[Gloucs] Laptop Suggestions

[Andrew Oakley]

On 16/03/2009, Barbie <barbie at missbarbell.co.uk> wrote:
> I'm on the hunt for a new laptop. Although I have a rough idea of the
...
> So I thought I see if I could get any suggestions from you guys.

Dell, despite being a faceless mega-corp, have always produced
reliable kit for me and everyone I know using them. Their Inspiron 15
range is great, and you get options to customise it exactly to your
needs. For instance, I paid a bit more for extended battery life and
built-in bluetooth, both of which arrived fitted into the laptop with
nothing more to do. Plus, these are the laptops which come with the
option of Ubuntu, so even if you pick the MS Vista ones, you know that
they're Linux compatible. Last year I bought an Inspiron 1520 and have
been very happy with it, good build quality, easy to dual-boot Vista
and Ubuntu.

Generally the laptops have Intel graphics unless you shell out well
over 500 quid.

On the downside, they come with Broadcom wireless (both WiFi and
Bluetooth are Broadcom, IIRC). Handling this in Ubuntu is a simple
case of enabling restricted drivers, done in two clicks and an "are
you sure".

I know that five years ago, Dell did have a reputation for shipping
nonstandard kit that was a bugger to support, but that's changed.

I hate to support large corporations over the small guys, but Dell
seem to be doing all the right things.

-- 
Andrew Oakley andrew at aoakley.com