any chance of Dell releasing a decent laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled?

The Inspiron e1505n just does not cut it for me. For instance, no Bluetooth? Are they kidding me? There is bluetooth support in Ubuntu so what's the hold up? It's also based of an older chipset, has no integrated camera (which seems to be a general problem with Dells). I mean come on! This might have been appealing 2 years ago but the feature set seems rather dated now. I'd rather take my chances with a Compal or Asus without an OS.

Anyone has any information about Dell getting serious about a real Linux laptop?

 

Some leaked documents have alluded that there will probably be atleast two Santa Rosa Ubuntu laptops, one a 17" and the other 15.4".

 

Thanks, Lysander! They better be quick though because I'm looking for a new computer now. My last 3 laptops have been Dells but the last one was rather fragile so they've lost a lot of points in my book. They've gained some back with the possibility of having Ubuntu preinstalled on a laptop but when I saw the actual specs of the laptop they lost some points again.

 

Well, it's not Ubuntu exactly, but you can currently buy a Latitude from the Dell Small Business store with no OS and Bluetooth. (They give you a "FreeDOS" disk, which they don't really expect anyone to use.) You'd have to install Ubuntu yourself. They don't have webcams, but they're nice machines otherwise.

Otherwise, I expect an Ubuntu option on at least one of the new Inspirons, maybe not right when they come out (whenever that is), but at least shortly after.

 

Um, why not just buy a really good laptop and download Ubuntu yourself. -_- Takes like 5 minutes for me.

 

i can't seem to figure out how to get a latitude with no OS (only freeDOS)
am i missing something?

 

stoop, just use a bootdisk and format the harddrive. done. no os now.

 

stoopkid: I believe they just give you the FreeDOS disk; they don't install it.
"In order to boot this system, you must install an operating system. A FreeDOS media kit has been provided which will allow you to boot your system once installed."
So (like it really matters) you have to get the OS on CD-ROM, but you don't have to get it pre-installed.

 

I've installed Linux on computers since the early 90s when the kernel was at 0.98.whatever and installing linux meant, if you were lucky, shoving in a stack of floppies. If you were not lucky, it meant cross-compiling and fiddling with your own bootloader. So, yes I know how to do that.

The issue for me is not to have someone install the OS on the machine for me but rather of an different order. Let me first note that I do need to use Windows from time to time. Either because someone else I work with sends me something I can't deal with in Linux or because I want to play games from time to time. (More like HL2 than solitare... if you get my drift.) Here are the issues:

1. I don't want to pay for a crippled Windows license. The major brands are now shipping laptops with Windows preinstalled and no installation disks. You can make some sort of recovery DVD as soon as you get the machine but that's not the same thing as having install disks from Microsoft since that does not give you a copy you can install on just any computer. Basically, MS is doing everything to tie a specific copy of Windows to a specific computer. If I need a complete replacement for my machine 2 years down the road, I don't want to be forced into buying another license. I know Dell has some models for which they provide full installation disks but they seem inconsistent about which models have that option.

2. I already have a real copy of Windows XP that I can install on a new laptop. Do I want to pay for a copy of Vista now??? No way! The way things are going I'm probably going to buy Vista down the road but I'm in no hurry to do that.

3. I just want to see a major manufacturer sell decent laptops with Linux preinstalled. That's a victory for someone like me who prefers *nix to Windows and free software to restricted software. No, I don't want it so badly that I'm going to shell out money for something that does not fulfill all my needs.

 

Thanks. My worry is that this won't be available for someone ordering through their store for education (students, teachers, etc.). Or not available at least without a serious song and dance on my part. I have not rechecked recently but a few days after the e1505n was made available on Dell's store for the general public, it was not available for student discount.

 

If you look on the front page of digg.com you will see the documents

 

I did not find the documents but I found this:

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Dell_quietly_drops_extended_warranty_support_for_Ubuntu

Which makes me think that Dell is not serious about Linux. Some people on digg.com suggest that's because Dell has issues with supporting Ubuntu. If the problem is just Ubuntu, why are they denying extended warranties on the hardware?

Funny thing. My last 3 laptops were Dells. I've run Linux on all of them. Used my warranty for all of them. Never had a problem getting parts replaced. Now that Dell claims to support Ubuntu, they are going to have problems with supporting Dell laptops with Ubuntu installed!?!

 

Followup on the extended warranties situation in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=128206

Summary: the lack of extended warranties was a temporary mistake.

 

Well, I checked whether the new Dells (1420, 1520 and co) were available with Ubuntu installed. Only the 1420 is available right now and like before, the configuration options are limited in comparison to the kind of configuration possible with Vista. I understand that Dell wants to sell only hardware that will be supported in Ubuntu but unfortunately that makes their offering unappealing to me. I've been used to buy laptops for which all devices were not immediately supported by Linux. Usually, support came pretty fast afterwards but I was able to deal with that fact. I guess that's what I'm going to continue to do... with another brand.