They Had Their Chances.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Abe Sep 16, 2005 8:48 AM EDT |
I wont touch a Dell computer with a 10 foot pole; even if it had Linux pre-installed. They had bogus claims before and they had their chances. It is a matter of principles. |
| hkwint Sep 16, 2005 9:26 AM EDT |
That's OK, however, for the people without principles (the 'average Joe' who just wants to buy a cheap laptop and doesn't give a #*& about brands and their politics), this is great, he doesn't even get locked in. I remember a previous discussion here on LXer, not even long ago, where we said this (Dell with Linux pre-installed) was never going to happen, and look, we were wrong! That's great news for Linux. For people with principles (and I myself could be one of them too, still doubting, maybe going to buy a laptop soon), there are enough other laptops than Dell! |
| mariuz Sep 16, 2005 9:38 AM EDT |
Any linux (on laptops) is good news , Is sad to see many systems with windows preinstalled. Choice is good . ps: ok i wouldn't buy something that rhymes with Hell ;) |
| TxtEdMacs Sep 16, 2005 10:19 AM EDT |
All of you: just checked this morning on the Dell site - for that model there is no Linux mentioned (unless it was artfully hidden). Europe or elsewhere, possible - here not until Linux is a torrent swiping all else aside. |
| tadelste Sep 16, 2005 10:58 AM EDT |
I seem to recall a LinuxWorld Expo where Michael Dell gave the keynote speech. At the time, he was worried that Microsoft would be broken up (he should have known how serious it was eh). I won't buy a product that rhymes with well much less the other term. |
| SFN Sep 16, 2005 11:21 AM EDT |
"just checked this morning on the Dell site - for that model there is no Linux mentioned" According to the article, this version of the 110L "is now being sold direct to students by Dell". So, I wouldn't think that you'd be able to find it on the site. |
| TxtEdMacs Sep 16, 2005 2:08 PM EDT |
SFN - here are some direct links to "students", swiped from comments on lwn.net. UK - http://commerce.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config/frameset.asp?... Looks Windows only, here. If Linux can be gotten, it is hidden well. In contrast, continental Europe seems to differ. France - http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/emea/top... Not even a mention of Windows on the 110L, I think that's the reason both Bush and Rumsfeld hate the French, they are just smarter than we are. |
| hkwint Sep 17, 2005 1:27 PM EDT |
Well, it turned out it was an offer to French students only, if I'm correct.
See the article by (our friend) Steven J Vaughan - Nichols:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1860031,00.asp I also checked the German and Dutch site (don't speak any more languages) and neither can find them there. That makes sense, because in the EU Linux is used the most in France, and the French are the most anti-capitalism/globalism also (wonder when French farmers will be wrecking McDonalds/KentuckyFried/BurgerKing-stores again. Might be soon. However, please don't confuse this with anti-Americanism to soon, they also hate the Chinese for producing cheap clothes and shoes, as the Americans do as well at the moment I heard, and they also hate Polish plumbers for being much cheaper and so on). However, this might be a trial for Dell. If it works good, and moreover, sells good, I think Germany might follow first, the offers might move to a more prominent place on the website... Not talking any further here, because its still Dell. But the world is changing, and it seems Dell - however they don't understand it - noticed it. BTW how much would it cost Mandriva to make Dell-France 'recommend' Mandriva instead of Windows XP? And this one should go in the humours section, rightly taken of the Dell-fr-site: Quoting:Systèmes d'exploitation Bullet Microsoft® Windows® XP Édition Familiale Bullet Microsoft® Windows® XP ProfessionnelThinking of the software-meaning of the word 'exploit'... |
| TxtEdMacs Sep 17, 2005 3:00 PM EDT |
No think of this in the business sense (Mafia style) Quoting:Thinking of the software-meaning of the word 'exploit'... Better yet "exploitation" without the "d[accent]". |
| cyber_rigger Sep 18, 2005 12:50 PM EDT |
Screw Dell. I think that Dell is just playing Microsoft for a better licensing deal. Here is my current list of companies selling Linux desktops. http://www.addonshop.com/ http://www.sub300.com/ http://www.ibexpc.com/ http://www.linare.com/ http://www.linspire.com/ http://www.linuxcertified.com/ http://www.microtelpc.com/ http://www.outpost.com/ http://shoprcubed.com/ http://www.systemax.com/divisions.htm http://www.walmart.com/ http://www.xandros.com/ http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/pre-installed http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html http://tuxmobil.org/ (general information) |
| cyber_rigger Sep 18, 2005 12:51 PM EDT |
" Dell does not officially support running Linux on Dell laptops. " http://linux.dell.com/desktops.shtml |
| cyber_rigger Sep 18, 2005 12:52 PM EDT |
Worst than that. Dell spams you with ads for Windows machines here. http://tuxmobil.org/ I find this insulting. |
| cjcox Sep 18, 2005 2:43 PM EDT |
