Best Laptop for Linux

[Ian Petersen]

I received a "Rhino" from Emperor Linux about 3 weeks ago.  It's a
re-branded Dell Precision M90.  I chose an expensive model because I
wanted a semi-portable desktop replacement.  The specs are:

 - Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2 GHz w/ 4MB cache
 - nVidia video card with VGA out, DVI out, SVideo out, and 512 MB
video RAM (don't remember the chipset)
 - 2 GB RAM
 - 80 GB hdd @ 7200 RPM
 - DVD burner
 - Intel's 3xxx wireless (I can't remember the exact spec--it does 802.11 a/b/g)
 - 17" wide-screen monitor capable of 1920x1200
 - built-in bluetooth, gigabit ethernet, etc.

I was happy with the pre-sale service.  The order was put together
quickly, and the person I spoke to (I think it was Lincoln--the owner)
was friendly and helpful.  Shipping was timely and fairly inexpensive.

I ordered my machine with Ubuntu pre-installed because I don't have
any experience with any of the available distributions and Ubuntu has
the most "buzz" right now.  When the machine arrived, it included
everything that Dell had shipped to Emperor Linux (e.g. the Windows
installation medium) plus a nicely-bound manual explaining the basics
of using Ubuntu on my new machine.  The manual includes instructions
to handle the first boot-up, some tips to help rank beginners get
started with Ubuntu, and a few other details about the machine and its
configuration.

Booting the machine for the first time was a little exciting--a new,
cutting edge laptop with full support under a free OS and zero to no
setup on my part!  Things went pretty well.  Suspend-to-disk works
fine (barring a few kernel modules that don't support it) and is
triggerd by the "blue key" (Fn + Esc).  Closing and then re-opening
the lid brings up the "Screen Locked" display, so I have to provide my
password to get back to the desktop.  Networking was well configured,
and the wireless card automatically found my wireless network and
asked for the WEP key.  (It also found all the neighbours' wirless
networks, one of which I used to ssh to my machine upstairs to
retrieve the WEP key from....)  Most of the blue keys worked as
advertised, including sound control, brightness control, the wireless
radio antenna, and the CD-eject button.  The battery life is also
properly monitored and I get early warnings that I need to plug in AC
at 20% and 10% left.  (It might also warn me at more urgent levels,
too, but I've never let it get that low.)

I think there were a few more pleasant surprises in terms of hardware
support, but I can't remember them now.  Suffice it to say that I was
very happy that everything worked as advertised.

Then I tried to watch a movie on my television using the SVideo out
port.  I have an older Acer laptop that runs Gentoo Linux and also has
an SVideo out.  The old laptop is a little tricky and I have to boot
it with the SVideo cable plugged in to be able to see anything on the
TV (and, if I do, then there's nothing on the monitor).  I find this
somewhat irritating, but I've lived with it for several years.  I
figured, since the new laptop has SVideo out and supposedly has 100%
hardware support, I should be able to plug it into the TV without
rebooting.  No luck.  "Oh well," I think, "I'll just reboot with the
TV plugged in."  No dice.  I can't get the SVideo working.   Strike
one.

I bought this new laptop because I need a machine on which I can
develop some resource-hungry Java stuff.  I work from home
Monday-Thursday, but I have to go into the office on Fridays.  The old
laptop was great until we switched from Rails to Java, so I needed a
replacement that would allow me to be productive on Fridays.  Part of
"being productive on Fridays" means plugging in the VGA-out port and
working on an ergonomically-superior external monitor.  This doesn't
work on my new machine.  Strike two.

This latest bug prompted me to call tech support at Emperor Linux.  No
go.  The 1-800 number seems to be US-only.  Oh well, I send an email
and include my home phone number.  I received a prompt reply saying
roughly the following:

 - SVideo's not really supported 'cause we can't test it.  You might
be able to get it to work if you follow these underspecified and
unsupported steps.
 - VGA-out should work, please send your Xorg.conf.
 - The 1-800 number should be working--we've been after our supplier
about it--so please try again tomorrow.

I sent the Xorg.conf file later the same day, before end of business.
A week later, I still hadn't heard anything so I tried calling.  My
call still cannot be completed as dialed.  So I sent a follow-up
email: "Could I have a status update, please".  It's been another week
and I still haven't heard anything.  Perhaps the techy I've been
dealing with is on vacation, or something--I haven't tried emailing
the general support email since the first contact--but I was not
notified if that's the case.  Strike three.

I'm now in the process of installing Gentoo.  I kept a complete backup
of the factory-installed system.  I also kept the various kernels,
their configurations, and modules.  Also, before reformatting, I made
a list of all the packages that were installed.  I figure with Gentoo,
a little time, and the previously working configuration, I can build
myself a machine that I can administer myself without the need for a
tech support guru to walk me through the process.

I'm sure I could eventually learn to make Ubuntu do exactly what I
want, but I bought this machine to get out of a productivity hole with
the expectation that 12 months of tech support would get me up to
speed quickly.  In this respect I am horribly disappointed.

The Dell machine itself seems to be a good machine.  It's very
capable, and compatibility with Free and Open Source software seems to
be good (although I am using the closed nVidia drivers).  The various
blue keys generate scan codes that the kernel recognizes, so, if
nothing else, I can programme them as keyboard shortcuts from within
Gnome to do whatever I want.  Also, the monitor is excellent and the
keyboard is a good size.  Considering the power in my new laptop, the
weight is respectable, but it might be too heavy for some users (the
shipping weight was 16 pounds, I think the machine itself is about 8).

Overall I'm happy with my purchase but I don't think I'll be a repeat
Emperor Linux customer very soon.

Ian


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