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Re:I don't get it, something is backassward here.. by teebob21 · 2007-12-16 12:32 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft and Google Duke It Out For the Future

Your entire comment is valid, although Google is really not at fault for not having the specifications for a laptop that old appearing on the main page. If you're referring to the old 50 Mhz model, this link is the best I could do, even from dell.com directly: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/dta/LAT4XX/00000005.htm

Re:Aren't we tired? by Zymergy · 2007-12-15 10:59 · Score: 1 · on The Advantages of Upgrading From Vista To XP

Browse the Dell laptop sales pages.. both for Home/Home Office and Business... most notebooks (except the top DX10 capable models) are NOW being offered with Windows XP. It seems businesses buying Dells are demanding XP over Vista: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/winxp_inspnnb?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Re:More importantly is how they are vs Vista by Stevecrox · 2007-12-14 13:43 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon vs. Mac OS X Leopard

Re:Dell too. by MojoStan · 2007-12-06 21:48 · Score: 1 · on Lenovo Announces ThinkPads Preloaded With XP

RandoX commented:

Dell too.
[snip]
When you pull up their laptop page, there are two links. "Customize with Windows XP" and "Customize with Windows Vista". Same price. PlatyPaul replied:

Easier than that: if you want an XP-loaded dell, just go here. Just to make things clear, Dell have always (since Vista was launched) offered Windows XP as an option on almost all of their configurable PCs on their "business/education/government" sites. Only their PCs on their "Home & Home Office" site have typically offered Vista as the only OS option. They recently started re-offering XP on some of their "home" PCs due to customer demand.

I think most Slashdot readers would prefer Dell's "Small & Medium Business" site better, anyhoo. Latitude "business" notebooks are better in many ways than Inspiron "home" notebooks. Optiplex desktops and Precision workstations are better than Inspiron/Dimension desktops. Their cheap Vostro business notebooks and desktops have no shovelware/crapware. Latitudes, Optiplexes, and Precisions come with better North American based support.

Also, as others have pointed out, I've always noticed XP as an option for configurable ThinkPads. Most PC makers have always offered XP on their configurable "business" PCs. I guess XP seekers aren't looking in the "business" sections of PC web sites. Unfortunately, most "brick-and-mortor" stores, even big "office supply" stores, don't stock XP PCs.

Re:Dell too. by MojoStan · 2007-12-06 21:48 · Score: 1 · on Lenovo Announces ThinkPads Preloaded With XP

RandoX commented:

Dell too.
[snip]
When you pull up their laptop page, there are two links. "Customize with Windows XP" and "Customize with Windows Vista". Same price. PlatyPaul replied:

Easier than that: if you want an XP-loaded dell, just go here. Just to make things clear, Dell have always (since Vista was launched) offered Windows XP as an option on almost all of their configurable PCs on their "business/education/government" sites. Only their PCs on their "Home & Home Office" site have typically offered Vista as the only OS option. They recently started re-offering XP on some of their "home" PCs due to customer demand.

I think most Slashdot readers would prefer Dell's "Small & Medium Business" site better, anyhoo. Latitude "business" notebooks are better in many ways than Inspiron "home" notebooks. Optiplex desktops and Precision workstations are better than Inspiron/Dimension desktops. Their cheap Vostro business notebooks and desktops have no shovelware/crapware. Latitudes, Optiplexes, and Precisions come with better North American based support.

Also, as others have pointed out, I've always noticed XP as an option for configurable ThinkPads. Most PC makers have always offered XP on their configurable "business" PCs. I guess XP seekers aren't looking in the "business" sections of PC web sites. Unfortunately, most "brick-and-mortor" stores, even big "office supply" stores, don't stock XP PCs.

Re:Dell too. by PlatyPaul · 2007-12-06 03:45 · Score: 2, Informative · on Lenovo Announces ThinkPads Preloaded With XP

Easier than that: if you want an XP-loaded dell, just go here.

They're hardly pushing it (see quote below), but it's still very much an option.

