u/Puzzled-Catch1268

I've been using an old ThinkPad X270 with an awful TN display and weak performance for years. After graduating from high school, I finally had the chance to replace it with an ASUS TX Air 2025 (ASUS TUF Gaming A14).

Needless to say, the upgrade is massive. XDDD

Over the past year, RAM and SSD prices have risen to the point where they're painful to look at, so I couldn't afford the latest models. :(

Since I felt that 1TB might not be enough for my future needs (I like to keep my games on a separate drive), I decided to add a domestic YMTC ZHITAI TiPlus 7100s 1TB SSD, rated for sequential read speeds of up to 7,400 MB/s. Even at a discounted price, it still cost me around $153 USD. Sigh.

Still, it's more than enough for me. The design also caught my eye, and I'm finally able to get my hands on some AAA titles and actually enjoy them. XD

Specifications:

• Ryzen™ AI 7 H 350
• GeForce RTX™ 5060 Laptop GPU 8GB
• 32GB LPDDR5X 7500MHz
• Samsung PM9C1 1TB SSD
• 14-inch 2.5K 165Hz IPS display
• 73Wh battery

I’ve been wanting to try Linux for a while, but between being busy with school and worrying about the technical learning curve, I kept putting it off. Recently, I finally found some time to give it a shot. I went with Mint Cinnamon because of its user-friendly, Windows-like interface, and I was honestly amazed by how little RAM it needs.

Turns out, it handles most of what I do on a daily basis — browsing forums, managing my music library, torrenting, etc. — without any issues. In fact, I barely feel like I’ve left the Windows environment at all. It runs perfectly even on my low-spec ThinkPad.

I’m planning to stick with it and learn more as I go. XD

I'm a newbie to Linux. Recently I set up my old ThinkPad X270 with Windows 10 + Mint Cinnamon to give it a try. My only prior experience was building a NAS with an antique PC, and that NAS system was based on Debian. To my astonishment, the system only needs 2 gigabytes of RAM to run several everyday applications — unimaginable on Windows. The X270 might be one of the last ThinkPad models that support the classic expansion dock. Great experience so far.