I’m fine with talking you through installing a Linux distro 
And if that’s gone when you have the money, we can see what else is available.
It comes with a “Dell Latitude E-Port II Replicator Docking Station”. What’s that?
Thanks Mark. At least I’ll be able to boast to my machead computer geek brother that I loaded ANOTHER distro onto a laptop lol.
Yes, I’ll do a search on ebay a couple of days before pay day if that one is sold. I hope it won’t be!
A docking station adds extra ports (additional USB ports, etc), and depending on the docking station an additional way of charging the thing … think of it as a stand you slot the laptop into that gives it all the extra ports of a desktop PC
(You’ll likely not use it much … but nice to have)
Here’s the kind of thing … the dell just sits atop of it because it has a port for the dock underneath
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Replicator-Docking-Station-Adapter-PR03X/dp/B004I61RCM
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-452-11422-Docking-E5420-Latitude-E5440-Latitude-E5520-Latitude/dp/B00R49ENN0
(remember it’s an OPTION … you don’t HAVE to use it)
http://i.imgur.com/AeAlnsy.png
And now you have a desktop PC
Oh, and on these Dell’s, installing Linux is a piece of cake … no commandline stuff to fix issues, because they were DESIGNED with both Windows and Linux in mind 
Oh that port would be useful to me Mark! I plug in e cigs and my digital camera etc into ports so extra ones are good! I’ve also got blue tooth speakers.
Hey that is cool to know regarding the Dell and Linux. I will not get any laptop except one of those now you’ve told me all this. That’s why I posted here as I know you know your stuff.
There’s a REASON I recommend Dell E series to pretty much everyone
You only have to search the Peppermint forum to discover that … and nearly all the Peppermint forum staff have Dell E series too
For example … here’s a post that shows just how solidly built they are
https://forum.peppermintos.com/index.php/topic,6452.msg65443.html#msg65443
I do remember you recommended Dell E series laptops to me before yes.
Was yours in the wild west before you got it lol. I see what you mean- they are tough!
Oh, by the way I haven’t forgotten about my Dell inspiron mini netbook. We were gonna see if it could be updated a few months ago, but I decided to leave it as it is for the time being as I need it for my scanner. When I have the new laptop and got it Linuxed ( so can use my scanner on it) can we look at the mini again Mark? I wouldn’t really need it for anything anymore so I would prob gift it or sell it for a tenner on Gumtree, but as it is right now it isn’t fully operational as it needs flash updates and has no sound.
Sure.
Thanks!
The Dell E laptop we were looking at Mark is now gone, but on the 10th and 11th I will look for another and if you have the time please would you assist me find one? Pay day is around the 12th. I’ve been to the business appt and no funding around now, so my budget will be about £150 max.
Sure … gimme a shout when you’re ready.
Hey Mark good news! My bro who is a nurse has a laptop I can have- just got an email off my mother. She said he told her it’s a good one ( not old) and he has hardly used it. So I expect to acquire that in a week or two. I don’t know what the model/specs are yet but asked my Mum to ask him ( I don’t see him that often as he’s always at work).
So it should be Linux-able and if there is less than 4GB RAM I could get the Polish computer guy to put more on.
I’ll keep you posted!
Cool … gimme a shout once you have it and I’ll help you install Linux if you want.
Well I never Mark my mother emailed me Friday and said my bro had taken the laptop to my other bro A- who loves macs and the other bro had not been able to boot it up saying he thought it had crashed ( he hardly used the laptop which he got as a gift brand new about 2 years ago). So A- who is good at IT said he would check it over and then put Linux onto it. He told my mother he’s put Linux on his, but he always had macs so I wonder if he’s been converted to Linux Mark! He would never use any OS but mac before. He replied to my email about what distro he’s got- it’s Ubuntu. I sent him a link to Peppermint 9 and suggested he might wanna try this one if he hasn’t already put Ubuntu on it. If he has no worries, just as you say Peppermint is lighter on the desktop.
I’ve asked him in the email what the model of the laptop is and how much RAM it’s got.
So, when I get it I’ll have a look and see how it’s running. I will prob have something for us to do Mark such as finding a software that I can use to make videos ( I want to make videos of my artwork), oh and when I’m happy that this laptop is running great then there is that little Dell netbook to sort out. It runs very slow and has no sound! It’s got Mint right now. But it only has 1GB RAM and a very tiny SSD drive which cannot be replaced- the Polish computer guy said he could not replace it nor add RAM to it. I’m keeping it as it is right now as my scanner works on it which my Chromebook is no good for.
No worries … gimme a shout whenever you’re ready.
I got the laptop today Mark. My mother brought it into town when we met for coffee. It is not a laptop though- it’s an Asus “notebook”- so a netbook. That’s fine with me though as looking at an article online it says it has 4GB RAM, and it has a webcam. I had a look and it’s a decent webcam. I am just charging it up. My bro put Ubuntu on it. It also has Firefox, but I want to have Google Chrome as my main browser so I can access all my log ins and files that I’ve got on my Chromebook. I prob won’t use Firefox much, only when it’s useful to be using 2 browsers at once. Does having more than one browser downloaded take up much HD space?
This is the notebook:
https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/reviews/asus/129873-asus-x102b-review
I dunno know what version of Ubuntu my bro put on it but it looks smart and not an old version. If you can kindly tell me how to find out the distro version and my system specs I’ll post them here.
Oh I hope Tux Racer is on there - I love that game!
I will take a better look later when the battery is fully charged so I can have it on my knee whilst on my Chromebook. I think it might be a good enough machine as it connected instantly to my wi fi and seems to have most of the software and enough RAM.
My Mum had told me the “laptop” was quite new and my brother had been given it as a gift by one of his doctor friends so it was fairly new ( about 2 years old) but she said it was smaller than my Chromebook and her own laptop. I said it sounded like a netbook, but I didn’t think they were still being made, but seems I was wrong there!
I don’t need a big screen to use it for tutoring online ( via webcam). I can use my Chromebook for most things.
Mark I also need help with the log in my bro set up. It has my user name on booting up and whilst I can go to Firefox and the applications it keeps going back to the password box, which when I type in the p/w my mother gave me it says it is wrong. Is there a way to reset it to another one?