The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Help with 1420N Configuration

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Cornfed, Jul 13, 2007.

  1. Cornfed

    Cornfed Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Greetings. Not sure if this topic or the "which laptop should I buy" topic is more appropriate, so my apologies if I'm in the wrong place.

    I've been considering several different laptops over the last couple weeks, and have now talked myself into getting the Inspiron 1420n with Ubuntu pre-installed. I believe I've heard the argument that it's smarter to get the regular 1420 then install Linux on your own, but I priced out the two side by side earlier and it looked like an $80ish savings for the Ubuntu version. Will double check this before buying, but that may be worth it to me. Will be nice knowing that all of the hardware I get will work with Linux and not having to tinker with things (at least for a while :)

    Anyway, does this configuration look OK? I guess my specific question areas are:
    -I upgraded the processor to the point where the next best processor was $75 more rather than $50 more, so I'm assuming this is the best price point.
    -I know I want 2GB of RAM
    -Is it worth it to spend like $50 more for the faster HD? I thought it might be
    -My biggest question is on the display. I chose this one since it supports the highest resolution, but it delays my ship date and is more money. I essentially want the best looking display possible, though, so I thought it might be worth it.
    -I chose the 3 years of support plus accident protection. I really only want protection for the hardware failing, plus I have killed work laptops before by spilling stuff on them. So I thought these might make sense.

    Insprion 1420N, $1,462, Ship Date: 10-Aug-2007
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    SYSTEM COLOR Midnight Blue edit
    PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) edit
    OPERATING SYSTEM Ubuntu version 7.04 edit
    DISPLAY High Resolution, glossy widescreen 14.1 inch display (1440x900) edit
    VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 edit
    MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit
    HARD DRIVE Speed: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) edit
    OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit
    WIRELESS CARDS Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card edit
    BATTERY OPTIONS 6-cell Primary Battery and 9-cell additional Lithium Ion Battery edit
    SOUND OPTIONS Integrated High Definition Audio edit
    My Accessories
    My Service
    WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3 Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day edit
    ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 3Yr Lim Warranty edit
    ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIONS Free Recycling Kit edit
    ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
    INTEGRATED WEBCAM No Camera
    Integrated NIC and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
    Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
     
    Cornfed, Jul 13, 2007
    #1
  2. monkstah

    monkstah Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    120
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would say you could get away with a 1.5ghz with Linux, but I'll defer to the others who have used it. You don't need a big processor for that though definitely.
     
    monkstah, Jul 13, 2007
    #2