How's Linux on Dell's M1210?

I've seen some mention of the M1210 running Linux, but I'm curious about the specifics. What are the downs and ups of running Linux on that laptop. I'm particularly nervous about compatibility with the webcam and the wireless card.

Any thoughts?

 

This guy seems to have had good luck with it... webcams are a little dicey, so I won't tell you for sure what'll happen with that, but your wireless should in all likelihood work as long as you use a brand-spankin' new distro (Ubuntu 6.06 or Fedora Core 6 or something similar)

 

Well it's good to know most of its hardware works with linux, but if the webcam doesn't work, I'm not sure that the bulkiness is worth it.

 

...the bulkiness? What does that mean? What exactly do you want to do with Linux that requires use of a webcam? Why do you even want to run Linux, for that matter? If Windows does everything you want, stay with it. Windows doesn't do everything I want, which is why I run Linux (I hate being dictated where I want to go today by my computer, how long I'm allowed to stay there, and what I'm allowed and not allowed to do while there )

I'd mosly suggest you get like the Kubuntu LiveDVD or something and boot off that, see if you can use all your hardware, or get it running, so you can decide whether you want to install it or not.

 

Google's your friend..

http://www.serpentine.com/blog/software/linux-on-m1210.html
http://toufeeq.blogspot.com/2006/07/linux-on-dell-xps-m1210.html

But I would bet the place to get up to minute information on this subject is Dell's own Linux website.

http://linux.dell.com/

I'm sure if you registered there, visited the online forums, and posted this question, you'd get responses from individuals who have actually loaded an M1210 with Linux..

 

I just installed linux (debian etch with a 2.6.17 custom kernel) on my new dell m1210, and it works great, I'm quite pleased with it. I opted out of the webcam, so I can't give you advice on that, but most everything else worked with minimal fiddling. The two things I'm having trouble with are getting the screen to go to 1280x800 (but google has implied that this is possible, with 915resolution), and getting suspend to ram to work right (it does not wake up when I put it to sleep.) That said, I haven't put much effort into either of these things yet, so they may well work.

As for your concerns about the wireless card, it's working great, there are up-to-date drivers for linux at http://ipw3945.sourceforge.net/ (the ones in the debian repository do NOT work, however). Everything else also worked "out of the box" (i.e., with an apt-get install), or with not very difficult fiddling.

I did a lot of research before buying this, and it seemed like this was definitely one of the most linux-compatible new laptops with the specs I was looking for, and not bad for the money either. It's a bit fat for an "ultra-portable" machine, but it seems sturdy and powerful (and has a great screen and speakers), so I think it's worth it. If you haven't already gotten a laptop, I would recommend the m1210.

Hope that helps,
Mary