My prev character died in a story mission vs the massive carrot gang, so I restarted trying a non murder character. I've survived to around 20 or so but it is getting really slow to level.
I've found a few chests I can loot without fighting, and was making money selling vehicle fuel to get enough to go back north. It is doable but boring, and you won't really be able to train beyond your initial level 1 stuff. I did Benny Jezzarite or whatever.
I did get through (I think) all of the fremen stuff. None of it made any sense at all. Some bits of the trial were a slideshow. 2-4 fps.