I’ve been doing a lot of work recently with Squarespace, so as I’m a dog food fan, and I think hosting your own wordpress can be a clunky, frustrating affair (and because I never post here anyway), I’m moving my site.
Eventually it will be a direct link, but for today, you can see it at http://kagii.squarespace.com.
Not much there yet, but its up. I like the subtle look.
I ordered a brand new Vostro V13 recently. I’m pretty excited about a few things with this laptop. First of all, its really thin and light. Its got an aluminum body, at least on the outside. Its got a nice screen and keyboard and all that fancy stuff.
Most interesting is the base model comes with Ubuntu. Linux nerds like myself have been saying that Linux will creep its way into the consumer market and eventually take over. Well, that’s a bit much. I’m not calling Linux now by a long stretch, but the fact that dell is listing a laptop with Ubuntu on a regular page is a big move. Granted, they did list Ubuntu for netbooks before, and this laptop is barely out of the netbook category, but still. Big stuff. I’ve been a full-time Linux user for a few years now. I only use Windows for my TV computer, and audio recording stuff that only works on Windows.
I was pretty excited to get a machine with Linux pre-installed. All of the reviews I’ve seen for this machine have been for the Windows version, so here are my thoughts:
Getting a machine designed for linux seems to help. My other laptop, an HP, came with Windows. Some things work fine, some things are touchy. For example, the wireless works, but its slow to connect and do other stuff. I think that’s due to Linux using compatibility layers and Win drivers. Stuff like that. Linux generally has a slight “chunky” feel in the UI. I may just be imagining it, but the Vostro seems snappy. No small feat considering its got a Celeron proc.
Multitouch isn’t a huge deal, unless your machine is designed for it and its missing. The Windows version apparently has multitouch with the trackpad. When I read that it was kind of an “ehh, so what?” moment. The Linux version doesn’t seem to support multitouch. However, there’s also no little scroll thing on the side of the track pad. I miss that.
Linux has come a long way, and then it hasn’t. I will say this. If you aren’t doing anything really weird, anybody who can’t use Linux for everyday stuff needs to see a doctor. Its really not that hard. The tough part about Linux tends to be when you’re doing something a bit out of the ordinary, or when you need to use almost any consumer hardware, because hardware companies rarely put the time in to make Linux drivers. However, Linux is improving.
Here’s an example. I’ve had 3 different 3G USB cards so far. T-mobile, Verizon, and very recently, Virgin Mobile (if you need one, get this, because its the only carrier that doesn’t require a draconian contract term, and yet charges the same amount and runs on Sprint). I’ve been running 9.04 on my main laptop for a LONG time. I still am. Installing all three of those cards took some serious Comp Sci skills (well, really some serious Google and ubuntuforums skills). The vostro comes with 9.04, and I actually couldn’t get the Virgin card to work at all. I bought the laptop and card for our new sales guy, so that’s a problem. Well, I upgraded to 9.10, and it seems like the Linux people fixed that stuff up. I plugged the card in, and it showed up in the list. When I turned it on, we had some config, and blamo. 3G web.
However, upgrading from 9.04 didn’t go all that smoothly. Grub had some error, which I had to google and fix. So, 3G cards work, but the upgrade process leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, Linux is really coming a long, and this laptop is really sweet. I highly suggest you go cheap, get the ultra broke-a version, and enjoy some OEM Ubuntu goodness.
Oh, last though. It stays cool on the bottom, which was a surprise. The Celeron isn’t exactly a scorcher, though.
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