0

Disclaimer: I'm a graphic designer, not an IT person, I know the basics of computers/operating systems, just enough to get me in trouble, but I'm overall fairly clueless. I can follow directions if they are step-by-step, I can open a terminal and run stuff if you give me the code, but that is about it.

I have an old laptop, currently running Ubuntu 14.04 and have been thinking I need to upgrade, especially since I just got a Wacom tablet and am having a horrible time getting it to work and I keep getting suggestions that I just need to upgrade. The problem is, I have an old laptop and I know when I first got it (2016) it was recommended to install 14 instead of 16. I was looking at the flavors and thought about installing MATE or Lubuntu as the descriptions seem like those are geared toward older machines, however I want to be sure I can still run my major programs.

Computer:

  • HP Elitebook 8470P
  • Intel Core i53320M Processor
  • 8GB Memory
  • 750GB Hard Drive

Requirements:

  • Must run Wine (for Windows animal records program and Photoshop)
  • Must be able to run Steam/games (Civilization V and Minecraft are the main ones)
  • Must be able to run GIMP and Inkscape
  • Needs to be able to work with some kind of tablet, whether this Wacom Intuos or if I return this one and get a different one

Can anyone help me out? Please and thank you!

Amber
  • 1
  • The specs sound not bad at all, I'm pretty sure you don't have to choose a lighter DE. – pomsky Jun 23 '18 at 19:39
  • 4
    Try the live version out first anyway. Possible duplicate of Will my device work with Ubuntu? – pomsky Jun 23 '18 at 19:39
  • My Wacom tablet works just fine with 14.04 (and 16.04, and 18.04). If that's the real problem, perhaps it can be fixed. All desktop flavors of Ubuntu (including Xubuntu, Lubuntu, MATE, etc) can run all the applications you listed - merely the desktop experience is different. Trying the environment and hardware with the LiveUSB installer is precisely why those LiveUSB installers exist. – user535733 Jun 23 '18 at 19:59
  • My old laptop is 12 years old, yours is only 2, ...I'd say it is not exactly new, but newish. – mikewhatever Jun 23 '18 at 20:59
  • Thanks everyone - to clarify, I bought it two years ago - but it was used when I got it. It was originally purchased in, I believe 2012?

    Maybe I just need to post about having trouble with the Wacom tablet instead.

     – Amber Jun 25 '18 at 00:13

1 Answers1

1

I agree. Your laptop is not that old. Mine is older. You can easily upgrade it to the newest version and it will support everything mentioned.

I described the upgrade process from 17.04 here: Can't update anything nor download updates from server [17.04]

Personally, I prefer to upgrade in steps. Not 4 years at once. If you do too, given currently available releases, you will have to upgrade to 16.04 next. From there you could either go 17.10 or directly to 18.04. Again, you'll find the step by step in the mentioned link.

Once upgraded you can take additional steps to get the apps you want and get everything running. I suggest looking into that at this later point. One step at a time.

But for example, you should be able to easily install wine, gimp and inkscape using

sudo apt-get install wine gimp inkscape

I'm not a gamer, but I did install Steam on 3 Ubuntu devices. It has been a while back though. So, I don't remember the process. But shouldn't be too hard.

One step at a time. Start with the upgrades first, then go from there.

One more thing: if you choose to install a new version instead of upgrading, I too would suggest some alternative option, not the mainstream Unity version. Personally I favor Mate. It might not be the lightest, but it is lightweight. But the reason I like it is, it is quite stable and reliable. For example, with Unity I missed my mouse cursor on some device. While Mate worked without trouble out of the box. XFCE for example too is very light on load. However, although it seems to offer more configuration options, my experience is, it's less stable than Mate. I'm sure I tried LXDE, but I don't remember why I went with Mate instead. This is my personal opinion, but it seems, the Mate version is less troublesome these days? I see a lot of questions by Lubuntu users.

Neobie
  • 151