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Re: [LUG] OT- Cheap Laptop

 

Paul Sutton wrote:
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Neil Winchurst wrote:
Michael Mortimore wrote:
On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:47:19 -0000, Rob Beard <rob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On the other hand, maybe a netbook might be an option?
I'll second the netbook option. I think they're a fantastic invention
and as far as I've seen they have the added bonus of not coming with vista

My son bought a netbook recently, eeePC. Then he had to buy a separate
DVD drive to go with it. That certainly bumped up the price.

is there a way to say stream a dvd across a network if you have a
desktop with a dvd drive ?
Technically yes, you can share the drive with NFS, Samba (or I guess SSHFS) and then access the DVD drive. Would work for data and unencrypted DVDs. For most DVD movies (i.e. the ones which are encrypted) you'd probably need to decrypt it somehow first.
IMHO one problem with notebooks is the lack of a DVD drive. There just
isn't room for one of course.

Neil

Well for me a netbook + external storage such as a usb flash disk, would
work fine,  All i need it for really is course work,  and something to
carry around say to lug meets or so I can do course work at the rugby
club, saves coming home and doing it,

I agree, I think that's the general idea. I have a DVD drive in my notebook but I don't use it that much. If I had a netbook without a DVD drive I'd simply get an external USB drive.
it would be nice to be able to demo ubuntu at lug meets to any non
members who come along.

Technically we can sometimes do that already, assuming someone comes along with a machine which is running Ubuntu.
Netbooks / notebooks / desktops all have their place it just depends
what you want your computer for,

Yep, when the time comes, I'll probably get my kids a netbook each, won't be for a few years yet, for now they can make do with a desktop PC.
Networking is cheap so it may be possible to share a dvd across a
network. It's possible to at least transfer items to a usb flash disk,
and install stuff that way,  it seems Ubuntu is getting better at
recognising disks with .deb files on and offers to install software or
even do updates.

If it was me and I was installing stuff, I'd just connect to a network and download it, much easier than faffing around with USB sticks trying to get the right dependencies.

I do agree though, a USB stick is ideal for things like transferring general stuff, storing stuff or maybe having a USB stick with a live image on it for installation.

Rob



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