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Anybody have opinions on the Dell Ubuntu build?
My wife very much wants a new iMac. I do too, but would like to consider other options and am balking a bit at the price.
Like OSC, I do not want Vista.
A Dell Ubuntu build with Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard drive, DVD burner and 20' flat panel display is $890. Not cheap, but cheaper than a new iMac.
I know for sure that I want 2 GB of ram, an Intel Core 2 Duo chipset (or the equivalent), a DVD burner and a flat panel display (not much desk space).
Usage will be fairly simple -- Web browsing, photo editing, basic word processing, some Web design. Speed, as little hassles as possible and a decently pleasant UI are the priorities. I don't care about gaming. I don't install a lot of other programs.
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Provided you can accomodate to the GIMP way of doing photo editing, don't need to open particularly esoteric Word documents, and are at least moderately familiar with how Ubuntu works (or are willing to use the rather good ubuntu forums and other available free support), you'll be fine.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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GIMP. Right. That may be a deal breaker for the wife.
Gah. Why are we stuck in a world of crappy OSs*? Shouldn't there be more than 2 viable solutions for non-techies? I'm paying $30 a month for DSL and yet the appliance I run for what the connection can feed to me is lame. What sort of model for information flow and management is that? There's very little I do that's not online. If I could pay $400 for some stripped down but fast appliance and then $100 a year for a full suite of Web services that met my needs**, I'd do that in a heartbeat.
* I don't mind but am not crazy about XP and I like OSX, but am not particularly fond of paying a premium for hardware.
**Assuming, of course, that I can still download content to a portable storage device.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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But thanks for the feedback, fugu. I've never really seriously considered it as an option, but now I am.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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By the way, I hope you saw that Apple just released a new version of the imac along with a new line of iLife software. This new machine is beautiful, it's even thiner and less expensive than the older version with better hardware and built with Aluminium and glass for a sleek new look, similar to the Macbook Pros and Powerbooks. I intend to get one as soon as Apple releases it's newest operating system this fall.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Oh, I saw all right. It's very pretty, I'd love to have one, but if I can meet my needs for half the price (without going Windows), I have to consider that option.
If I do get the iMac, I'll wait until Leopard.
But I can't wait forever -- we're still using a Grape iMac at home.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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GIMP isn't awful, but it is different. If your needs aren't too great, there are some less capable alternatives that might have more intuitive interfaces. Hmm, it seems Corel Photo-Paint is available for Linux; that's a lot more Photoshop-like.
And of course, if you have a version of Photoshop (CS or 7.0, ideally; not CS2), you can run that using Wine, thanks to our friends at Disney.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I'm going to be buying an Ubuntu laptop in the next month, and it will likely be one of the Dells.
Remind me, Zal, and I'll post a review of it.
Of course, I'm familiar enough with GIMP that I can pretty well make it do what I tell it to do. It will be interesting to see if I can find an open-source audio-editing program that I like. I've used Audacity a good bit, but it's pretty minimalist.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Yup, search for Gimpshop. It doesn't much change the Gimp, just moves things around and contains them within a window just like Photoshop. Tweaks the menus, IIRC. Blogged about a list of 'must have' freeware design programs at my site which is when I discovered it.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Great, great, great link, TheTick. Question: I want to create some buttons; any idea of a free program to make great buttons?
Posts: 3060 | Registered: Nov 2003
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After exploring other options, I went ahead with the Dell desktop with Ubuntu.
The key thing for me was realizing that I really could only afford (and needed) a downmarket model (which means Apple was out) and did not want Vista. Lenovo is still offering a few chipset options with XP, but I was able to get more for the price with the Dell Ubuntu build.
My build has: 1.80GHz Intel Pentium dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 8X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive, and 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS video card.
I upgraded to the 19 inch flat panel display and added a 13-in-1 media card reader. It was $649 (including tax).
I set it up Sunday evening.
My first impression:
It's perfect for what my family needs. Set up was easy -- one of the reasons I went with the Dell build and the preinstall instead of getting something else and installing Ubuntu myself was because I knew that the hardware support would be there (although that's all you get from Dell -- anything considered software-related is up to you).
