Getting Xubuntu to perform as well as Linpus?

I have done the common thing of trying lots of versions of Linux, ending up cycling fussily around four or five. I have got used to Xubuntu (9.04) on my rickety desktop pc, getting beyond some glitches - or more often my own bits of naivety - that I'd lost patience with a few times, and would like to put it on my Acer Aspire One (512mb ram, 120g hd version). It has Ubuntu 9.04 on it now, and battery life has gone from two hours to 80 minutes in a couple of months, regardless of Compiz or elaborate/simple themes. As Xubuntu is XFCE like Linpus Lite, could it be tweaked to give 2 1/2 hours' battery life? It seemed scarcely better than Ubuntu in that regard when I tried it before. What would I have to do? I have reinstalled Linpus three times, but each time apart from the slight nuisance of old software and not being keen to learn yet another means of installing software, after the updates the machine fails to boot, so I am loathe to try it again. I do need a distro that can handle Mobile Broadband (T-Mobile in the UK) without hassle and the Ubuntu family seem the best for this.

All thoughts and tips appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

May I suggest you try Kuki Linux? It's what Xubuntu should have been -- a lightweight, Ubuntu-based distro that uses XFCE. Plus it's optimized for netbooks. Startup is pretty fast, just a few seconds slower than Linpus. I don't usually use mine on battery, but others have reported good battery life. (Also, part of your battery problem is probably that your battery is starting to get old, so it may not last as long as new till it's replaced).

Also you could try Moblin. It's not Ubuntu based and I don't know if it supports mobile broadband or not. It's still in development, so some features don't work yet. But it's super fast and should give you decent battery life.

 

I recommend kuki also...
Unfortunately, I have been unable to connect using the built in 3G modem in any *buntu variation, kuki included.
Has anyone else been successful?

 

AAO 110, SSD, 512 Mb Ram
After trying many ub untu based distro, inkl. Crunchbang, UNR and Kuki, I finally have installed Xubuntu 9.10. Addded Kuki kernell andf the usual tweaks for Ubuntu 9.10 on AAO.
Conclution: Smooth, maybe as smooth as Kuki, and the advantage of using an ordinary distro.