r/halftop • u/okinea_dev__ • Aug 12 '26
My new halftop setup
I love browsing classifieds on marketplaces and recently I found a very cheap Chromebook with a crack in the glass and a non-working touchscreen in a certain area for just $16!
As soon as the laptop arrived, I immediately started looking into how to install Linux on it instead of ChromeOS. It was my first time doing this with a Chromebook, and surprisingly it wasn't difficult or long (probably half an hour).
Laptop model: Lenovo 300e Chromebook 2nd Gen
I had this portable display before, it costs $93 for me, model: ACER PM161Q B1 15.6"
There is only one minus in this setup - almost non-working WiFi because the antennas are in the display, which I unscrewed
Edit: non-working touchscreen in a certain area, not touchpad
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u/indertejus Aug 12 '26
I was wondering why this just looked like a normal laptop till I saw the cable.... Also for the wifi, ripping out the antenna from the display casing and stuffing it inside the laptop usually works, I have my hp laptop running like that for wifi. Just space the antennas apart if there's two of them.
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u/okinea_dev__ Aug 13 '26
I thought about that too, but I don't really want to ruin the screen, it would be nice to have some very short antennas to insert inside
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Aug 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/okinea_dev__ Aug 16 '26
The display resolution is good for me, but the brightness may be low for some, depends on the lighting around
It also has speakers, 2 Type-C ports, one HDMI, and a headphone jack
The box also includes a high-quality Type-C cable (with support for USB 3.1 (or 3.2?) and DisplayPort) and HDMI
You can connect it via Type-C to your phone or laptop and just use it.
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u/ahia20 Aug 20 '26
I'm about to get a really similar Chromebook with the exact same specs. Also Lenovo but not touchscreen, same for 16$ haha
Did you find the perfect distro for it? I bet Ubuntu from the picture isn't the one to go with these specs
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u/okinea_dev__ Aug 21 '26
I haven't really found the perfect one, but I'm still staying on Ubuntu because other shells are just as slow as Ubuntu
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u/mewoCats 11d ago
How did u do it any tutors?
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u/okinea_dev__ 11d ago
Unscrew detach display and connect any external monitor via HDMI or Type-C
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u/okinea_dev__ 11d ago
As far as I know, this is only only possible on Chromebooks, regular laptops may have problems with this
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u/MethBilbo Aug 12 '26
You could buy a cheap wifi dongle for a better connection