Took me a while to find a bios (had A05, Dells site had A10 and A17, both of which require A09 minimum to upgrade to), so once I found an A09 to upgrade to and then upgraded to A17, installed and off and running. Not the quickest to boot (given it's nearly 8 years old), but runs SUPER nice once it's up and running!

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 02:58

E6510 was sold between 2010 and 2012 so its still a good system. Ive had to be careful with bios upgrades as some newer bios had problems and crashed a few systems. I update with caution after doing some research depending on the system. My E5410 boots very quickly so your system should boot at least as quick.

Glad the Broadcom worked fine. My 7010 SFF I tried a Win 7 install for fun and it couldnt see the Intel ethernet, no driver and its a system manufactured in 2014 with a recent bios. Linux worked fine, no issues.

Not using wireless right now as there have been some hacking incidents so sticking to my wired connection for the time being.

tlmiller76 · 2017-10-19 03:04

Completely off topic, but we needed to update the firmware on our AP's at work due to the recent WPA2 news. We use Aruba with cloud controllers, the AP's all hung after updating firmware and we ended up having no wireless in my companies building yesterday. Of course, I was doing some maintenance for one of our clients, so was working from home, so had to wait for someone else to get into the office to work on them. Didn't have wireless back up and running until almost noon, and it still doesn't work 100% correct (1/3 AP's will allow you to actually connect, the other 2 are broadcasting the SSID, but aren't actually able to be connected to, and I wasn't in the mood to grab a ladder today in order to fix them).

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 03:10

Its been a pain no doubt and a lot of patching has already occured but its not perfect. Ive always been wary of wifi and have used primarily wired connections for years but this year I changed to Comcast and wanted to use wifi at times. That was a mistake and the number of local businesses in my area with problems is huge. I do tech work on the side and the phone calls came hot and heavy. I dont see any long term fix for future issues and I feel for you and how youll cope with it down the road.

crosscourt · 2017-10-21 01:32

Did you ever get everything up and working?

JimW · 2017-10-21 02:21

At a standstill until tomorrow. When I picked up the computer and monitor I did not check the power cords. The Dell monitor has a non-standard power cord! So, I have to go back tomorrow and get the correct power cord. I called the pawn shop I bought it from and the girl asked "Oh, is that the one with the blue end?" I had to tell her that I did not know, since I had not seen it! And unfortunately I no longer have spare monitors sitting around! Been house cleaning for the last 6 months or so, and of course I got rid of things that I need now!

Last edited by JimW (2017-10-21 02:22)

crosscourt · 2017-10-21 02:52

I wonder what Dell monitor that is as most Ive used either have standard power cords or external power supplies.

tlmiller76 · 2017-10-21 04:17

I know some of the earlier Dell monitors that included speakers often had external bricks that connected with the "figure 8" plug.

crosscourt · 2017-10-21 06:10

External power supplies, Ive got a Dell monitor that uses one but never seen anything other than standard power cords when no external psu.

JimW · 2017-10-21 20:08

Ok, who has control of the dunce cap this week?
I went into town and talked to a computer store owner. He also said the monitor should use a standard computer plug. After I got back home I pulled the stand off so I could get the model number of the display, and took a closer look at the plug. Yep, it uses a standard computer plug! The only excuse I can give is that I had a bad sinus headache the day I was setting it up and did not feel like looking any closer when what I saw didn't look right!

Got it up and running and am using it at this time!

crosscourt · 2017-10-21 20:56

LOL! Ive had my moments too JimW with hardware. Im still waiting for my Dell Optiplex 7010 USFF to come as its my first ultra small form factor system.

Its been preinstalled with Peppermint 8 but of course Im going to install Scorpion 2.4 on it as my everyday machine. My other pc will become my gaming rig as I make some big changes to it.

Hows the new system performing?

Ive still got two Dell Optiplex 780s that Im probably not keeping.

Ive moved on to i3/5/7 systems now.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-21 20:59)

JimW · 2017-10-21 21:01

So far it seems to be performing fine. Seems a bit faster than it was on the HP, but I always considered the Omni 100 all in one to just be an overgrown laptop. Now I gotta hook up some speakers since the little built in one is rather tinny.

crosscourt · 2017-10-21 21:05

The 380/780/980 series are good performers. Which version is yours? mini tower, desktop, sff ? I like the sff as its easy to swap hard drives and they still have pcie/pci slots for use in a compact package. The 780s I have are both SFFs.

My only complaints with the 380 are, it only has two memory slots. I had a lot of 2gb ddr3 sticks around so using the 780/980 with 4 memory slots made more sense and it doesnt have the ESata port the other two models has.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-21 21:18)

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#1 2017-09-28 16:53

Computer suggestions

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