[Discuss] Dell Laptop Linux pre-installed under $300

[Peter Baumgarten]

That is true. There is no optical drive. I have not used an optical drive
for four years so I forgot about that. Secure boot is turned off by
default. The next model down does include an external optical drive, but it
is a step down processor wise. A dual core instead of quad core and an
Intel celeron instead of an Intel pentium.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=dncwf003subb&model_id=inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu
The trackpad worked with Ubuntu that came with, but not stock Fedora 22
workstation, so that needs to be fixed. Works with an external usb mouse.
No battery or heat issues. The hard drive and ram are removable/upgradeable
by unscrewing two screws in the back. It uses Intel graphics with no
issues. The wifi chipset is an Atheros chipset, so I wonder if it is a
"libre" wifi chipset that will work with an FSF approved distro. The Ubuntu
that it shipped with included some sort of Amazon adware that I did not
like. I could not create usb recovery media with the dell utility in
Ubuntu, it kept crashing. No Firefox at all, only Google chrome in the
default Ubuntu installation.

Those are my thoughts for now.

On Jun 3, 2015 12:44 PM, "Steve Litt" <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 2 Jun 2015 15:50:22 -0500
> Peter Baumgarten <me at peter-baumgarten.com> wrote:
>
> > Hey everyone I just got a new laptop in the mail and it came with
> > Ubuntu pre-installed!
> >
> http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=dncwf002sub&model_id=inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu
> >
> > It is Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.  It has a little Ubuntu sticker in the bottom
> > right cornet, next to the intel sticker.
> >
> > The meta-key has the windows logo on it and the quick start booklet
> > that came with also has no Ubuntu instructions only Windows 8.1
> > instructions.
> >
> > I ordered it directly from Dell's website and it was under $300 with
> > shipping, taxes, and everything.
> >
> > Thought some people might be interested.  Let me know if you have any
> > questions.  I will be removing Ubuntu and installing Fedora 22
> > shortly.
>
> Everyone, please be aware that this machine has no built-in DVD drive.
> If you need a DVD-RW, they sell this external one for $39.99:
>
>
> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=429-aaux
>
> So even if that moves the price at arrival to $370.00, it's still a
> good deal. Peter, I'll be interested in hearing how you like your new
> machine. And by the way, during a chat with Dell reps, I found out that
> all their current Ubuntu preloads have BIOS settings to turn off secure
> boot.
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt
> June 2015 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/key
>
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at lists.chicagolug.org
> https://lists.chicagolug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chicagolug.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20150603/8e9e8a80/attachment-0002.html>