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Just how much of a laptop is actually needed to function? — Parallax Forums

Just how much of a laptop is actually needed to function?

Not the shell, and recent research(laptop teardown) suggests. Yesterday I tore out the motherboard and peripherials from an HP g62 laptop. This one has a history. Our church used to use it for projecting music lyrics until several months past. We used it there until the mechanical hard drive failed. So I brought it home and booted Puppy Linux 4.3.1 out of a 32GB USB flash drive :P!
Yesterday I was watching PC build videos on youtube and figuring out how they work. So I asked myself: "What all is actually needed in a laptop?". Turns out, just the motherboard, processor, cooling system, and memory/peripherals. I tried to post a video of it booting, but I get a little problem, "No file data could be found in your post".

Comments

  • It's possible turn a flash drive into a stay at home drive, via a widget that one company makes, lookup StarTech on Google.

  • Done with laptops; one of my 3 Panasonic Toughbooks, supposedly indestructible, failed.
    I decided to try a cheapie ($160) W10 tablet, ostensibly for light duty work such as editing. I went for the 4g RAM, 64g storage version and am, thus far, blown away by the performance.
    It has a USB 3 port, a micro USB port, mini HDMI, external power socket and microSD.
    For giggles, I loaded up my guitar-amp-simulators and can't get this thing to even break a sweat. Gonna grab another for backup.
  • Hi
    I decided to try a cheapie ($160) W10 tablet, ostensibly for light duty work such as editing. I went for the 4g RAM, 64g storage version and am, thus far, blown away by the performance.

    Care to tell us the brand- my 32 gig version has choked on occasions- 12 gig spare was not enough for windows to do update and bricked the device. Got it working after hours of searching for solutions and more hours of usbstick manipulation. Got it going again but afraid to put any progs (apps) on it....

    Dave
  • You know my reasoning for this?
    Because why not?
  • tritonium wrote: »
    Hi
    I decided to try a cheapie ($160) W10 tablet, ostensibly for light duty work such as editing. I went for the 4g RAM, 64g storage version and am, thus far, blown away by the performance.

    Care to tell us the brand- my 32 gig version has choked on occasions- 12 gig spare was not enough for windows to do update and bricked the device. Got it working after hours of searching for solutions and more hours of usbstick manipulation. Got it going again but afraid to put any progs (apps) on it....

    Dave

    It's a Fusion5
    Reading the reviews on Amazon, there were a good number of negatives but then I realised that they were all from those who had selected the 2g RAM/32g storage model.
    Those who had purchased the 4g RAM/64g model were a different story.

    Mine is currently on a factory floor, connected to a desktop monitor and a cool little USB hub with Ethernet. Also using a wireless keyboard/mouse. Loving it, thus far.

    I also went with the neoprene "universal protector" which can be best described as a rubber bra. Being "universal", I had to use a modeling knife to provide access to the power button and charging port.

    The Fusion5 has a tiny barrel-type power connector but also charges via the micro USB port.
    2304 x 4096 - 3M
  • I have a couple of 2 gig RAM / 32 gig HD tablets with which I am very happy. You do have to be careful about windows updates; the big key is to put all your data on external storage. I have a 64GB SD card installed permanently and my documents, downloads, and all program data are on it instead of c:. Since doing that I haven't had a problem with windows updates. Mine is the Best Buy Insignia house brand, and it's the only one I've ever found which has a 1080p built-in screen. I have it set up so that I need reading glasses to use it, but I can open multiple windows and get actual work done when I'm in the field. I also have all my peripherals run through a powered USB hub so there's only one USB cable to unhook when I need to go portable. It weighs 2 lb and the battery lasts 5 to 7 hours. It's much more functional than the 5 year old laptop it replaced.
  • I want to see if I can load Windows 1.0 onto another USB, also because why not! Another reason would be to help me appreciate Microsoft’s advancements with graphical OS’s.
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