[RULE] Fujitsu "Lifebook" 530T

[Martin Stricker]

Hi Owen!

Owen Dorsey wrote:

>         The computer is a Pentium (one)54SLM, 133MHz, with math-co,
> but no MMX, L1 cache=16KB on board, L2=256KB pipeline burst SRAM, PCI
> Bus, 80MB EDO RAM, 2MB Video RAM supports 800 X 600 64K colors,
> MPEG-1 video compression, 11.3" flat-panel TFT active matrix LCD,
> 1.3GB HDD, external floppy disk, 6X (IDE?) CD-ROM, PS/2 Glide Point
> mouse, PS/2 101 Keyboard with Windoz keys, PCMCIA Type I/II/III with
> Zoom Video port, 3COM 56K PCMCIA Card modem, Sound Blaster 16
> compatible, etc. In 1996 it wasn't all that impressive, but it was
> very expensive.

Not impressive? I'd say it was rather high-end back then, especially for
a laptop! When I bought my current computer (Pentium I MMX 166) in
spring 1997, 16 MB RAM was common. I already invested in 32...

>         A few weeks ago, I bought a book - RH Linux 7.2 crash course
> in 15 hours - with the "publishers' version" on two CDs.

Not exactly the current version, but then 8.0 would be even slower...

> Please note, I have no networking card, but I surf the web with
> dial-up and Galleon.

Not the best choice, it takes up a *lot* of system resources. Mozilla is
better (10 MB download), but you might want to check out Opera as well,
and the "small mozilla" (sorry, forgot the name, it's on mozilla.org).

>         But - yes - it is S-L-O-W. Not just the web, but
> applications, the desktop(s), everything. And the longer the system
> is up-and-running, the slower it gets. I like the idea of
> streamlining my operation to speed things up, and not buy new
> hardware.

The one thing you might want to consider is more RAM. But you already
have 80 MB... So you want to switch to software that needs less system
resources. Get rid of Gnome or KDE and use XFce instead, and so on.

>         I would like to listen to music CDs while I explore the web
> (with graphics), and write my essays, and e-mail, and become
> comfortable (and helpful?) with Linux, and do these few tasks on a
> newly crisp and speedy old laptop.

That should be possible, just choose your applications carefully. Maybe
you need to accept that some features are not present in the smaller
programs, but often you don't need all the bloat of features. Try to
find applications that can perform exactly the tasks you need - and
nothing more.

You should take a look at the software map at
http://ww.rule-project.org/en/sw/ Not much in there yet, this part of
our project was just started (the installer was more important: How to
tune a system if you cannot get it installed...). Please help filling it
by reporting software that works well for you, and also software that
doesn't. If you don't know some of the requested information, leave the
field blank. Any information you can provide is helpful! Thank you very
much! Note: Entries you make do not show up immediately, they are hold
for approval.

I should give you some more pointers for useful software, but I'm tired
right now, it's 3 AM here in Germany...

Best regards,
Martin Stricker
-- 
Homepage: http://www.martin-stricker.de/
Linux Migration Project: http://www.linux-migration.org/
Red Hat Linux 7.3 for low memory: http://www.rule-project.org/
Registered Linux user #210635: http://counter.li.org/


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