Windows Vista® is the latest Operating System release from Microsoft. Windows Vista® Home Premium1 & Windows Vista® Ultimate1 offer great features like Windows Media Center which allows you to easily manage your photos, videos, & audio files and the cool interface of Windows Aero is designed to make your computer experience dynamic and fun. All versions of Windows Vista® offer new security options such as Parental Controls and integrated Anti-Spyware which help protect your family when accessing your personal data or information from the Internet and new tools such as integrated search which help enable you to get work done faster.

The choice is Yours. Dell is offering Microsoft® Windows XP on the PCs below.

The rell Dell WoW laptop by ACMENEWSLLC · 2007-12-05 04:20 · Score: 3, Informative · on Dell's World of Warcraft Laptop

Dell has a Vostro for around $800 US right now which would play WoW very well.

Go here;
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1500?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~tab=bundlestab

Select the smart buy unit and customize the video card & select the 8600GT with 256MB of RAM. Bare in mind this is the DDR2 and not the DDR3 version, so it's not a super quick 8600GT but it's plenty fast for WoW.

The normal site has it for $729 right now. Corporate customers can get a better deal.

Take it to a 2.0Ghz dual core, 2GB RAM standard, the 7200 120MB HD, BlueTooth and the webcam -- a better gaming build, and you are just under $1000.

That's one hell of a deal for decent casual (not extreme) gaming machine..

Re:So help me understand.. by Max+Littlemore · 2007-11-29 11:08 · Score: 1 · on States Claim There is No Match for Microsoft

system76.com http://dell.com/linux http://www.google.com/search?q=asus%20eee Something on that list should be able to make it to Aussieland.

System76 only ship to US and Cananda, Dell doesn't ship Ubuntu laptops in Australia and somehow I think the eeeeeeeeeePC will choke if I try to run Eclipse on it. Also, being in au, we have 240V @ 50Hz mains, so rechargers may need replacing, plus it's a lot easier to do salary sacrifice (saving masses on tax) if I buy in Australia.

Thanks anyway though....

Re:Aversion to the learning curve by Ash-Fox · 2007-11-29 02:35 · Score: 1 · on States Claim There is No Match for Microsoft

Linux is not a great alternative to Windows.

Let's see each of your points...

Poor documentation

It has better documentation than Windows. I have spent hours looking for things in Window help with no avail, MSDN not being helpful either.

still command line focus

I haven't needed to use the command line as a user in years.

hardware compatibility issues

Linux supports more hardware than any specific version of Windows. It is also not a big problem for users since they can buy Linux supported hardware anywhere.

outdated GUI

Thinking about Windows' new GUI enhancements, considering the fact Beryl contains more effects and features than Aero and works on more hardware properly. No, I don't agree here either.

Considering the fact that the desktop environments are constantly looking to improve their GUIs. Such as KDE going to great lengths to make sure everything has a modern GUI including games, whereby Microsoft hasn't even bothered to fix up the classical windows games, no.

Since many people are having problems using Windows Vista's GUI - I don't call that a modern GUI, I call it a broken GUI.

hostile user community

I don't agree with this, but even if that was the case, I doubt this does anything to adoption.

server-centric makes for a crappy average home user experience

Modern Linux desktop operating systems are not server-centric.

Oh, and lots of choice is not a good thing if 99% of what one can choose from is crap.

Agreed. Fortunately I don't have that problem on Linux.

Re:So help me understand.. by JoshJ · 2007-11-28 19:56 · Score: 1 · on States Claim There is No Match for Microsoft

system76.com http://dell.com/linux http://www.google.com/search?q=asus%20eee Something on that list should be able to make it to Aussieland.

Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · 2007-11-26 12:00 · Score: 0 · on How to Turn Your PC into a Mac

I'd say...save a bit longer...$600 for a system just is NOT really practical, at least not for very much use.

Why not save up a bit more. You could get a nice iMac.....

This is not a feature-by-feature price comparison, just a response to you saying $600 is not really practical.

