(Part 2) Best products from r/linuxmint

USBs are not designed to run operating systems, so flaky results are frequent. An external SSD, however, performs flawlessly. I use one connected to my Lenovo X230, and am very pleased with how well my Linux Mint works on it. This is the particular model I have been using for over six months now, without any problems whatsoever, including wifi:

https://www.amazon.com/ADATA-USB3-1-Ultra-Speed-External-ASD600-256GU31-CBK/dp/B06XRT23D5/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2GTW8D5SEBH2G&keywords=external+ssd+hard+drive&qid=1562964877&s=gateway&sprefix=external+sdd%2Caps%2C415&sr=8-15

I bought this laptop off Amazon and it works perfect with Linux Mint. Everything works without any problems what so ever.

Ended up going with the a refurbished Acer SP5135157TPREF Laptop, Intel Core: i5-7200U, 2.5 GHz, 256 GB, Intel HD Graphics 620, Windows 10 Home, Black, 13.3".

(https://www.amazon.com/Acer-SP5135157TPREF-Laptop-Intel-Core/dp/B071R4XZXB/)

From what I could tell during my Google searching it should work just fine with the latest version of Mint. Comes in a few days, so for anyone curious I can update as to how well Linux Mint works on the laptop

you can get a 120gb for like 40 bucks

it will improve your computing experience IMMENSELY

This is what I have. Works right off of the install with LM KDE 17.3 64-bit.

I love it.

Quote"I already have a usb extension cable running like 6 feet away from me towards the direction of the router " This may be the problem, make sure you have a high quality USB3 cable. I like these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DG92USW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Learn to back up your data, do that before all else. Forget about windows, linux, apple - back up your data first and always.

$55 2 Terrabyte external drive.

By data, I mean your home folder (music, resume, research, pics, family photos etc.), your bookmarks, and your logins. Once you know all your stuff is safe...

THEN, you play. You can wreck it, install dual boot, screw up Windows, blow out Linux and you can learn to rebuild it from the ground up and never lose anything truly important.

So, dual boot, no sweat - never had any significant problems myself. Windows can't see anything from Linux - data or otherwise without jumping through hoops. Linux can see Windows files data and otherwise. Virtual operating systems can be fun for later, removing Windows or removing Linux from the dual boot can be done without a ton of effort (I've done both). A dual boot in any configuration generally won't screw itself up, you may inadvertently do something that will. When your data is backed up off the machine, that's not a problem. You will learn more and faster when you're not worried about losing your data - like you are right now.

Remove doubt, back up your data, and play hard :)

You could also get the Fitlet2 for $176 plus the memory and SSD of your choice, and potentially save some money.

HP Envy 13 (2017 model) is lightweight and small, has a semi-hidpi screen, and runs Mint perfectly with kernel 4.10

US Price: $620
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZKY7RB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

TeckNet Classic... Less than $10, comfortable size, non-proprietary (1x AA) battery, zero issues on Linux.

https://www.amazon.com/TeckNet-2-4G-Wireless-Mouse-Buttons/dp/B001DHECXA

Unless you're doing twitch-style gaming, I see zero reason to spend a lot of money on a mouse. Or if you're into the RGB thing, I guess...

re linux, see this:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amazon-2-laptops&num=1

Cdn or US? US is $355
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LX0KIGB/ref=twister_B01M3TYFDD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Canadian price is a bit more $460

you can also get open box on amazon for a bit cheaper $430

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listing/B011KFQASE/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used


edit: here is a chart of the price over time
http://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/F555LA-Full-HD-Laptop-500GB-Windows/product/B011KFQASE

Try one of these

https://www.amazon.com/Panda-300Mbps-Wireless-N-Adapter-button/dp/B00EQT0YK2

They also have a smaller more compact version if that matters.

Check the blue image for the updated list of supported OS's.

Do you have a spare USB wireless adapter you could temporarily use to facilitate Internet access for the 17.x install? Seems odd that both your existing wireless and wire access do not work with Linux Mint 17.x drivers. Even with my (almost 10 year old) stock Acer Aspire 1 Netbook, I had internet access right away. In fact, every flavor of Linux (from Puppy to Open Suse) I tried worked with my hardware. You could purchase at a wireless adapter for under $15. https://www.amazon.com/Panda-300Mbps-Wireless-USB-Adapter/dp/B00EQT0YK2/ or borrow one from a friend. What is your PC hardware build profile?

Late reply, but if you google the chipset code (CSR8510) on the thinkpenguin.com site for the 60$ usb dongle, you can find dongles on newegg and amazon for 10$ with the same chipset.

This one looks identical to the one on thinkpeguin site, but 8$ : http://www.amazon.com/Importer520-Bluetooth-Adapter-Chipset-Windows/dp/B00CG94OW8

As a update, I went with this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VGVZ8NH/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07VGVZ8NH&pd_rd_w=17O2G&pf_rd_p=45a72588-80f7-4414-9851-786f6c16d42b&pd_rd_wg=j4v0e&pf_rd_r=F9DYT2A9XPW57Q9A7H2T&pd_rd_r=c725f86b-5589-43bc-9000-0bcdad63049a&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzSjM5MFo4V0FLSVRVJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDEzMjA2VFY0WVY2OVo3Q0pXJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2MDc5NDMyNjhFTTJDWTgxMjRLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==


Works pretty good. I needed to disable my laptop's connected display but after that I was able to have 2 hdmi connected to hub + 1 hdmi connected to the laptop for 3 monitors. The only weird issue I was having was I have 1 monitor rotated sideways cuz programming and by doing so, it created some sorta invisible space for my mouse cursor to leave the monitors which is really annoying. I was able to correct this with ARandR opposed to cinnamon's built in monitor settings. I hope this helps anyone who is dealing with this.

Ok, let's see what else is going on. The driver is proprietary, so there's not a whole helluva lot you can do with it other than to spend 12 bucks on a replacement wifi module.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Corp-7265-Wireless-2x2/dp/B00RCZ4I6S

Let's get a lay of the land first. Please post the terminal output of 'inxi -F && dmesg | grep -i error' to pastebin.com and link it here to see if there are any localized issues.

I'm not sure about your problem specifically, but in general it's not a great idea to run an operating system on USB. They aren't really designed to handle the constant reads and writes and can prematurely wear out/fail.

I've read good things about these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZTRY532/

And here's a cheaper option: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZ2FRU2/

Both are portable SSDs suitable for an OS

Cool. I'm in the UK and the router I have problems with (only on some laptops) is a Virgin cable modem/wifi box. I got one of these which connects fine to the cable modem and my laptop connects to it every single time.