How I Shopped for An Ubuntu Laptop

So, I’ve been shopping for a new laptop for a few months. I’ve got an old Thinkpad T23 that is showing it’s age — both in terms of performance and functionality. It has developed a number of minor quirks over the years, as most well-loved laptops do. Numlock is flaky, the PCMCIA port is flaky, everything is just broken enough to be annoying — but not broken enough to fix.

Well, that changed recently when the optical drive failed. It was time to go shopping for an Ubuntu laptop. Here’s a recap of my decision process.

Advertisement

Update: Dell’s Ubuntu Strategy

So far, so good. That statement sums up Dell’s current desktop Linux strategy, which focuses heavily on the Ubuntu operating system

from Canonical. Even so, Dell representatives are careful not to hype the machines. Here’s why.

“You’ve got to crawl before you can walk and run,” says John Hull, a Linux OS development manager at Dell. “We’re still at the crawling stage with consumer [Linux] systems.” As a result, speculation about Dell preparing an Ubuntu marketing campaign appears premature.

50 Things You Need to Know About Ubuntu (30-21)

Here’s part three of TechIQ’s five-part countdown, highlighting 50 trends and takeaways from the Ubuntu Live conference in Portland, Oregon. Items 30-21, with more to follow soon…

50 Things You Need to Know About Ubuntu (40-31)

Here’s part two of TechIQ magazine’s five-part countdown, highlighting 50 trends and takeaways from the Ubuntu Live conference in Portland, Oregon. Items 40-31, with more to follow soon…

Microsoft’s Cheap PC Is Expensive

Now here’s an interesting read. Microsoft and AMD are promoting a low cost $500 (US) PC in India, hoping to bring computing to the masses. But in India, low-cost PCs actually start around $300 (US), according to AP. Memo to AMD: Maybe you should remove Windows from the system and go with open source to hit that $300 target…

Dell Introduces MORE Ubuntu Systems

Wow. That was fast. Less than a month after Dell began selling Ubuntu on selected desktops and notebooks, the company has introduced more Ubuntu systems. Let’s think about that for a minute: Imagine if Dell introduced more Windows Vista systems four weeks after initial launch because customers were so excited? That didn’t happen. But it is happening with Ubuntu.

Dell Quietly Advertises Ubuntu Systems

A few readers reached out to me, asking whether Dell plans to promote its new Ubuntu systems. For a few days, Dell’s home page promoted the systems on a rotating basis. Now, the PC giant apparently is using Google and Yahoo search terms to promote the new systems.