6 min read

Buying a Linux laptop in 2007

, I knew I’d finally have choices to consider. In the end I came up with a pretty current system, that Debian or Ubuntu will be 100% compatible with, and will be proud to call home. The detailed specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5470, 1.6GHz, 800Mhz FSB, 2M L2 Cache 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD display 1GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0 Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Mini Card Integrated 2.0 mega pixel webcam Integrated Bluetooth 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

This is more system that I originally spec’d out, but the price was right, so I’m very happy.  Before I reveal which brand I picked, I’ll tell the interesting story of how I ended up with the ‘top I did, and how things compare for laptop Linux options these days, it’s an interesting ride.

NOTE: feel free to Digg this article if you like it.

, and I feel I am paying a premium for an Apple, when I’m not even going to use OS X. So while the hardware would be mostly compatible, I haven’t seen many that are running Linux only on these machines yet, so there’s a bit of the unknown to contend with, I have to rate this one as still being expensive.

Then there are the specialty Linux makers, they’ve sold Linux pre-installed on systems for years,** would cost a whopping $1475**. So thanks, but really, why would I consider a lessor spec’d system for more money?  I like that they’re selling systems with Linux, but not enought to spend that much more for the pleasure.

** for $922** measured up nicely, but again, same disclaimer about Windows, which is annoying when you don’t really know how much more you’re paying to have the ability to choose better systems.

** going for $939**. Not bad, the only thing is, that’s the only choice you have as far as Laptops with Linux preinstalled in the Dell world.

So, knowing how cheap the laptops from Dell get, due to their incessant catalogs about their Small** for $609**.  Wow, that’s not bad - of course it gives you the older Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core, and I’m personally a little wary of putting such a beast in a laptop. Still, the other components are decent, not the best, but passable. The ATI video used shared memory, something you want to steer away from, but again, for most, this would be fine and the 15.4” widescreen wouldn’t be bad to have at all.

could be had for $599**.  Well that was that, for the specs I listed above:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5470, 1.6GHz, 800Mhz FSB, 2M L2 Cache 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD display 1GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0 Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Mini Card Integrated 2.0 mega pixel webcam Integrated Bluetooth 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

So I bought the Dell Vostro 1500 for $629 (the only thing I added was the webcam), that was far and away much more computer for the money than I had seen anywhere else.  The new Vostro line is of course Dell’s ‘basic’ line, but what does that mean?  It means it’s not as flashy, thin or light as the Inspirons, and that’s OK, I just want a laptop that is going to have a good screen, and be able to be jostled around while I check my email, play toons and adminstrate my servers.  This fits the bill, and while its looks may only say “Hey, I’m a laptop” it just leaves me to imagine it covered with stickers.  Now if you follow my original link you’ll just be redirected to a basic landing page at Dell, but if you follow another link from those deal sites, you’ll find the price is now $679, but if you just go to Dell.com and configure a 1500 the same way it will come to about $778.  Regardless, more deal-site surfing should reveal a better deal by now.

Conclusion: Here I site with a nice, new, fast laptop running Ubuntu Linux, 7.10 (Gusty) Beta and it’s awesome. Install was normal, I ran it from the desktop LiveCD so I could use the desktop while it was installing, everything worked there, after the install and I rebooted, graphics were good, wireless came up automagically, and after I set some desktop settings it prompted me to auto-install the fast nVidia drivers. After restarting the desktop session all of the Compiz eye-candy was working! Nice. Had issue with the sound, quickly solved after searching the great Ubuntu forums, same thing with suspend, it’s working great now too. Last night I checked my email, downloaded the new Radiohead release, used Ubuntu’s Add/Remove feature to enable mp3 usage, played the mp3s in Rhythmbox, burned the mp3s to cd (cdrw ‘just worked’), plugged in my iPod, it showed up under Rhythmbox, dragged the new Radiohead to it, that ‘just worked’ too. A little round button with a home icon is next to the power button, I didn’t expect it to work and was going to bind it to something, but clicking it brings up Rhythmbox (notice a pattern of what I use computers for?) and then hitting the media buttons in the front of the laptop started the songs playing; so those all ‘just worked’. Later I pulled up my resume on Google Docs, then opened it as an Open Office document, and yeah, that ‘just worked’ too. At first I was hesitant to get the 15.4” screen over the 1400’s 14” one, but I’m glad I did. The screen is big, but not unruly so like the 17” ones I’ve seen, and I actually really like the TrueLife (read glossy, very glossy) screen. They say it gives better brightness and contrast, and it must because things look hella sharp. I run the fabulous conky for feedback on my system stats, we’re seeing it running in the low 40s range for Celsius, and I’m monitoring both cores on the CPU. Since Ubuntu runs the powernowd daemon to scale up/down by default, they’re almost always both running at 800Mhz. It’s fun to watch one of them jump up to 1.6Ghz when needed, sometimes joined by the other, and then drop back to idle a split second later. I will be looking more into how much lower they can drop (the old laptop was a single 800Mhz and would drop to 400Mhz) and have already installed Intel’s Powertop app that I mentioned above, so watch for more posts on battery saving. I feel pretty good about that since I can make the ‘top run cooler, and sip from the extra large 9-cell battery.

So, I have a new laptop, it’s running the latest version of my favorite desktop Linux beautifully; I couldn’t be happier. I’m still stoked about the price too - take a look, you might be able to do better! If anyone has issues with the 1500, leave me a note below, or hit the Ubuntu Forums, it seems everything can be easily solved.

Finally, I found a topical New York Times article about Linux as a desktop option titled The Next Leap for Linux, that includes a perfect image for the end of this story, a Vostro with Linux in front of XP and Mac laptops.

Linux FTW!