$488 can buy you a Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower with:

Pentium Dual-Core E2140 (1.60GHz, Core 2 Duo based)
Vista Home Premium
Dell 20 inch Widescreen E207WFP (6-bit LCD like the 20-inch iMac's)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz - 2DIMMs (4 DIMM slots total)
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
14.2" tall minitower with 2 hard drive bays, 2 optical drive bays, memory card reader (or floppy drive) bay, 4 memory slots, one PCIe x16 graphics card slot, one PCIe x1 slot, and two PCI slots.

I don't know how you define "practical," but that's a heck of a lot for $488. It's also very flexible. That Dell can be configured with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo (2MB L2 cache, 800MHz bus) for $70 or a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo (4MB L2 cache, 1333MHz bus) for $120 more. A 24" LCD (6-bit) is $160 more ($670 for Dell 8-bit). A 250GB hard drive is $100 and 320GB is $130. A GeForce 8300GS (128MB) adds $70 and a 8600GT (256MB) adds $120. A Wireless-N PCIe card adds $100 ($50 for 802.11g). Firewire adapter costs $30. Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer adds $100, but a cheaper way to get digital I/O is the Sound Blaster Audigy SE for $27 at Dell's store.

Compare that to Apple where $600 gets you a very inflexible Mac mini with notebook parts (including GMA 950 graphics), no DVD burner, no keyboard/mouse, and no display. The iMac starts at $1200 and is also relatively inflexible. $1200 gets you a notebook version (800MHz bus) of the Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 1GB memory (2 SO-DIMM slots total), an integrated 20" 6-bit LCD, 802.11n/Bluetooth whether you want it or not, and the notebook version of Radeon 2400XT (128MB).

Re:32GB is good space for business by Anonymous Coward · 2007-11-26 11:54 · Score: 1, Interesting · on Sony's Flash-Based Notebook Reviewed

It comes with Windows Vista Business. Vista requires 40GB of hard drive space if you intend to use it to run applications. (Otherwise it's stuck only being suitable for "booting the Operating System, without running applications or games" - really!)

If you were to blow away Vista and replace it with XP or Linux, then 32GB would be fine for general office work. But since it comes with Vista, you apparently won't be able to actually use it.

Which, having tried Vista out, is sadly quite likely to be true. I just checked, and C:\WINDOWS takes up 13GB of space just for the system. Keep in mind that Windows also spreads files out in C:\Program Files which I'm NOT counting, since I can't separate out the applications I've installed and what it's installed.

And before anyone asks, no, I'm not accidentally counting the page file. That's in C:\pagefile.sys. And Vista also has a SEPARATE hibernation file it creates, which will require another 2GB for this laptop.

So, yes, for Vista, 32GB is quite small, to the point of almost being unusable - according to Microsoft themselves, who list the minimum space requirement as 40GB for Vista Business.

Re:600 US$ Mac by Mister+Whirly · 2007-11-26 04:12 · Score: 1, Informative · on How to Turn Your PC into a Mac

Yes, you can get a Mac Mini for $600. Then another $200-$300 for a display. Then add in another $40 - $80 on a USB keyboard and mouse (make it $100 if you want official Apple brand stuff). Then don't forget speakers.

All in all a Mac Mini will cost you about $900 or more to set up, not the "it's only $600" I hear often quoted.

Just to give you an idea, you could get a Dell Inspiron 531s desktop with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+, 1 GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, 17" widescreen flat panel LCD for $549. And yes, that also includes keyboard, mouse, and speakers...
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/inspndt_bundles?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Re:What about the other way around? by jargon82 · 2007-11-26 02:54 · Score: 1 · on How to Turn Your PC into a Mac

It's very silly. see this
Dell is clearly offering XP at time of purchase. So is lenovo, although that link doesn't seem to survive pasting. I didn't bother to check with HP or any other vendors but it seems there are quite a few current laptops available with XP out of the box.

Re:Doomed by HAKdragon · 2007-11-25 09:45 · Score: 1 · on Researchers Sour on Vista Service Pack 1 Performance

If you go to dell.com and go to desktops for Home and Home Office, you have two links called "Still looking for Windows XP?" One is on the right banner, the other is on the left under "Essential Links". Interestingly enough, so is "Open-Source PCs," Dell's name for their systems that ship with Ubuntu or FreeDOS.

