On Fri, 2009-05-22 at 13:04 +0100, lougi...@cromer.demon.co.uk wrote: > Hello All, > > My old Intel box has finally packed up. > I see there are 'notebooks' and laptops > (what is the difference between a laptop > and a notebook??) > available with Unbuntu already installed. > > My needs are simple: > to run Mathematica and LaTeX / LyX. > > I'm now age 70. I want to keep it simple > and reliable. > > I don't use Open office unless someone > sends me a doc file or a ppt. And I don't > engage in games, or chat lines or 'social > networking, nor voice over IP. > > Apart from Mathematica & Latex, the most > sophisticated thing, is to view video clips > on the BBC website, and similar. > > Advice would be appreciated. Thanks > > Louis Gidney
Hi Louis, The major thing here would be to ask what you use Mathematica for? I use it now and again for some things that are quite processor intensive, but some people I know don't use it for that intensive purposes. The other question to ask is what other hardware do you currently have that you use? Printers and suchlike. HP printers tend to work well, but some manufacturers don't play as nice. As for the notebook/laptop conundrum, notebooks and laptops are the same (I think), netbooks are different though. They tend to be very small, low powered machines that are designed to be carried to and fro very easily. I'm not sure a netbook would run mathematica particularly well (I don't think mine has enough HD space for it come to think of it). The other disadvantage may be the small screen, but this depends on what you're doing. With a little more info we can probably help :) Also, one of the Alans (can't remember which one, but goes by the nick TheOpenSourcerer) has made a fantastic website for looking for machines without windows on, http://nakedcomputers.org/ which may be worth a look. Hope that helps :) -Matt Daubney
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