I bought an inspiron 6400 with ubuntu preloaded back in the ubuntu feisty days (about 1.5 years ago). I'm afraid I'm gonna have to agree - their build quality is poor, as is their support. I'm not going to deny that my laptop does take a bit of a beating being carried to and from school every day, but this is a bit ridiculous: the left speaker doesnt work, I've had to replace the keyboard after several keys stopped working, the clip at the top of the screen jams, the screen's hinges wobble, the CD drive keeps falling out, the xD card reader doesnt work, the power cable fell apart (had to buy a new one), the hard drive failed once - devouring my maths coursework (luckily i had an only slightly out of date backup), the battery's at 63% and falling of its nominal capacity (55.3 Wh compared to the 86.6 Wh that i payed for), the bluetooth doesnt work, the carry bag's disintegrated, and the heatsink has a kinder bueno wrapper in it. Ok maybe the last one's my fault, but you get the idea When i phoned customer suppeort for a replacement hard drive, i think i spent a total of about an hour on hold, and got sent from department to department... ubuntu support, hardware support, ubuntu support again, back to hardware support, please hold, ubuntu support... etc etc Eventually the replacement hard drive came, in a cardboard box sandwiched between two bits of foam. Good thing i'm a techie sort of person. I know a lot of people who, if they were given a hard drive in a box, wouldnt have a clue what to do with it. Perhaps thats because its an ubuntu laptop? The idea that all linux users know how to replace a hard drive, upgrade ram, reformat a disk or whatever needs to stop if linux is to be accepted by the wider community, and not just geeks.
2009/3/4 David King <linux...@avoura.com>: > It is a real shame that Dell no longer sell the 1525 with Ubuntu. I > bought one for a friend and she loves it. Now it is either a mini laptop > or a much more powerful one, with the mini one being about the same > price as the old 1525. > > Also, off topic, why has Dell gone all American on their UK site, > putting lots of weights of laptops in lbs? Everywhere else vendors are > describing theirs in kilograms. I doubt if I will ever buy a Dell laptop > again. > > > David King > > > Andrew Turner wrote: >> Hello, >> >> Just got myself one of the new Dell Inspiron 15 laptops (unfortunately >> with Vista - they no longer do the Ubuntu pre-installed 1525). Thought >> I'd let the list know that Intrepid runs out out the box with no >> problems (wireless, bluetooth, compiz etc all work without any >> configuration). >> >> I seem to remember a thread a while back about getting a refund from >> Microsoft for unwanted OEM copies of Windows - can anyone enlighten >> me? >> >> Andrew >> >> > > -- > ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ > -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
