Hi-res refurb Dell laptop. Comments?

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: charles chris <cccharlz-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>

[I've tried to undo some of the top-posting in this thread.]

| >> On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 11:41 AM, Tyler Aviss <tjaviss-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:

| >>> I started looking at what's available for larger screens, and noticed
| >>> this little guy with a 1920x1200 native LCD resolution.
| >>>
| >>> http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200599&Tpk=M6300

Wow.  That's quite the notebook for the price.  It costs less than
almost any new monitor with that resolution (there are few monitors
left at that resolution).  I wonder if the screen is IPS ("LCD
Features: Ultra Sharp").  This doesn't say:
<http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/wsm6300/en/UG/HTML/specs.htm#wp1085867>

These folks don't seem to be excited (at a higher price point):
<http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/674895-precision-m6300-refurbished-cheap-opinions-2.html>

The M6300 was announced in 2007 September so it is getting old.  And I bet 
these refurbs have been used a lot of the time since then.  A bit scary.

| On Sun, Aug 5, 2012 at 2:51 AM, Tyler Aviss <tjaviss-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
| 
| > My main concern was whether the old GPU will work on newer
| > distro's/kernels (with the nvidia driver)

I imagine that googling would get you the answer but I haven't tried.
Guessing is a bit risky.

[back to Charles]
| Almost all software is backward compatible.  Some manufactures may be slow
| or may never provide drivers for the new OS, especially where older
| hardware is concerned.

Linux is different.

The kernel is constantly changing its internal interfaces.  It's a
hell of a ride for those trying to maintain binary-only video drivers.
In fact, they often lag.  And when they drop older hardware, it drops
with a thud.

The open source video drivers are mostly fine, and getting better all
the time.  But they often don't have great game or multimedia
performance.  And they sometimes have nits due to the difficulties of
reverse engineering.

| However, most times a new OS will detect and install older device drivers
| automatically.

That's not the Linux way.  There is no provision for running older
drivers.  On balance, this is a Good Thing, but the shoe pinches in
the video card area.

In-tree drivers (i.e. open source drivers that have been accepted by
Linus) are maintained very well until lack of interest kills them.

Out-of-tree open source drivers are often OK but are
(1) usually lower quality
(2) may not be part of your distro
(3) often get abandoned
The neat thing about open source is that you have the power to fix
these deficiencies.

Binary drivers are to be avoided if possible.  When they break, you
are out of luck.
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