On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at 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.