[GTALUG] configuring a Dell Precision 7520 notebook to be shipped with Ubuntu

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

Dell has a sequence of specials for the next few (7?) days.  I'm kind of 
interested in a notebook with an UltraHD display, so I thought I'd look.

This is what I discovered.  This is likely uninteresting to most people -- 
feel free to stop reading now, before I waste your time!

<http://www.dell.com/en-ca/work/shop/deals/laptop-deals>

Most of the laptop pages come with preconfigured display, and none is UHD.  
But the Precision 7520 Mobile Workstation lets you configure a lot of 
things, including selecting Ubuntu and selecting a UHD screen.

Interesting things about selecting Ubuntu (replacing Win 10 pro):

- clicking on Ubuntu saves $200

- it's still Ubuntu 16.04

  + why not 18.04?  I assume that would work.

  + but the heading is "Ubuntu 12.04 Long term Support" (surely a typo)

- it won't work with the default wireless card, so you have to change 
  from Dell to Intel.  There's no charge so I guess that they think that 
  the Dell is better in some way (not obvious to me).  The Intel is marked 
  "vPro" so it is potentially vulnerable to Outside Agents.

- it warns me that Ubuntu isn't compatible with Productivity Software.
  Just select "none" instead of "free 30-day trial of Microsoft Office".
  That sounds like a good idea even for Windows users.


Interesting things about selecting the UltraHD display

- adds $220 over the IPS FullHD display, which itself adds $280 or
  $260 over TN FullHD display options.  Ouch on both those numbers.

- requires a $50 more expensive battery option.  So I guess that it
  consumes more power.

- requires a RAM upgrade to two DIMMs, not one.  That's fine except
  that Dell charges a lot for RAM and I'd prefer to add it from another
  source.  A second DDR4 8GB DIMM adds $280!  More if you wish faster
  RAM.

- the default GPU is Radeon Pro WX 4130 w/2GB GDDR5.  It is claimed
  that that isn't compatible with the "Touch LCD" (the IPS FHD, not
  the UHD one).  This forces an to update to an NVIDIA Quadro M2200
  w/4GB GDDR5 for $480.  Ouch!  Luckily I'm not selecting this.

Other interesting things:

- you can choose amongst Xeon processors too.

- you cannot choose an 8th gen Core processor -- only 6th or 7th

- you can order it with Win 7 pro.  I didn't think that Microsoft
  allowed that these days.  Not that I care.

- I can downgrade from
  i5-7440HQ (Quad Core2.80GHz, 3.80GHz Turbo, 6MB 45W, w/Intel HD Graphics 630)
  to
  i5-7300HQ (Quad Core 2.50GHz, 3.50GHz Turbo, 6MB 45W, w/Intel HD Graphics 630)
  losing about 10% nominal processing power and saving $130, about 15%
  of the system price.  That seems like a good deal.

Summary:

- Expensive!  $1839 on sale ($879 off list)

  But I did somehow get the configutator in a broken state where it
  offered something like this for $1100.  I wonder if I could actually
  order such a configuration.

- heavy: Weight: (starts at) 6.16lbs (2.8kg)

- Lots of configuring choices

- page warns you about configurations that won't work.  I don't know
  if it prevents you from ordering them.