Re:How to estimate the cooling needs? by zerocool^ · 2007-11-13 06:47 · Score: 1 · on Cooling Challenges an Issue In Rackspace Outage

Chiming in with this: http://www.dell.com/html/us/products/rack_advisor/index.html.

Dell-centric, but Dell is what we use here.

It'll tell you how much power / cooling / rackspace / etc you need.

Re:some reasons to keep linux... dual boot ? by Nazlfrag · 2007-11-01 16:59 · Score: 1 · on Mandriva's Open Letter To Steve Ballmer

Reminds me of the Dell recommendation for basic Vista use

Great for... Booting the Operating System, without running applications or games

Re:if he was so smart by mlts · 2007-10-30 13:06 · Score: 1 · on The Khaki Bandit Strikes At IT - 130 Stolen Laptops

There is a link to this on HP's website:

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/downloads/HP_Computrace_BIOS_FAQ.pdf

Its a PDF.

As for Dell:

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2005/2005_12_13_rr_000?c=us&l=en&s=corp

If one goes into the BIOS setup of a number of recent Dell laptop or upper end desktop, it will give you the option to permanently enable or disable Computrace's BIOS agent.

Re:Vista Ultimate by jawtheshark · 2007-10-28 06:11 · Score: 1 · on Vista Sales Rate Fell Last Quarter

Go and look a bit around at Dell, will ya? They do exist... Found it in two minutes... there must be others.

Re:another reason to hate Vista... by SailorSpork · 2007-10-28 05:10 · Score: 0 · on 512GB Solid State Disks on the Way

Unless you count the Asus EEEPC, which (depending on the model) has either 2, 4 or 8 Gig drives that come with Linux. They don't run Vista, but they do come with instructions & drivers for installing XP.

I'm sure Dell & such would follow suit much sooner if M$ would let them load XP instead of Vista, but Dell isn't afraid of Linux and will even be introducing solid state 32G laptops (I'm assuming running some sort of Windows) soon.

Re:Quite the opposite for me old chaps by Taleron · 2007-10-23 11:46 · Score: 1 · on Vista Vs. Gutsy Gibbon

My computer arrived with Ubuntu installed on it.

LoL. You should put lies in the end of message.

As hard as your reply was to read, I think I understood it. But I'm still wondering what you mean by lies - does this mean that from your perspective, Dell's just making areas of their site for kicks? Not to say that's the source of the parent's pre-installed Ubuntu box, but how many times does one need to ask a major OEM to get a Linux system?

Re:Quite the opposite for me old chaps by Anonymous Coward · 2007-10-23 11:06 · Score: 0 · on Vista Vs. Gutsy Gibbon

You should put lies in the end of message

Are you being sarcastic? See: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

I agree it's not common, and it's a trick finding the site from the dell.com main page, but there is at least one major supplier who ships Linux boxes. (Whether any of you money for the Dell Ubuntu box actually finds its way into Microsoft's coffers is another question.)

Re:Nostalgia isn't what it used to be... by Chineseyes · 2007-10-21 04:35 · Score: 1 · on Woz Still Misses Homebrew Computer Club and Apple

WRONG http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=bscwfk1&s=bsd you can configure that with 2 quad core xeons.

Re:Installed by millions... by Zymergy · 2007-10-20 05:11 · Score: 1 · on RealPlayer Zero-Day Flaw Under Attack

