Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

violagirl23 · 2008-04-13 18:54:12

For a while I had thought of getting one of the Dell Ubuntu laptops, though I've also looked into system76. I figured this would be easiest because I know I'm going to be running Linux exclusively, so why not avoid the Windows tax and guarantee that all my hardware will work well with Linux? Especially avoiding things like ndiswrapper if possible. That way I could get my system, uninstall Ubuntu, and install Arch, but also avoid most hardware problems.
However, my friend, also a Linux user (I recently got him to try Arch! And he prefers it to Gentoo ) has dealt with many Dell laptops, though never specifically the Dell Ubuntu laptops. And he told me that his experience is that the Dell consumer laptops that his friends bought would break often and quickly, while the Dell business laptops held up well. Well, the Dell Ubuntu laptops are consumer laptops as well, which leads me to be concerned. But this doesn't automatically mean they are bad, of course. But I want a laptop that will hold up over time, a good one, not one that is going to break easily. If the Dell Ubuntu laptops would be like this as well, I'd like to steer away from them. Has anyone here actually used one and can attest to their durability or lack thereof?
I've even heard some bad things about system76, like their being cheaply-made no-name Chinese laptops. >.< I really don't know what to do, I just want a good laptop with good Linux hardware support (including the wireless card) that will hold up over time and be durable.

vogt · 2008-04-13 19:32:07

I'm pretty sure that the dell laptops with ubuntu preloaded are the same hardware as the ones with windows, except that they are using the more supported wireless cards (intel chipsets), and have had a proper interface to all the media keys written, since pretty well everything else will work.

Laptops are pretty complicated/fragile, add to the fact that they get thrown around, and subjected to dust, they do tend to break. I would say that most would be similarly bad, since there are only a couple OEMs that make laptops (dell and others just rebrand them, rather than making their own).

Maybe a rugged laptop is what you are actually looking for. Some more details here: http://toughbook.wikispaces.com/
They happen to be significantly more expensive though.

violagirl23 · 2008-04-13 21:48:00

I am not looking for some *insanely* durable laptop, just one that is of a good quality. My friend said his friends who had Dell consumer laptops found them to be of *Low* quality, which is why I was concerned. To quote him exactly, he said

I dont like dell's consumer grade notebooks. They tend to break more. And the business laptops come with a 3 year warranty by default.
My friends work in IT. They said they've experienced keys falling off the keyboard and such, and just poor quality in general with the consumer models.

fed359 · 2008-04-13 21:53:26

I had a broken hinge on my dell 6400/e1505, I didn't really put it under any abnormal stress or anything, just the daily trip to college. It wasn't really catastrophic though, managed to fix it up with a bit of epoxy.

mcmillan · 2008-04-13 22:08:21

I don't know much about the Dells, but I do have a friend that has a lot of good things to say about system76. I'm not sure if he's gotten a laptop through them or just desktops though.

violagirl23 · 2008-04-13 22:14:01

If the system76 laptops are good quality besides being "cheaply-made Chinese no-name laptops" I would buy one. I'm just concerned is all.

dyscoria · 2008-04-13 23:25:31

I will vouch for my Dell Vostro laptop which is serving me very well. No problems with hardware or durability so far.

ataylor · 2008-04-13 23:30:40

Dell laptops are up and down for me. Some have been not too good at all, while my girlfriend's current budget Dell is fairly robust. Personally I'd just dive on eBay and get an IBM ThinkPad if you are looking for good build quality.

violagirl23 · 2008-04-13 23:49:04

dyscoria wrote:

I will vouch for my Dell Vostro laptop which is serving me very well. No problems with hardware or durability so far.

Is the wireless card supported natively, and if so, what card is it? My friend was mostly satisfied with the business Dell laptop he bought, a Latitude D630, but mentioned that he had to use ndiswrapper and WEP was not supported (so he's using mac address filtering for his home network right now). That would be a problem for me so I need to make sure that everything for the wireless card is well supported.

