I've gotta find Patti a new laptop...HELP!

Daniel~

Daniel~

Chief BBS Administrator
Staff member
Her needs are minimal. Internet and e-mail. Low power use and durable, no junk, just low power. She NEVER plays games. would like a fairly high quality display as she may wish to watch movies on it.

This will be a first for both of us and I'm completely blind to what ever pit falls may await us.

And of course it must be Mint capable from the ground up.":O}

Your assistance will be greatly appreciated as we can't afford to make a mistake and she need a laptop yesterday.
 
Does it have to be a laptop?

Personally, I'd go for a tablet if I just wanted to surf the web, send emails and watch movies.
 
Thanks! Just the sort of information I'M looking for. Who makes the best low cost tablet or lap top,...recommendations are very welcome.
What should I look for or avoid?
 
'Best' is a relative term. I've got the Samsung Tab S10, which runs Android. In terms of specs, it's pretty nice, plenty of CPU and graphics power for a hand-held, but a bit pricey. The only thing I don't like about it is the Samsung crap that gets loaded, but I mostly just ignore that.

There's also the Apple iPad, although I'm guessing you probably aren't going to be a big Apple fan.

I just bought my granddaughter a 10" tablet from Best Buy, which cost $99 (I think it was the Insignia one). It's adequate for web browsing and e-mail, but don't expect to play anything very demanding in the way of games; t's a little lacking in horsepower, even by tablet standards. It also runs Android.

Stay away from anything that's not running Android; there are a number of tables out there that run some home-grown proprietary OS that is severely lacking in terms of apps.
 
She's saved a bit over a $1000.00. I will be her admin and so would like to run Mint of it, how doable is that?
 
I was speaking in terms of tablets, per Danrok's comment. Generally speaking, while it is possible to root them and install your own OS, it usually isn't pretty.

If you are determined to go with a laptop instead, then I would imagine most anything would work. You can get some refurbished Dells at about a 15% cost savings. Or you could shop on E-Bay for something. It really depends on what your needs are, but unless you get something really esoteric, I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to install Mint on it.
 
Tablets that come with Android installed have ARM processors not x86 processors, and AFAIK Mint does not support ARM processors.

Personally, I don't really understand the need to it running Mint. It shouldn't really matter what's under the hood if it does want you want very well.

$1000 is a lot of money for a tablet or notebook these days! I don't think you need to spend that much.

What about one of these?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-C302CA-GU010-Rotatable-Touchscreen-Chromebook/dp/B01MU9LS52

Comes with Chrome installed, but should work with just about any OS including Mint.

You could see how she gets on with it, without installing Mint, that has the advantage of being able to run Android apps.

It should be very easy to use, she may not need an admin!
 
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