DailyTech - Dell Rolls Out Ubuntu Inspirons

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Blog: Hardware Dell Rolls Out Ubuntu Inspirons
Tiago Marques (Blog) - February 19, 2008 7:05 PM

9 comment(s) - last by mmntech.. on Feb 21 at 4:17 PM

Europe the first to receive Dell's second wave of Linux desktops, U.S. to follow

This article was first syndicated on SiliconMadness.com.

It seems that Ubuntu continues to have a considerable amount of success at Dell, enough to justify introducing it to another model. The Dell Blog proudly states, "The growth in Linux sales has enabled us to expand Linux onto more platforms over the last year."

The Inspiron 1525 is the latest part to receive Ubuntu 7.10 as an option, ready for orders in the U.K., Spain, France and Germany. The same offer will reach the U.S. market by the end of the month, while for other countries nothing is planned, for now.

The Inspiron 1525 is currently the cheapest Dell laptop available and features the typical, mainstream, 15.4" wide screen. This offer fills a "hole" in Dell's offer in the sector, in which the more expensive XPS 1330n was the only option available.

Prices currently stand at £319 for the Ubuntu option and £369 for the one with Vista Home Basic. Vista home premium sets you back another £30, putting the price difference at £80, bigger than the one present in the XPS M1330n, which was of £50 with Vista Home Premium.
These prices were taken for the following configuration:

Celeron M540
2x512MB DDR2-667
80GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
15.4" WXGA screen with TrueLife
Intel Pro Wireless 3945a/b/g wireless card
Stock components for the rest

The Ubuntu version only allows for the selection of the 3945 wireless card and TrueLife screens, while the Vista part allows for a regular, cheaper, LCD with the stock configuration. As an advantage, the Ubuntu option currently offers an upgrade option for the 1440x900 screen, while the Vista option doesn't, at least for now.

Both configurations were only the Ubuntu option got a bump to 1GB of RAM, sets the price difference at £30, in favor of Ubuntu - considerably better result than the "fair" comparison.

The Ubuntu version also brings LinDVD installed, allowing for legal playback of DVDs.

Kudos for Dell for delivering free, open source software, at a very compelling price, to it's customers.

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RE: Dell and Linux

By geddarkstorm on 2/20/2008 2:37:52 PM , Rating: 2

Ubuntu 7.10 might be able to use windows drivers for it, like it does with broadcom hardware (such as wireless cards with broadcom chips). I can't tell you one way or the other, but since you can always test with the LiveCD, maybe it's worth a shot? (if you like Ubuntu and linux in general that is)

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RE: Dell and Linux

By Ringold on 2/20/2008 5:41:57 PM , Rating: 2

I loaded up Ubuntu in a virtual machine recently for certain nefarious purposes, and just my opinion but linux distro testing in a VM is the way to go, by far. Yes, you won't be able to see if it'll work with your hardware out of the box, but you get to play with it at a leisurely pace from within your functional OS, can install new distro's direct from .iso's without wasting a CD or DVD, and if you screw up you can revert to a snapshot.

All of which can be done in VMWare Server, which is free.

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