Ubuntu on a Dime: The Path to Low-Cost Computing

You know that Ubuntu software costs nothing. Now you want the PC system that costs as little as possible and runs Ubuntu and OS applications without complaints and calls to tech support.

So you spent your hard–earned dollars on the hardware only, and have your own optimized Ubuntu PC. This is the book that will show you how to get what you need without wreaking havoc on your finances. Put together the parts to make a great work computer for little cost.

Packed with the practical, hands–on guidance and technical know–how that you’ve come to expect from Apress, Ubuntu on a Dime takes you on a tour of the very best low–cost hardware, while only using zero–cost software in each of the many categories that matter to the typical PC user.

You’ll learn how to find the best and cheapest hardware, and how to put it together to make a working PC. Learn to edit photos on the Internet without having to install any software at all. Find out where to get a free office suite for word processing and spreadsheet work. Whatever your need, James Kelly, best–selling technology author, guides you through the exciting and often confusing world of zero–cost computing.

This book

• Takes you step–by–step through a PC build
• Tells you what you need to install to have a fantastic work computer without spending a dime
• Saves you money by showing you how to meet your computing needs
• Saves you time by pointing you directly to the best free software
• Saves you work by illustrating the most commonly performed tasks with each zero–cost software
• Gives you choices and the ability to make your own decisions for your own needs and requirements

Before you go buy that $900 dollar computer and that $400 office suite—or worse, before you “borrow” it from work—stop! Let this inexpensive book show you how to save hundreds of dollars in expensive software, and never depend on the big PC providers and their tech support again. Learn all about cheap, fast hardware, find out about the free tools that the digerati use to make their lives better, and stop paying out the nose. Don't spend a dime!

Table of Contents

1. The Hardware
2. The Ubuntu Operating System
3. Free Software Defined
4. E-mail Revolution
5. Word Processing with Writer
6. Spreadsheets with Calc
7. Presentations with Impress
8. Photo Management with Picasa
9. Web Browsing with Firefox
10. Google E-mail and Calendar
11. Google Documents
12. More Apps to Consider

Ubuntu on a Dime: Building an Ubuntu PC on less than $300 is responsive to, and well-suited for the domestic economic situation. The book’s value proposition is devastatingly simple: For $25, you can save hundreds of dollars in software costs by learning to take advantage of cheap hardware and zero-cost software freely available on the Internet. The book and its message appeal powerfully to the first-time computer buyers who have to spend his or her budget on cheap, but powerful hardware and the build-out that uses only zero-cost software.

From senior citizens to students, from corporate drones to small business-people, readers of all types can benefit from the research that author James Kelly has put in to choosing the solutions described in this book. James has done the research and presents best-of-breed solutions in every common software category, from digital photo management to word processing, from motherboards to DVD drives. Ubuntu on a Dime: Building a Ubuntu PC on less than $ 300 doesn’t confuse readers with choices. Instead, the book presents a clear and simple menu of hardware and software solutions that will get the job done. All the author’s choices are reasonable, and readers can feel secure in following the author’s straightforward and well-defended advice.

Written in the comfortable, knowledgeable tone that make James Kelly’s Lego NXT books the best in their category, Ubuntu on a Dime is the book that will open the average person’s eyes to the joys of low-cost computing. James Kelly takes the PC and turns it from a bottomless, money-pit into a center of creativity. Ubuntu on a Dime gives the power and promise of technology back to those who can least afford it, but who perhaps most need it.

James Floyd Kelly is a freelance writer living in Atlanta, Georgia, with degrees in English and Industrial Engineering. He is editor-in-chief of the world’s most popular LEGO NXT robotics blog, thenxtstep.com, which continues to draw an estimated 50,000+ readers monthly, and is the author of three Apress LEGO robotics books including his latest, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0: The King’s Treasure. James has also written on topics including building custom computers and free software, and he just completed Build Your Own CNC Machine, which shows readers how to build their very own computer controlled machine that cuts, drills, etches, and more. He and his wife have a 3 year old son and have another little boy on the way.