At my workplace we support Linux on laptops. Unfortunately, the site choice has always been HP (Compaq). Dell laptops are much more Linux friendly than most (perhaps not all) HP/Compaq laptops. I especially like the Lat D600 (now the Insp. 600m) and I currently use a Dell Precision M70 as my personal Linux (Linux only) laptop. Dell's support for Linux stinks. But they just so happen to do a better job of supporting Linux (realizing it or not) than HP/Compaq. I owned a Toshiba 3000 (now my daughter's laptop) and it doesn't handle Linux as well as the Dell either. With that said, Toshiba and HP/Compaq obtain their laptops from a plethora of vendors. Dell might too.. not sure. All I know is that Dell's seem to look similar to each other... so maybe they at least stick with one supplier. It's pretty random with HP/Compaq. So... it is possible to have a HP/Toshiba/whatever that works quite well with Linux. I just have better experience with Dells. If someone asked me to install Linux on a new (never seen before) Dell laptop, there's a good chance of success. I can't say the same thing about HP/Compaq or Toshiba. Also... Radeon's are VERY popular with many laptop manufacturers. IMHO, you'll save yourself some grief if you don't get a laptop with a Radeon. The older Radeon's do work quite well (like on the Lat. D600)... but that X700 seems to give a lot people fits. I have found that often times there are bugs with HP/Compaq EVEN with Windows that have to be "fixed" with a specially tuned driver (e.g. for the mouse/touchpad, etc). |
| cyber_rigger Sep 18, 2005 6:18 PM EDT |
With that said, Toshiba and HP/Compaq obtain their laptops from a plethora of vendors. Dell might too.. not sure. Here's some information on OEM suppliers: http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html |
| hkwint Sep 19, 2005 3:15 AM EDT |
Very interesting: I just found out, following some links provided by cyber_rigger, the Dell-latitudes comes from a Taiwanese company, named Quanta.
At http://www.avadirect.com/plist.asp?keywords=sabio , you can buy customised Quanta-laptops (that's true: A Dell laptop in the US without Windows and Dell-sticker!). They're called Sabio and not Dell, but who cares? Looking at the French Dell-laptop, I identified the left/upmost laptop as probably being the same as the Dell latitude 110L. So I started configuring it in exactly the same way as the French Manriva Dell+Linux offer, even including 3 years warranty. However, with the Sabio, I was unable to select plain DDR, so I had to order DDR2. The Sabio came to a total of $962.58 (E 792), including shipping and VAT. The Dell Latitude 110L came to a total of E 759 ($921). I also found some other US-stores selling the sabio-brand, most promising were http://www.asimobile.com/ (Possible to configure without OS) http://www.powernotebooks.com/ (Possible to configure without OS, think it's the Crown 17:6 Force, with $892 even cheaper then the Latitude 110L, incl. shipping, but only 1 year warranty) Almost started thinking, if somebody puts a Dell sticker on it, nobody would notice... |
| cjcox Sep 20, 2005 8:34 AM EDT |
hkwint, none of what you pointed to seems to be consistent with Dell's current offerings. Quanta may well be making some of Dell's laptops.. I do believe that the new Inspiron line might come from there, but I haven't seen any ODM that has something that looks similar to their new Lat. and Prec. lines. I don't think it is clear at all. You may have well found a source for low end Dell laptops, but IMHO, the rest are still a mystery. Most of the information about ODM's on the web is VERY out of date. |
| tadelste Sep 20, 2005 9:47 AM EDT |
cjcox: if you go to some of the ODM's sites and look at products, you will see the corresponding models. Try this one: http://www.clevo.com.tw/ first. Then What do these Laptops resemble? http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/M120C.asp http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/D400J.asp http://www.laptopworldwide.com/laptops.html provides an index of ODM manufacturers. http://www.powernotebooks.com/ sells a large selection of notebooks that correspond to some familiar names. They have some content about ODM's on the site also. |
| hkwint Sep 20, 2005 1:06 PM EDT |
Quoting: Quanta may well be making some of Dell's laptops.. I do believe that the new Inspiron line might come from there, but I haven't seen any ODM that has something that looks similar to their new Lat. and Prec. lines. Here are 2 recent (feb/apr 2005) articles telling the Latitude 100L IS coming from Quanta at the moment, but Compal makes the other half of Dells laptops. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050406A1001.html http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050406A1001.html Quoting: in 2006 Quanta will manufacture follow-up versions of three existing Dell notebook models – the Inspiron 1000, Inspiron 1150 and the Latitude 100L, the sources added, noting that Quanta has already started shipping the Inspiron 1000 and Latitude 100L notebooks to Dell Quoting: "According to a February report, Compal beat out Quanta to make follow-up models of Dell's Latitude D600-series business notebooks currently manufactured by Quanta." Hope this convinces more! (Assuming Dell Latitude 110 and 100 are from the same ODM) |
| cjcox Sep 22, 2005 8:49 PM EDT |
It well may be Compal. Again, I haven't seen any ODM model that matches the new Latitudes (well possibly the X1) or the M70. My gut says it's not Compal. |
| Aninhumer Sep 25, 2005 7:08 AM EDT |
Does anyone know any companies that sell laptops with linux, or without an OS in the UK? As well as being unwilling to pay for international shipping, there's also the problem that if I plug a US laptop in a UK 240V socket it will fry up! |
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