On 1/7/2010 1:49 PM, Kwan Lowe wrote:
On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Les Mikeselllesmikesell@gmail.com wrote:
On 1/7/2010 1:14 PM, Robert Heller wrote:
Low-end (read: cheap) Dell laptops tend to be junk. Dell is somewhat between a rock and a hard place WRT selling computers with an O/S *other* then MS-Windows, due to M$ OEM licensing. Also, Dell (and other makers) have had troubles with people chosing the *cheaper* Ubuntu computers only to discover that MS-Windows software not working on them and returning them as 'defective' (this is probably a mis-information issue by the marketing people).
I don't think the return issue is actually true: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/12/dell_reality_linux_windows_netbooks/
I'd agree though that the low-end Dells have quality issues. Though I haven't returned any of the five or so Inspirons that I've purchased, all of them have had issues that required in-warranty repair. These range from physical sound issues, hinges popping open, unequal LCD illumination, and DVD Reader failures. The two XPSs I own have been rock solid, however. The Inspirons run CentOS well though.
I've always thought the Latitude line was a lot more reliable than the Inspirons. I carried a D600 everywhere for years, then a D630 more recently with no problems with either, but they have just changed the whole series. I have Windows/Ubuntu dual-booting on the D630 only because Centos 5.0 didn't work with the wifi - but the current version might.