In your example to the good post from calebt3, in the case of certain virus infections, or other malware which infects the windows restore feature, you would likely need to disable 'system restore' it to effectively clean/scan your system
(and you would lose the saved restore points)
You might want to obtain your specific system's Original Dell Windows XP OEM Installation disks.
You can get them from Dell here: https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form
If Dell is out of your specific system's original OEM reinstallation disk set, it is probably just the pre-loaded drivers and crapware specific disk they are out of.
Most Dell's (that ship with a Microsoft OS) have an OEM Microsoft sticker on the bottom/back with the 25-digit activation key. (you may/may not need this if you format and reinstall from scratch)
If the Dell OEM version of Windows XP (Original, SP1, SP2, etc..) from the sticker is determined and Dell is out of your CD, ask friends, family, some local Dell computer repair shop, etc.. to "use" one of their disks. (you are not supposed to 'copy' the Dell OEM disks). The fancy 25-digit key sticker on the bottom of your Dell laptop is your Microsoft OEM License ("what you pay for" as far as your purchase of OEM WinXP) and the CD from Dell just happens to be the packaging so there is usually one CD/DVD per system version (SP1, SP2, etc..) of OS and when installing it will check for the correct DELL BIOS signatures (whatever they are).
If they are out of your specific disk, you could look on eBay for an identically named disk if the above fails. (Dell typically makes the version different OEM Windows disks different colors for each version)
You would need to download the proper OS/Hardware drivers form Dell here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen
NOTE: Some Dell PCs shipped only with a hidden HD partition where the OEM Windows files were kept. (You may want to check if Dell has OEM disks for you, and if not then do your research before using any other sourced DELL OEM OS disk).
Of course, you could always use something like Norton Ghost to make a backup image of your HDD to a removable drive or CD/DVD once things were "perfect" and revert back to that image if your system gets hosed. (but you literally would be at that point and lose all changes to OS and data since that image)

Re:Installed by millions... by Zymergy · 2007-10-20 05:11 · Score: 1 · on RealPlayer Zero-Day Flaw Under Attack

In your example to the good post from calebt3, in the case of certain virus infections, or other malware which infects the windows restore feature, you would likely need to disable 'system restore' it to effectively clean/scan your system
(and you would lose the saved restore points)
You might want to obtain your specific system's Original Dell Windows XP OEM Installation disks.
You can get them from Dell here: https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form
If Dell is out of your specific system's original OEM reinstallation disk set, it is probably just the pre-loaded drivers and crapware specific disk they are out of.
Most Dell's (that ship with a Microsoft OS) have an OEM Microsoft sticker on the bottom/back with the 25-digit activation key. (you may/may not need this if you format and reinstall from scratch)
If the Dell OEM version of Windows XP (Original, SP1, SP2, etc..) from the sticker is determined and Dell is out of your CD, ask friends, family, some local Dell computer repair shop, etc.. to "use" one of their disks. (you are not supposed to 'copy' the Dell OEM disks). The fancy 25-digit key sticker on the bottom of your Dell laptop is your Microsoft OEM License ("what you pay for" as far as your purchase of OEM WinXP) and the CD from Dell just happens to be the packaging so there is usually one CD/DVD per system version (SP1, SP2, etc..) of OS and when installing it will check for the correct DELL BIOS signatures (whatever they are).
If they are out of your specific disk, you could look on eBay for an identically named disk if the above fails. (Dell typically makes the version different OEM Windows disks different colors for each version)
You would need to download the proper OS/Hardware drivers form Dell here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen
NOTE: Some Dell PCs shipped only with a hidden HD partition where the OEM Windows files were kept. (You may want to check if Dell has OEM disks for you, and if not then do your research before using any other sourced DELL OEM OS disk).
Of course, you could always use something like Norton Ghost to make a backup image of your HDD to a removable drive or CD/DVD once things were "perfect" and revert back to that image if your system gets hosed. (but you literally would be at that point and lose all changes to OS and data since that image)

Re:yawn...... by visgoth · 2007-10-18 12:19 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out

Yeah, such a waste of time that Dell is offering desktop machines with Ubuntu preloaded... cretin.

Re:Maybe this stems from... by Allador · 2007-10-18 04:18 · Score: 1 · on Vista Runs Out of Memory While Copying Files

Yes you can. Though in all honesty, you probably dont want to pay for premium on the precision.

What you can't get is an Inspiron or a Vostro. And Dell doesnt make a 17" in the Latitude.

