A good way to make YT bearable again (besides the obvious), is to use the Firefox add-on BlockTube and set a filter.
2025-06-28
2025-06-01
Self-Experiment: Can You Survive with a 2006 Laptop Effectively in 2025?
2006 Let's Note CF-R5KW4AXS in 2025
Surviving a day with a long-haul flight with an almost 20 year old notebook
I will take a long-haul flight from Japan to Germany soon and I thought about things I could do to pass some time on the plane. Usually I'd just watch some movies and listen to podcasts etc, but that is a bit boring. Also, modern notebooks are so big, they don't fit well on the tray-table, especially when the person in front reclines their seat.
So, why not take a tiny old laptop and see how it goes?
The Specs
The laptop is a Panasonic Let's note R5 CF-R5KW4AXS with the following specs:
- CPU: Intel Core Solo ULV U1300 @1Ghz (Centrino)
- Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-4200 μDIMM
- GPU: Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
- Storage: TOSHIBA MK6034GA 56GB ATA Hard-Drive
- Audio: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
- LAN: RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
- USB 2.0 (×2): Intel NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller
- TYPEII (×1): Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II
- Screen: XGA TFT screen (1024×768)
Additional I plugged in:
- PCMCIA:
- WLan: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
- SD-CARD: 16GB
Other hardware-related things:
- weight: 1kg
- size: 23cm/18cm/24cm
- tiny JP-Keyboard
Broken things:
As one would expect, the battery is long dead. I emptied out the case and kept the controller (in case I ever want to revive it).
- Lithium Ion Battery (CF-VZSU42) 57720mWh voltage=7.4V
In total, a quite powerful machine.
The Software
Originally this thing came with Windows XP SP-2. As much as I enjoy vintage computing, this is nothing I can survive with for daily use. Instead I installed the following
- antiX 22 (Debian Bookworm based)
The Expectations
I expect to be able to use this laptop for a whole day (a bit more actually). During the flight and during the stop-over.
The Productivity
|
Usage |
Software |
Working |
Comments |
|
encryption |
gocryptfs |
y es |
CPU has no AES encryption, use -xchacha |
|
Terminal |
ROXTerm |
yes |
|
|
tmux |
yes |
|
|
|
Web |
Firefox ESR |
somewhat |
really slow |
|
Chromium |
somewhat |
can almost be usable with custom startup parameters |
|
|
NetSurf |
yes |
not great with modern web-sites |
|
|
Dillo |
yes |
limited with modern web-sites |
|
|
links2 |
yes |
my favorite browser |
|
|
|
neomutt |
Yes |
excellent! |
|
messaging |
|
barely |
web-client. heavy webapp , very slow |
|
yes |
|||
|
line |
barely |
only via chromium plugin. |
|
|
Signal |
no |
Official Client: No 32-bit Linux client. A whole story for itself. |
|
|
no |
Java client: No, not even with lot of effort (JVM>=22 vs 32bit ) |
||
|
yes |
unofficial libpurple plugin |
||
|
i-message |
No |
scnr . Of course not! |
|
|
video |
mpv |
Yes |
if the right codec |
|
music |
cmus |
Yes |
for the terminal (my default) |
|
xmms |
Yes |
If I feel like GUI |
|
|
reading |
MComix |
Yes |
For digital comic books |
|
writing |
vim |
Yes |
with plugins. My default |
|
AbiWord |
Yes |
If I need fancy WYSIWYG |
The joy
Life is not just work, but also play. So, what is doable?
|
Usage |
Software |
Working |
Comments |
|
puzzle / strategy |
XSkat |
YES |
Best game since 1995 |
|
Penguin * |
YES |
Solitaire and all that |
|
|
Pioneers |
YES |
native |
|
|
shooting / action |
Commander Genius |
YES |
aka Keen |
|
Open Tyrian |
YES |
Had to build it from source though |
|
|
Epic pinball |
YES |
dosbox |
|
|
Rocks'n'Diamonds |
YES |
Classic |
|
|
Slime Volley |
YES |
yeah |
|
|
Giana Sisters |
YES |
C64 emu |
|
|
Doom |
YES |
Zandronum |
|
|
Wolfenstein 3D |
YES |
EcWolf |
|
|
adventure |
ScummVM |
YES* |
For older games OK, but best stick to early 90s games |
|
BAK |
YES |
Dosbox |
|
|
Non-sense |
YDKJ |
YES |
Dosbox with Win 3.11 |
The Experience
The build
I cannot recommend this, unless you are like me and this kind of thing is your hobby and brings you joy. 32-bit support is more and more a thing of the past, so even if you are willing to compile a lot of software from source, more often than not you will run into limitations.
The Heat
When the CPU load is high (for a long time), this laptop gets really hot. The touch-pad gets uncomfortably hot. Right next to it (above the CPU) it is so hot, that it hurts - not ideal. However, just watching movies and playing games, especially when clocking the CPU down, was no problem.
The Summary
Ultimately, I will have to write this after my travel, but so far I am quite happy with the result. Let's see how everthing holds up during travel :-)
The Gallery
The whole laptop. I put a piece of Lego to show its size.
The desktop
The official Line Web Client in Chromium
Testing Signal with Pidgin (libpurple)
Watching teli
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