I'm looking to revive my old Dell laptop with an Intel i3-8145U processor, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD that I bought back in 2019. It's in good physical condition and has a new battery, but I want something that runs smoothly without lag. My main needs are: 1. Good support for my HP all-in-one printer/scanner, 2. The ability to view PDFs and document files, and 3. A modern web browser. I tried regular Ubuntu before, but it lagged occasionally. I'd prefer a distribution that comes with a PDF viewer and LibreOffice pre-installed.
5 Answers
Ubuntu is definitely a good option overall, but if you're aiming for something more lightweight, you might want to check out antiX. It might not come with a PDF viewer or LibreOffice out of the box, but those can usually be added easily. I understand wanting pre-installed options though! Zorin OS looks promising too.
Any modern Linux distro should work fine on your laptop. 8GB of RAM is sufficient for most tasks. CUPS will handle your printer support across distros, and they all usually include a decent PDF viewer and browser nowadays. I suggest waiting for Ubuntu 26.04 for the latest features, but even current versions come packaged with everything you need like Firefox and LibreOffice.
There's no way Ubuntu should lag on that hardware! But if you’re looking to lighten things up, maybe try Xubuntu or Linux Mint with XFCE. Both are lightweight alternatives that still offer great support.
If Ubuntu isn't cutting it, you might want to consider Debian or a Debian-based distro. They tend to be pretty stable and offer support for HP printers. Also, Zorin could work; it'll likely be similar in performance though. Other great options include MX Linux and SparkyLinux if you're open to exploring different desktop environments like LXQt or XFCE.
Xubuntu could be a solid choice! It has the XFCE desktop environment, which is lightweight, while still having the reliability of Ubuntu behind it. Should cover your needs without lag.
Yeah, I totally get you! Installing things can sometimes lead to unexpected issues, so having them ready to go is a big plus.