On Friday 02 January 2009 01:09:35 Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote: > On Thursday 01 January 2009, Kamaraju S Kusumanchi > > <raju.mailingli...@gmail.com> wrote about 'Re: OT: laptop recomendations': > >Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote: > >> On Wednesday 2008 December 10 16:45:09 Micha Feigin wrote: > >>>Runner up is Dell, although the hardware seems a bit cheap when looking > >>> at the drivers (especially the touchpad which tends to be alps which > >>> isn't up to par with the synaptic). > >> > >> I'm happy with my Dell Inspiron E1505. My roommate is happy with his > >> more recent laptop purchase from Dell. My other roommate likes his > >> Thinkpad, but it is a much older system, so I can't say that reflects > >> the quality of current Thinkpads. > > > >I own a Dell Inspiron E1505. I do not recommend it. Get something else > >(preferably non-Dell). > > > >I always have problems with their batteries, video card. No matter how > > many times I replace the batteries, they seem to go bad after some time. > > I replaced the battery 3 times. After 3-4 months the battery life will > > be reduced to less than 1 hour and then after some time, they just don't > > work. > > I'm still using the original battery, although I did get a spare for when I > will eventually wear out. It depends on what I'm doing, but 4 hours of > battery life is not unheard of, nearly 1.5 years after the purchase date. > > Running the DVD drive constantly *significantly* reduces that, but I can > still use it for at least 90 minutes watching a DVD while running on the > battery. > > >As for the video card, if I play a flash based movie in windows XP, there > >will be a "blue screen memory map" error after some time. FWIW, the > > movies work fine in Linux. I searched in google for this and found that > > the video cards in Dell Inspiron E1505 are defective. > > Link please? > > I'd never even consider installing MS Windows on mine, but I've never had a > video-card related kernel panic or even X crash. I've played plenty of > flash-based video in Linux. The card / drivers don't seem to like each > other a whole lot though. My Etch/Lenny mix I had on it until Dec. 8th > needed to be switched to a test-mode VC and back before it would display > anything after a resume. The openSUSE 11.1 (for work I need turnpike and > the Novell/Nortel plugin) I'm running on it right now appears to do that > for me. > > >In general, I think Dell's hardware is unreliable. They work fine > > initially. But after 1 year or so, things start to fall apart. This is > > if you plan to use laptop intensively (say 8-10 hours a day). But if you > > just use it for 1-2 hours a day, then it's life might be more. > > Mine is a work laptop. I generally use it 8 hours, 5 days a week. It gets > even more use if I've got some problems with my desktop, up to ~12 hours, > 7 days a week. > > The only hardware-related problem I had with it was a "stuck *row*" in the > LCD panel. I lived with it for a while, even using it as a guide for how > I partitioned my desktop with windows (to hide it in the window borders). > However, when I finally got around to calling Dell, they replaced the LCD > panel with no cost to me, sending a technician w/ parts to my workplace so > downtime was minimal. > > Anyway, I'm not sure my experience with a laptop is "norm". You probably > should get multiple (>3) opinions on vendors/models you are considering.
Well, had my Dell Vostro 1500 for one year now. No issues. I can run it for 5 or 6 hours on battery. As for price, I never buy anything > $500 USD as you can boy three or four of those per every expensive machine. So Even if it breaks after one year, technology moved forwared, spend another $500 USD, and buy a slightly newer version. After three years you are greatly ahead in terms of $$ and, if you had to replace your cheap box, technology. Just my 2c worth. -- Damon L. Chesser da...@damtek.com 404-271-8691 Cell 678-401-8420 hm http://www.linkedin.com/in/dchesser -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org