Idlier's Tech Craze

    I just dumpster dived a new Lenovo IdeaPad laptop (IdeaPad-3-15IML05) yesterday. I wasn't expecting anything from this new find and I proceed to do the usual: Find the suitable power adaptor (Luckily I got one from a previous find of a Lenovo laptop) Try to power up and see if it works.  Try to install Linux Lite 7.6 (Latest version)     During the setup of the BIOS to disable secure boot and TPM, I initially thought this laptop has only 2GB RAM but later I found out it actually has 20GB RAM! Wow, this is the highest RAM laptop that I found. The storage is 512GB. Likely a NMVe type since I did not open the case to look at the internals.  Image from: Gadget Review     As it turns out, there is no issue with the laptop and this laptop would likely be replacing my favourite laptop that I have. The main limitation is it weighs 1.7Kg. However, for an 15.6 inch laptop, the weight is normal but so far the keyboard is pretty smooth for typing and...

  MX Linux logo from https://linuxiac.com/mx-linux/      Recently I have successfully installed MX Linux Fluxbox on my Acer Aspire One 725 (AO725) netbook. I initially wanted to install Bodhi Linux onto my AO725 netbook, but failed. Finally I tried MX Linux Fluxbox, after trying Anti-X linux and some other ultra-lightweight Linux. MX Linux Fluxbox is suppose to be a lightweight Linux for low-powered laptops such as netbooks or very old laptops. Upon bootup, it only takes 337MB of RAM (438MB for Thinkpad X200) before you load any apps. With 4GB RAM, it is still a lot of RAM for for most apps, like the browser but the CPU utilization is close to 100% after running a Chromium broswer and DeadBeef music player. Things likely be slow... after this point from my observation but I have not tried to do anything more than those common things that I usually need to do.      Since I managed to install MX Linux Fluxbox, I initially did not bother to use the A...

    I just managed to dumpster dive an old 2013 Macbook Air laptop. I like its thin and sleek built with the picture below. Specifications Codename: MacBook Air. Processor Speed: 1.3 GHz Boost Speed: 2.6 GHz. Processor Architecture: 64-bit. Processor type: Core i5 (3427U) “Ivy Bridge”. Iterations: Core i7 (4650U) “Haswell”; i5 (4260U) “Haswell”. Processor upgrade: soldered. Cores: 2. Graphics core: Yes. On-Board RAM: 4 GB, DDR3 1600 MHz. Max. RAM: non-upgradeable. Display: 13.3-inch LED-backlit TFT active matrix IPS, 16:10 widescreen, 1440 x 900 pixels max resolution. Webcam: FaceTime 720p resolution. Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000 graphics with 1.5 GB of shared DDR3 memory. Storage: 256 GB SSD. Early-2014 version – upgradable to 512GB from 256GB at the time of purchase. Fusion Drive: No. Input\Output: 2 x USB 3.0, analog audio out, SDXS card slot and Thunderbolt. Power Connector: MagSafe 2. Battery: inbuilt lithium-ion polymer, 54-watt-hour. Internet \ Wireless...

     I recently dumpster dived a Macbook Pro (A1502) with a plastic peeling power adapter. I usually do not dumpster dive Macbooks since I have not managed to reuse any until now. Since Apple Macbook hardware is pretty good and better battery life, I decided to try to reinstall the operating system (MacOS) to Linux Lite. Main reasons are not having the login password for previous owner and also the installed MacOS likely is no longer supported so not worth reinstalling a fresh copy of MacOS. Linux Lite has been my favourite lightweight Linux distribution since I like to reuse older laptop hardware. Previously I did this for Acer and Dell laptops.  Macbook Pro (A1502) image from cp24.pl Specs: LED-backlit 13.3" widescreen 2560x1600 (227 ppi) "Retina" display 2.9GHz Intel "Core i5" processor (5287U) 8GB DDR3 RAM 128GB Solid State Drive Intel Iris 6100 graphics processor FaceTime HD Camera Two USB 3.0 ports, two "Thunderbolt 2" ports, an HDMI port, an au...