Last edited by violagirl23 (2008-04-13 23:49:56)

Allan · 2008-04-13 23:55:31

I had a Dell Latitude D500 that I treated like crap for about three years before it suffered a hard drive failure of some sort. Replaced with Latitude D520 which is having problems in under a year (keyboard typing random keys, many bad sectors on the hard drive).

fed359 · 2008-04-13 23:58:45

violagirl23 wrote:

Is the wireless card supported natively, and if so, what card is it? My friend was mostly satisfied with the business Dell laptop he bought, a Latitude D630, but mentioned that he had to use ndiswrapper and WEP was not supported (so he's using mac address filtering for his home network right now). That would be a problem for me so I need to make sure that everything for the wireless card is well supported.

afiak Dell has 2 wireless cards, "Dell" brand which are rebranded broadcom cards (ndiswrapper) and Intel cards, which are supported with the iwlwifi driver (which is now included in the kernel)

Last edited by fed359 (2008-04-13 23:59:13)

rayjgu3 · 2008-04-14 01:36:45

ive had several dell laptops
latitude c600 an old 700mgz proc 128 pc100 10gb hdd ran arch slowly but ran the thing is still operable i sold it to my neighbor 3 months ago he likes it still

my current laptop is dell inspiron 5150
2.2 ghz proc 512 pc2700 80gb 7200rpm hd< bought seperately<
i did have a few issues with this box while still under warranty & dell was quick to fix , quiet happy with customer service with dell

all my family members own dell laptops but windows only none of them have had issues with them
although im wouldnt claim to be true to a brand but ill say dells are typically cheaper but use decent hardware

Misfit138 · 2008-04-14 01:43:22

I'm sorry, I have never owned a Dell.
However, I can strongly recommend Thinkpad R and T series. Very, very durable and generally GNU/Linux friendly.

violagirl23 · 2008-04-14 02:20:18

I asked him, turns out he did get the Intel card but is still just having compatibility issues overall. iwlwifi won't even find his access point, and ipw3945 doesn't support WEP for him. Eep.

Last edited by violagirl23 (2008-04-14 02:25:34)

fed359 · 2008-04-14 02:23:02

Strange, I've been using iwl on my 3945 for months now and haven't had a single problem connecting to WEP, WPA or WPA2.

nuxrl · 2008-04-14 02:23:08

I have a few Dells at home, both laptops and desktops. So far, I haven't see any major issues. Considering the price you pay for a Dell, it's not bad. Plus, Dell customer support is pretty good, which is also very important for laptop users.

nuxrl · 2008-04-14 02:25:15

On my Dell Inspiron 6000, xf86-video-intel seems to lock the X up from time to time, especially when Xfce is used.

TjPhysicist · 2008-04-14 03:09:09

As far as my experiance goes dell is only good if you somehow manage to swing the corporate warranty. I did, so i have like 5 years oops warranty which means if it breaks it replaced, whatever part, however it breaks. I called them once and said, my friend sat on my laptop and screen broke, got it replaced a day later. They come to my house for it, this is only in the corprate plans, and its very expensive if you are a single user. Other than that, they are not that good quality, you are better off with Acer or smthg. They do withstand a LOT of breaking tho, my moms laptop is in peices and falling apart, still works like a charm.
-Tj

big_gie · 2008-04-14 03:20:51

Hi violagirl23,

I had a "consummer" dell laptop for 3 years (inspiron 8500) before it got stolen last year. It had a broadcom wireless and a nvidia graphic card. I was using exclusively Arch, but it was still a pain to use ndiswrapper and nvidia binary module (which newer version did not support my card!)

