Dell laptops without Windows? No, not yet
Steinar: You can get some (few) Dell desktop models with no preinstalled Windows, IIRC they are called the «L series». I tried, however, to get a OS-free laptop. I had to buy my XPS M1210 (sweet machine, BTW) with Windows XP. Tried on the phone, yes.
Comments
Gunnar 2007-02-22 15:28:50
Re: Dell laptops without Windows? No, not yet
The machine looks so far quite good. As for your points:
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Yes, it is quite handy. Not (by far) the lightest I’ve seen, but quite light, while still full-sized enough not to make me uncomfortable.
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The keyboard is comfortable. It will take me a bit getting used to it, of course, as the layout is irritatingly slightly different from my old Dell Inspiron 4150’s - But the key size is right, and it feels so far nice to work with.
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I have not yet dropped the machine, so I don’t know about enclosure quality ;-) But it feels nice. Better than my previous machine, at least (which was just plastic, this one feels metalish. Oh! And anyway: Don’t forget to get the three year extended warranty, which includes coverage against liquids on your laptop or your laptop falling down.
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The screen is quite good. 1280x800 (yes, 12” wide-screen format) is lower than what I’m used to (1280x1024 at my desktop, 1400x1050 at my previous Dell’s beautiful 14” display), but it is sharp and nice. I still do not know why all the laptop suppliers suddenly started selling very reflective screens instead of the mate-finished ones (again, like the one in my older Dell - Maybe it was the material’s endurance? I’m not the only person I know that had to change his LCD because it was badly scratched), but it’s not terrible.
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The camera works, for the strictest definition of work: In Debian, you have to install the ‘linux-uvc-source’ package, unpack the source, ./configure&&make&&make install, and modprobe uvcvideo. The webcam works with the V4L2 interface - However, that’s not exactly the most useful thing in life: I was able to run lucview (http://mxhaard.free.fr/spca50x/Investigation/uvc/luvcview-20060706.tar.gz) showing live output from my camera, but am still unable to use it for a chat or whatever (not that I tried too hard, anyway ;-) I don’t really care too much about it).
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Wireless works fine, but you need to install the non-free 3945 module. It works at a much better range than my previous, shitty Linksys card (i.e. all over my house against only ~10m from my AP). Bluetooth? I haven’t tried it yet :)
There are myriads of links regarding this laptop on the Web. This one is among the best: http://wiki.gacq.com/index.php/Installing_Debian_on_Dell_M1210
Oh, and the Debian Etch installer works beautifully (http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=410143) - Don’t forget to set it up as an AMD64 :)
Ivan Aleman 2007-02-21 12:51:46
Re: Dell laptops without Windows? No, not yet
Hello Gunnar,
I want to purchase a laptop and I was thinking on an Lenovo/IBM T60, but I notice this post and I also saw you laptop at CONSOL, so I want to know few things,
- Is your laptop handy, at least that’s the impression I got due the size and specs?
- Is the keyboard comfortable enough for coding and blog posting? :)
- What about the enclosure is it good and tough?
- Concerning the screen is good quality, are your eyes stressed?
- If you have the built in camera, does it work with Debian?
- Have you any issues with wireless or bluetooth ?
I have the intention to install Debian (Sid) on this machine and use KDE as WM I know you don’t like it (don’t know why?) still I am in doubt wether to purchase the model you mention from DELL or an IBM T60.
Hoping you can provide some words of wisdom :)
Regards.
Ivan Aleman 2007-02-21 12:55:37
Re: Dell laptops without Windows? No, not yet
And yes would be terrific to purchase Dell or without Windows and plus if you can choose any distro that you like Debian of course :)
Juts like system76.com does, well not exactly they just sell Ubuntu laps buaah :(