Damian Brasher wrote:
> Jim Kissel wrote:
>> The prices seem to be quite good. Any experiences with these laptops
>> good/bad/indifferent?
>>
>
> I don't think I would go there, they look cheap as well as being cheap and
> from Dell that could mean a shortened lifespan, difficult to get repaired
> after three years, very unpredictable hardware specifications. I'd rather
> fork out a bit more and buy a higher spec Dell model or a
> known-to-be-Linux-compatible Sub-notebook of which there are more around
> these days.
>
I hope you're being too pessimistic here. I have just taken delivery of
a Vostro 1700. The spec seems pretty high already to me. They are not
aimed at the home user being clunkier and look somewhat tougher than
their Inspirons. Not sure what higher spec models would do materially
better. Do you know of any reports as to why they are possibly of lower
quality? I found only positive comments on the web regarding quality and
also confirmation that Linux installs without much problem (I remember
Ubuntu mentioned) from Dell's user forums
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/
Haven't got far with it yet - am currently in the process of imaging the
partitions so I have the option in the future of returning it to the
factory state if I decide to sell it. Will probably have a look at Vista
for curiosity and may dump it if I need the space although I have twin
160GB drives in this.
Russell
