Small Linux Laptop?

Hello all. I know I rarely post, and when I do its off topic.

I am looking for an old but reliable small laptop to use as a linux penetration testing machine. If anyone knows of some decent models, please let me know. Currently I am eyeing the old librettos and toughbooks, but really I am just looking for a cheap and portable way to play with linux.

Any ideas?

Those sony picturebooks are pretty nice...

You could try the Sharp Zaurus'... Ok, well not a laptop, but they still are pretty cool.

Librettos are nice. My 100CT is still chugging along, except for the bad line of pixels across the center of the LCD. A Libretto 110CT (same as the 100CT but with a Pentium 233 instead of Pentium 166), would probably be better than the 100. Either way, you probably want one with the upgraded RAM (32MB was standard, but you could upgrade to 64MB).

Alternately, if you can find one of those touch-screen Libretto 50's custom made for that Japanese insurance company, that would be super-cool!

Something small and cheap and with at least 2 PCMCIA slots is all I really need. Basically I want to load a whole bunch of wifi based security testing programs onto this baby and go to town on my own network. There is some crazy stuff you can do with a laptop and linux. The kicker is getting a machine old enough, and supported enough to get the job done. That and I am poor. lol.

I stand with my picturebook recommendation...I just wish I could afford them when I wanted one. Guess how I ended up with my 720 and wrapped myself into making a linux distribution for them...

Irongeek.com details how someone is using a Zaurus for pen testing. Aside from that, the lib 100 or 110ct would be a cheap and good bet providing you can live with the battery life.

Depends on how el CheapO you want to be....

Personally i just got a apple powerbook 5300 of ebay for $25 and a toshiba PORTEGE T3400ct for $15 both work....the reason? same as you i want to play around with some old cheap laptops see how far i can get with em...i know they are not grand but cheap & working and small...Ive never even played with a powerbook so that should be intresting.....

Hi abyssknight,

take a look at HP Omnibook 800CT.
It´s smaller than A4 and feels rather solid.
Have Redhat 7.2 running on it.

Andreas

what?? 15$?

Thanks guys for all the responses. I am intrigued by the eBay comment... Are these deals rare, or could any old eBay newbie get their hands on one?

Something that cheap would honestly be perfect, as I pretty much want to hack the living day out of it. The issue I've been having is the sellers who are putting cost into the shipping and throwing off the sorts...

Ah well, I'll keep looking. An HPC wouldn't be a bad machine either, but I'd need a microdrive for that.

What sort of spec were you looking at?

Of all the laptop's I've ever owned my fondest memories were of the Digital (DEC) HiNote Ultra CT450. It was completely modularised, and tiny. Down side though that it's a 486, which is probeably way under the spec you're looking for.

You could always swap the motherboard.

Yeah, pretty much any ebay noobie can find what he wants on ebay. That's how I got my stubby cell phone antenna.

-Powerbooks are fun...when they work. Otherwise, they are a great pain. Just a couple of weeks ago, I got my powerbook duo 210, which had a broken keyboard (duo specific problem), a password locking the system from turning on (a stupid mac problem), and a corroded modem. Everything works but the modem now, and I really do like the device. The keyboard still takes too much work to press keys, so it might need some more silver to get it working. Then again, I never heard of the 5300 having any major problems, so good luck!

Yeah, i found that the toshiba works just fine, but the power book has a bad battery....so i went and found a new one for $6.00 problem solved...it has mac os 9...im gonna have to get use to the mac os....!!!!

The duo has dead batteries too, but I cut them open. One, perfectly, the other...kind of messily, and it will never be used. But anyways, when I get the Duo working the way I want, I will replace the nimh cells with the highest capacity ones I can find. Maybe I could figure out how to hook up the lead-acid I want into there if that isn't enough...

-Apple batteries have a LOT of plastic surrounding them! I broke two fine blades opening up my battery! (The one that I didn't plow through with a thick blade. )