ubuntu gutsy w/ dell vostro 1500??

hello all, i am a big linux fan and have the latest CD of ubuntu (gutsy) just lying around my home. i do have feisty installed on my desktop, but do not see the need to do a rather looong upgrade over my rather lame internet connection. however, i plan to get a dell vostro 1500 sometime next year (too poor now lol). is a gutsy install a breeze or an excruciatingly painful experience on the dell vostro?

 

Should work with most things...depends on the specific parts.

 

well, i sure hope so, but i know that many linux distros (yes, even the almighty ubuntu) have a hard time with laptops due to compatibility issues. i've heard that the media direct feature on a vostro conflicts with a linux install, but then i'm sure there must be workaround...

{{{{lol at John B's avatar | Firefox all the way!}}}}

 

Some infos here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=501195

Also, you can find some links about Media direct on Google.

 

I would go with another brand... or maybe by the time you purchase, dell will have better linux support.

Of course, you can get it to work, but it simply torture... much better to purchase a computer that was made to operate linux, IMO. So many "little things" with the dell.... nothing that major....

One of my partners picked up a dell... went with another brand (I think asus) and he is now happy with his dual boot....

 

Sabayon Linux works with my Asus C90s 'out of the box'. Vid Card, Sound, wifi the works. I was surprised actually. I guess I'll stick with this one then Compiling from source is no biggie, goes on in the background and the logic to doing it that way makes sense to me.

 

aaarrrgghh, and just when i thought it was out of my life, sabayon finds it's way back in. sorry, but i'm not a big fan of sabayon, my experience with it was absolutely horrible, and the system is such a system hog. just because all the modules work out of the box doesn't mean that the choice of sabayon will be a good one in the long run.... unless you really like it that much. ubuntu or opensuse is definitely the way to go imho

 

I like it a lot, yes. I think Gentoo will be around for the long run. I have Sabayon installed on my Acer, this Asus I've only run the live CD...getting ready to install 'a version' of linux onto a new partition. Don't know which one yet.

 

ok, well suit yourself... keep in mind that i have nothing against gentoo... just sabayon

 

After it's installed, it's gentoo The Acer I have it installed on is getting sold...I haven't decided what I'm going to put on this Asus yet....looking as we speak...maybe Mint....don't know yet I do appreciate comments.

EDIT: re: Sabayon, the one I'm using is the -64 edition.

 

sabayon's a horribly modded gentoo though imho. that's what i mean when i said i didn't like it. if you're looking for a linux distro for your lappy, ubuntu would probably be your best bet. but i'm also a big fan of opensuse and PCLinuxOS (have you give any of those two a try? there's a good chance at least one of them will detect all of your devices like sabayon did). if you're looking to go lite, you can't go wrong with wolvix. the different flavors of linux really depend on what and what you are not looking for.

 

Well, I have a Mint iso already. But, I'm at Distrowatch now checking out other versions. Haven't heard of wolvix, I'll check it out. Have you used the xfce desktop?

 

oh, yeah, i'm actually a big fan of the xfce desktop, it is very usable. if you're having worries about it, dispel them at once! it is very user-friendly and can be visually modded with skins to make it look even cooler than a gnome or kde desktop. and xfce is not a system hog, so you'll get a lot of battery life with it too.

 

I'm downloading the xfce edition of Mint now to check it out....I want a light weight desktop that I can make look 'clean' Any issues with xfce that I should be aware of?

 

Hmm....I can't even get Mint to load (Gnome)...trying the xfce desktop now...the C90s is a very fast, but oddly configured laptop...with Sabayon it all works OTB

 

OK, ended up with Xubuntu....what a great distro! Love that Xfce desktop.