Of course, this is mostly due to the fact that Dell doesnt have a business class laptop in 17". They have consumer level garbage (inspiron, vostro) in a 17", and an engineering workstation (precision), but no latitude in a 17".

The deal with Dell and XP is that you can get XP or Vista on all their business class machines. And despite their marketing, that doesnt include the Vostro's.

Has support from Dell and Novell by ZipprHead · 2007-10-18 02:10 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out

I'm actually really excited about this. We've got a demo running here. We installed it on a two year old notebook and everything just worked. Pointed Evolution to our Exchange server, and it just worked. Which IMHO is key, I love to hack things just as much as the next guy, but if I have to hack things just to get them to work the first time, its a major turn off.

It's got a slick UI and the package manager is well done.

Add in support from Dell.

All that is missing now is a really awesome developer environment.

Re:The student edition is now $47 more by smenor · 2007-10-16 04:46 · Score: 1 · on OS X Leopard Ships On October 26th

...cheap hardware like Dell does.

Funny thing about that... it's not really that much cheaper.

Sure - you can go to Dell and put together a notebook for 500-bucks... but then you look at the bus, and the CPU speed, and the graphics card, and everything else and realize that the MacBooks and MacBook Pros come standard with things that are listed as options (if they're even available) for the Dells.

Once you get the configurations closer to parity, that price difference that looked so huge ends up being pretty small - and for that small difference, you get something that's significantly better engineered (which you and I place some value in).

About the only exception I'd make to that is memory - if you go to the default Apple Store, and add memory that way, you're pretty much guaranteed to get screwed (which is sad, especially considering how easy it is to upgrade the memory in Apple's notebooks yourself).

I realize that's little comfort for someone who is looking to spend as little as possible on a computer, but if that's somebody's goal, then a Mac probably isn't really for them.

One last thing - this is probably gonna sound stupid, but I would argue that the fact that there are so few configurations for Apple's notebooks is actually a Good Thing.

If you go to price notebooks from Dell or HP or most other vendors, you have to figure out if you want a Vostro or a Latitude, or a Precision, or whateve, plus you have to pick a model number for each.... and (even after a side-by-side comparison), it can be difficult to work out exactly what's what. For people who value their time, it might actually be worth spending a few hundred bucks more just to be able to say "I want a 17-inch, so that means a MacBook Pro" and then just to quickly select the details of their configuration.

People can complain that they want more choice, but having a bunch of nearly equivalent versions of hardware isn't about choice - it's about confusing the customer with the illusion of choice, and making it impossible (or, at least, arduous) for most people to figure out what the best deal is, so they'll end up spending more money on average (because most people aren't exactly going to use the simplex method when buying a computer).

Has anyone actually gone to them for the ubuntu pc by hairyfeet · 2007-10-16 02:32 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Ubuntu On Dell After Four Months

I just went there,are they kidding? They are charging MORE for a lower spec machine than you would get going Vista! 1Gb of RAM, the bottom of the line Core2Duo, and a lousy 80Gb hard drive,for 774? And I tried adding an extra Gb of RAM, which only added $60 on the Vista machine, added $125!!!. It is like they are doing everything they can to make sure it fails. Either they are afraid of making Bill mad, or they don't want to mess up the extra cash they are making from the crapware installs. But either way, you can't tell me that the price of memory jumps more than 100% just because it has Ubuntu on it.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Sadly,just like before Dell started, any geek with a brain will have to pay the Microsoft tax and wipe the drive if you want a Dell at a decent price. Unless they love Dell SO much they are willing to overpay for lower spec hardware just for the privilege of Ubuntu. The prices they are charging for what you are getting is just crazy.

Recommends Vista by Skiron · 2007-10-16 00:57 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu On Dell After Four Months

"Customers are certainly showing their interest and buying systems preloaded with Ubuntu, but it certainly won't overtake Microsoft Windows anytime soon."

I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 6400 pre-installed Ubuntu (and very good it is too), but looking at the comment above, it is not hard to wonder why, as every time you look at Dell Linux machine options, plastured alone the top is 'Dell recommends Microsoft Vista'.