I bought a new Latitude D830 after that, for the same reason as you: I wanted a good laptop, business quality. I must say it is really worth it. Don't look at the consummer (home & home office) laptops. After comparing my inspiron to my latitude, the latitude is way better. For example, it is more robust (the inspiron bended a little bit when I lifted a corner...), support docking station, more quality components (the hard drive has a failsafe if the laptop is dropped), etc. All in all, you will get less bling bling (like the color caps, or flashing blue leds "pimp-my-laptop") and more quality. The latitude series is not really more expensive then the inspiron. You can even choose XP as its OS, and not vista.

As for the linux support, it does not really depends on the laptop model but more on the components. What is great about dell is that you can really choose what gets inside. Even if you take an inspiron, consider maily 2 things:
1) Wireless. Go with intel card. I bought the Intel 4965 AGN (using the in-kernel iwl4965 driver) and it works great. No problem.
2) Graphic. You have to take a choice as compatibility compared to performance. If you want to play the lastest games, I would suggest an ATI (no nvidia!) since their drivers are opening up. If you don't really play, again, take an intel card. I have the Intel X3100 (GM965) and using the xf86-video-intel driver it works great. I have a dualscreen (1920x1200 laptop + external display) and use compiz with some nice effect without any performance problem. I sometimes try to play some games, not really seriously though. I play sometimes counter-strike but did not try something more serious like Call of Duty 4. I bought a console for the gaming.

So whatever model you choose, just be sure to choose the components. The rest is less important.

If you want a good compromise between "consummer version" and "business version", I would suggest the Dell Vostro. It is built similarly to the latitudes, so good quality, but has some "home using" features. For example, you get the dell media something which is a stripped down Windows OS that boots with a single app: a media player. Its nice if you don't want to boot everything just to listen to music or watch a dvd. After shopping for my gf I choose her a vostro 1400 for these reasons.

I hope it helped

violagirl23 · 2008-04-14 04:13:09

big_gie wrote:

As for the linux support, it does not really depends on the laptop model but more on the components. What is great about dell is that you can really choose what gets inside. Even if you take an inspiron, consider maily 2 things:
1) Wireless. Go with intel card. I bought the Intel 4965 AGN (using the in-kernel iwl4965 driver) and it works great. No problem.
2) Graphic. You have to take a choice as compatibility compared to performance. If you want to play the lastest games, I would suggest an ATI (no nvidia!) since their drivers are opening up. If you don't really play, again, take an intel card. I have the Intel X3100 (GM965) and using the xf86-video-intel driver it works great. I have a dualscreen (1920x1200 laptop + external display) and use compiz with some nice effect without any performance problem. I sometimes try to play some games, not really seriously though. I play sometimes counter-strike but did not try something more serious like Call of Duty 4. I bought a console for the gaming.

Why no Nvidia? I thought they had good Linux support.
As for wireless, is the 3945 as good as the 4965 in being well-supported by Linux?

Thank you for your reply, it was *very* helpful.

Last edited by violagirl23 (2008-04-14 04:14:46)

big_gie · 2008-04-14 04:26:47

violagirl23 wrote:

Why no Nvidia? I thought they had good Linux support.

Well... Its a big debate. You may want to forge your own opinion here. I was not really satisfied with my nvidia card. Its a closed-source driver, and this is really annoying in the linux world... The developpment is behind closed doors, you don't really know whats happing. Its hard to get a new feature in the driver (compared to the intel for example, which is open source). Intel's driver is following closely the development of Xorg, so anything new in Xorg will be supported quite fast with the intel's driver. Nvidia do have a linux driver, and it works. But your card will be left on the side of the road after 2 or 3 years. Only the legacy nvidia driver will support the card. They force you to upgrade the card in a way. An open-source driver is the best waranty that your card will still be supported in the future. I'm pretty sure you can have compiz running with old "crappy" intel card (correct me if I'm wrong, I never used them). So as for linux support, choose an open-source driver. ATI released the spec for their cards, and their is now 2 open-source driver. This is a good thing.

