[NTLUG:Discuss] recommendation on New Laptop

[Daniel Hauck]

Where laptops are concerned, I always go with Dell. There are evils with
Dell as with any other maker, but no other maker offers the kind and
quality of warranty support for their laptops. To me, that's incredibly
important.

ALWAYS get a business/professional class machine and ALWAYS get the GOLD
or higher support with accidental damage coverage. Obviously, as a Linux
user, Windows support is not likely important to you, however, I have
always replaced the HDD that they ship in the machine with a new one.
The reason is so that I can have a Dell software load with which to
entertain and placate the Dell support staff who quite often refuse to
take my word for it when there is a hardware issue.

As far as WiFi chips go, I will relate my experience with my more recent
laptop -- an Alienware M11xR2. The WiFi card it ships with is not well
supported under Linux though the RPM Fusion repository does provide
support for it. However, I decided to take an easier route. For about
$10 on ebay, I got an Intel Wireless N card to replace the one it
shipped with. A small price to pay for instant and painless compatibility.

In the case of my Dell Latitude D830, I bought that new 3 years ago. I
am still undecided about renewing the warranty... or buy something else.
The machine has been destroyed twice and has had the keyboard replaced
at least twice as well. Both times, the machine was destroyed by my
fault... the first time, I spilled apple juice on it and the second
time, I failed to heed the sound of my internal fans working over-time
and the temperature getting too hot. (I needed to clean the heat sinks
and fans of dust!!) In both cases, Dell replaced the system board with
few questions asked -- it was clearly a hardware problem and software
was ruled out. The warranty I paid for saved me from being without a
machine twice and I'm quite satisfied that the money I spent insuring my
computer with Dell's warranty was well spent. And yes, it was all
handled "Next Business Day" and "on site." No shipping it to some place
and waiting.

If you want good service and support, Dell still provides it. My
experience with HP has not been as good.


On 01/17/2011 06:07 PM, crem wrote:
> Looking on a recommendation for a New Laptop
>
> Looking at cpu=i7-740, mem=8gig, dual-boot. Other hardware is flexible. 
>
> Problem is which distribution to use to support wifi chip-set. 
>
> What distribution and wifi chip-sets are you using with this cpu?
>
> crem
>
>
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