It is almost as if they are going through the 'Linux' motions half-heartedly.

Typical example found HERE

Re:Yeah, but where can I buy it? by R_Dorothy · 2007-10-16 00:51 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu On Dell After Four Months

There's a search box on the top right, search for linux - worked for me: http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&k=linux&cat=prod

Re:Yeah, but where can I buy it? by LingNoi · 2007-10-16 00:51 · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu On Dell After Four Months

http://www.dell.com/ubuntu - I just randomly typed it in and it worked. :)

Re:Nice to get a watt/CPU by Anonymous Coward · 2007-10-12 05:07 · Score: 0 · on First Actual CPU Energy Use Statistics Published

I know they're not perfect, but the big three server makers (Dell, HP, IBM) all provide power calculators that give you a better picture of utilization than just base configs. You can add/subtract memory, disks, processors and PCI devices from the servers and still get a fairly accurate picture of utilization.

Dell: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/pedge/topics/en/config_calculator?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz
HP: http://h30099.www3.hp.com/configurator/powercalcs.asp
IBM: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/powerconfig/

Re:Great on Battery life by cerberusss · 2007-10-11 04:35 · Score: 1 · on Alienware Puts 64GB Solid-State Drives In Desktops

According to Intel, a laptop its harddisk plus DVD uses about 10% of the total power usage, so I'm having a hard time believing that your battery life is so much better thanks to the SSD storage. I'd more readily attribute the long battery life to a good bunch of batteries. Besides a 9 cell battery pack, the Dell D430 can pack an additional 6 cell as well.

Dell adds to confusion: Linux != open source by Locutus · 2007-10-04 04:20 · Score: 1 · on The Next Leap for Linux

Go to http://www.dell.com/ and enter Ubuntu in the search box( upper right corner ). When you select one of the two links found, you'll see where Dell states this:
"The main thing to note is that when you choose open source you don't get a Windows® operating system."

They are not helping anybody but Microsoft with that statement. It should state that '...when you choose Ubuntu on Dell, you don't get a Windows® operating system." Confusing customers with what open source is means that they'll have to work much harder to clear that up when they start pre-loading open source applications on Dell/Windows® computers. Yes, it will happen.

The article/author could have made a more convincing connection between the fact that with the Dell/Ubuntu system you get a full office suite for free. I just got a support call from a friends daughter regarding her new laptop and using MS Powerpoint. She didn't realize it only came with a 60 day trial and no longer functioned. She was also surprised that she'd have to purchase MS Office. So why doesn't Dell pre-load Open Office or Star Office on their computers instead of or with MS Office trials? There are a number of open source projects which come with versions for MS Windows and provide great value to customers. Still, OEM's stay away and don't even tell their customers about them. THIS would be a great story for someone willing to dig into this further. Maybe nobody wants to upset their advertisers by exposing the fact that much of what's kept off those computers is related to who pays them to do so? IMO.

Back to the story, both the article and Dell's pre-loading are good for Linux because it's mainstreaming Linux and open source software and that's a good thing. Even though Dell can not advertise their GNU/Linux systems, the general press can do that instead. But, I still feel the author doesn't cut it any slack and continue to say incorrectly that it's only for geeks. And doesn't Ubuntu provide support for the Dell computers? The article only mentioned Novell Suse's $50 version comes with 1 year of support. Isn't there Dell/Ubuntu support from Canonical?

LoB

Re:MS Tax? by fwc · 2007-09-29 16:14 · Score: 1 · on Falling Hardware Prices Favor Linux

Yes, I could choose B, but if I WANT A LAPTOP, I HAVE TO BUY WINDOWS.

http://www.dell.com/linux

Hardened Notebooks by BulletMagnet · 2007-09-28 07:05 · Score: 1 · on Replacing a Thinkpad?

I'm the IT Manager of a large construction company and my employees put a lot of strain on their laptops (jobsite's are very dusty and whatnot)

I've looked into the Panasonic Toughbook series and they aren't nearly as bulletproof as everyone thinks they are....at least the older ones weren't....