Something I forgot in faver of an Intel card. Since they dont have too much fancy stuff, they consume less power. For a laptop (and its battery) this is really important. The nvidia driver can eat a lot of power.

violagirl23 wrote:

As for wireless, is the 3945 as good as the 4965 in being well-supported by Linux?

I dont know since I never tried the 3945. I though it would be the same as with 4965, since its (almost) the same driver. But maybe some users did report some problem, I don't know. As for my experience, the 4965 works great.

violagirl23 wrote:

Thank you for your reply, it was *very* helpful.

No problem I passed much time trying to find a laptop with good linux support. It would be sad not to tell my conclusions! Again, its more a question of the components than of the laptop. You choose a laptop model that suits your need (rhoughness, quality, price, etc) and put some linux-compatible components in it.

Good night, and good luck!

violagirl23 · 2008-04-14 04:32:56

I don't game but I like to watch DVDs and such.
All it appears to offer is...
NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 135M4
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (Up to 256MB shared5)

So would I still be better off not getting Nvidia if I planned to have the laptop for at least 4 years? Everyone raves about performance. Would it still be decent even on a legacy driver?
The Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 just doesn't seem as good.
Well, I'll have to think about it. I want to make it good-quality if I'm going to get a laptop, not some cheap thing that'll probably break.

Last edited by violagirl23 (2008-04-14 04:40:14)

big_gie · 2008-04-14 04:59:25

I have the "Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100" and no problem with DVD player. Indeed, intel's driver are the only one using XvMC, which I think (I may be wrong...) is an Xorg's API to decode DVD with the GPU (and not the CPU). Maybe the nvidia driver support this anyway, but again, its hard to tell!

Honestly, gaming is a pain in linux. It is possible, but not as easy. I know that I get more with a card with open source driver, good power management, low price, quite advanced (the X3100 is the first integrated card with programmable instructions. I can't remember what exactly it means, but I think is that many things are done in the driver, not on the hardware, which allows it to be upgraded and support new stuff. I'm not sure though).

Anyway, in the end its your choice

signor_rossi · 2008-04-14 06:14:39

Just my two cents...
Don't chose an ATI GPU as long as you don't KNOW PRECISELY IT IS supported WELL by the available drivers (OSS and proprietary ones). Bought a laptop in November 2005 with an ATI GPU having heard of the ATI mess thinking that the situation would improve soon, which it didn't. Even now that ATI development of the closed driver has sped up, quality of the driver has improved a lot and also the development of the OSS driver is going at a good pace too, you can't know how much more time it may take to have good support for a current ATI GPU (they aren't well supported yet and you may have massive problems, go to the phoronix.com forum). Go for a card that has good support NOW, I would go Intel as I actually don't play games on my laptop, but that is only my personal opinion.

Bye, signor_rossi.

Last edited by signor_rossi (2008-04-14 06:15:34)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-04-13 18:54:12

Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#2 2008-04-13 19:32:07

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#3 2008-04-13 21:48:00

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#4 2008-04-13 21:53:26

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#5 2008-04-13 22:08:21

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#6 2008-04-13 22:14:01

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#7 2008-04-13 23:25:31

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#8 2008-04-13 23:30:40

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#9 2008-04-13 23:49:04

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#10 2008-04-13 23:55:31

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#11 2008-04-13 23:58:45

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#12 2008-04-14 01:36:45

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#13 2008-04-14 01:43:22

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#14 2008-04-14 02:20:18

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#15 2008-04-14 02:23:02

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#16 2008-04-14 02:23:08

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#17 2008-04-14 02:25:15

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#18 2008-04-14 03:09:09

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#19 2008-04-14 03:20:51

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#20 2008-04-14 04:13:09

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#21 2008-04-14 04:26:47

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#22 2008-04-14 04:32:56

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#23 2008-04-14 04:59:25

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

#24 2008-04-14 06:14:39

Re: Anyone have experience with how durable Dell Linux laptops are?

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