Buying a Linux loaded HP laptop

[Viveka]

I had my laptop stolen (by the taxi driver - in boot trick) as soon as I arrived in Bulgaria. I have to buy a new one in order to do my job and can't afford a wide choice.  Because I mostly live in China, (and I'm not going to explain that here, but there is a reason) I want to buy a Linux loaded laptop and found that those available on the internet are too expensive for me (ironically, since it is free). However, I've found an HP 620 with a good spec, on offer (equivalent of £266) with Linux loaded, at our local technical warehouse. The trouble is, it's going to be in Bulgarian, presumably, which I can barely read.

Here is my question: how can I change the Bulgarian Linux version to English and, is it going to be difficult, knowing nothing of the installation of operating systems?

I would appreciate any advice out there. Thanks for reading.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Most (if not all) Linux distributions support easy changing of interface language, and most (if not all) installed applications will follow suit, those localised applications that don't automagically change to English would either just need a "language pack" installed, and/or the software repositories changing to English ones, then the applications reinstalling.

I can't give the exact procedure without knowing which Linux distribution, and which desktop environment will be preloaded on the HP laptop you're looking at... but as an example, if it was running Ubuntu, see here:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/17528/change-the-user-interface-language-in-ubuntu/
and
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingLanguages

If you can ask which Linux distribution is preinstalled, I should be able to provide instructions.

In a worst case scenario, you could always download another Linux distribution such as Ubuntu, burn it to CD, then wipe your system and reinstall... selecting "English" during the installation procedure

Typical Ubuntu installation can be seen here:
http://linux.co.uk/pages/installation/