Dell does make a single hardened model: the Latitude ATG 630. It has all the requirements of a hardenend unit but from a Cost Benefit point of view, the extra $900.00 for the body and internal armor, the piddly 32GB Solid State HD, and the bright-light viewable screen.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/latit_atg_d630?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

The only drawback with these machines is they come with integrated graphics, but that might not be an issue for you. You can get it with either XP or Vista, and they have some Ubuntu drivers listed on their support page.

You can also look at these guys: http://www.ruggednotebooks.com/ but I think that would probably be overkill

Dell Vostro by KnarfO · 2007-09-28 03:51 · Score: 1 · on Replacing a Thinkpad?

I'm using one to type this post. It is pretty sweet!

Re:Easy Answer by solid_liq · 2007-09-27 11:36 · Score: 2, Informative · on Why Do Commercial Offerings Use Linux, But Not Support Linux Users?

Enter DKMS, the Dell project, which abstracts the kernel version from the device driver. This project renders your point about device drivers moot.

See more here: Dell Linux Projects.

Re:hmmmmmm by Ash-Fox · 2007-09-26 22:12 · Score: 1 · on The Soldier of the Future

Ever lifted a military certified laptop?

No, but it doesn't look heavy.

Linux in people's homes by tepples · 2007-09-24 23:23 · Score: 1 · on The Linux Identity Crisis

What zero clicks? Most people use pre-installed operating systems. Exactly. A lot of users on Slashdot want some OEM with a recognized brand name to make and promote home workstations that come with GNU/Linux operating systems. Dell Ubuntu systems are a good start.

Almost every major server vendor will sell you server with Linux installed and supported. How much more mainstream do you want? Something like Windows Home Server: computing appliances for the home that wear the penguin on their sleeve.

Open Office does its job perfectly well. But what is "its job"? Does OpenOffice.org run something comparable to Stone Edge Order Manager? As far as I can tell, one needs Microsoft Access for this VBA app.

Re:The problem is this: I DONT WANT WINDOWS... by Allador · 2007-09-24 17:51 · Score: 1 · on EU Think Tank Urges Full Windows Unbundling

Show me a Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA, Office Max, Staples, or Office Depot where you can buy a non-windows based PC... They don't exist. So what? Only an idiot buys a computer from one of those stores. All they offer is the ultra-craptastical consumer-level garbage from the likes of Sony, HP, and other odd brands. They're garbage, you dont want them.

I also seem to remember that Wal-Mart was selling Linux boxen for a while, not sure if they still are.

Even on the Dell web site, the only machines with no OS at all are certain servers. I did find a couple "open source" latitude models ... You mean here, where they offer an
'open-source' option on EVERY single latitude model except the D4x0? You realize that if you buy a laptop from dell, you dont want anything but a latitude, right? The rest are either consumer-level garbage (inspiron), or workstation-replacements (precision).

Or how about here, where they offer an 'open-source' option on damn near every one of their business class lines, including their new oh-so-confusing vostro small business line?

Or how about the couple of experimental machines they offer with Ubuntu, as you can see here?

... with "freedos" and found the difference to be $30 less than the exact same machine with Windows XP Home (which is interesting considering that Dell pays more for XP home Actually, 30 seconds of research will show you that the upper bound of XP Home for an OEM is ~$80, as seen on NewEgg. You know Dell's price is lower than that, plus the 'marketing incentive' kickbacks, right? So $30 sounds about right, and given their expanded support needs and configuration options, they probably run smaller margins on those in the end.

I should NEVER be forced to buy Windows when I buy hardware no matter where I decide to buy it from. Yeah, and I should get magical sprinklings of fairy dust on my food from McDonalds.

Bottom line is that you're NOT forced to buy windows when you buy hardware. You can buy from the business-class lines from all the tier-1 vendors (which is what you want, the consumer-level stuff is terrible), or you can buy from a linux manufacturer, like system76, or you can build the machine yourself with parts from newegg or your locally owned white-box low-end-craptacular parts store.

You should be a happy man/woman/entity.