Firefox hums. I really like F-stop (photo manager program). In fact, so far it's been less buggy and faster and more intuitive to use than iPhoto. Gedit rocks. I haven't really used OpenOffice yet nor any of the graphics/layout programs so we'll see. But the basics that we wanted were Internet browsing
It connected to the monitor fine (and wow -- a 19 inch display is awesome). I have a DSL modem connected to a D-link router so I didn't have to configure a thing to connect to the Internet. Printing was a snap as CUPS covers the printer we have. The media reader add on was a good idea -- it took the SD card from my Canon and imported photos into F-stop without a problem (and quite speedily, esp. considering the number of photos on the card). Plus the media readers means 4 extra USB ports. My Sandisk thumb drive mounted without any problems.
The interface is pretty good. Not as pretty as a Mac, but I like it better than Windows. I like that with the drop downs, it's very easy to do system administration. And having the apps in categories is nice to. Adding or removing programs that are in the Ubuntu repositories (whether supported or unsupported) is a snap. I even grabbed a few things via the terminal and ran them without any issues -- although I have yet to do a true compile (and really probably don't need to except it's something I want to learn).
Installing codecs for things like MP3s and Java took a bit of digging in the Ubuntu documentation, but it's much much easier than it was just, say, a year ago in that you don't need to go in to the terminal to get them -- it now can be handled with changing some of the system options.
The only issue so far is with my little Sansa m240 MP3 player. But it's an issue with pretty much everything other than Rhapsody (even though it's supposed to work with Windows Media Player, etc.). It mounted, but was recognized as a camera. I'm sure there are some things I can do to make it work -- although I mainly use it as a portable FM radio station. And next time I buy a media player I'll go with an iRiver (which can play Ogg Vorbis). And from what I've read, the main Linux media players work just fine with many other portable music devices. And that's the other cool thing about Linux is that there are often 2-3 (or 10) fairly aggressively updated and managed apps for just about everything so you can pick and choose what works for you. GUI isn't always as slick with Linux apps, but in many cases for the most basic stuff you use, it's quite good if you like very simple, clean interfaces (I'm loving F-stop and Banshee and Gedit for that reason).
We'll see how I feel in 6 months. But for now, if you don't want to spend $1k+ on a computer, I think it's a great option.
I especially think it'd be perfect for other users who, like me, have very basic needs -- photo management and editing, word processing, basic spreadsheets, and Internet browsing. It'd be perfect for setting up grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, etc. who aren't super tech savvy and basically just want to launch basic programs and can be taught to install updates (which is easy in Ubuntu).
It isn't a viable option for:
1. PC Gamers (seriously -- there are apparently ways to make games work [Wine, etc.] and even a few old games ported to Linux, but . Of course, with the money you save buy buying a downmarket computer, you could also buy a Wii and a few games so again, for casual, family users, it's ideal, imo)
2. Sophisticated MS Office users (and that's only major macros/high-level Excel functions users)
3. Users who want their PC to be a media center
4. Mac addicts -- you can recreate some stuff from OSX, but not everything, esp. if you are a Quicksilver fanatic.
Of course, there's a ton of stuff you can do if you know or are willing to learn Linux. Of course, such folks probably aren't going to be buying a Dell build anyway.
But seriously, out of the box, most users wouldn't miss anything they actually use (except for needing to install the codecs to play MP3s -- which is easy -- and to play DVDs -- which is less easy).
The only thing it doesn't do that I would kind of want it to do is work with Netflix's on-demand service. But even that's less than once a month. And I have a work laptop that I can use for that.
I have read that some of the people getting the Dell Ubuntu laptops have had sound or video card issues or having wireless connection issues.
Of course, all this may be colored by the fact that I'm upgrading from a Grape iMac running OS 8.6 so anything is going to be better, but I use both Windows XP and OSX at work and so am quite familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of Apple and MS products.
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Oh, you can make a Linux box into a spiffy media center. I generally agree with the rest of your points.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I'm sure you can, but the Dell out of the box isn't the spiffiest media center.
On the other hand, a friend of mine just pointed me to her brother's business selling Ubuntu boxes -- looks like some neat options there, including a media one (with Myth TV already set up): http://www.zareason.com/shop/home.phpPosts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I believe you can get Windows XP through the Small business section on Dell.com. Or does that feel all wrong, to get a 5+ year old operating system at this stage?
We still have not bought the machine I was discussing over on the Sake threads.
If it were my own money, I might try the Linux.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I think getting Windows XP is a good idea if you really need a Windows OS.
XP is the only Windows OS I have used that I think is actually worth something -- and is fairly stable. Well, other than, dos. Vista scares me, frankly. And I was happy to hear from our CTO that we won't be upgrading to it at work.
Not that I have a ton of insight into this. But I've been using both Macs and PCs fairly steadily since the early '80s and so have experience as a non-techie, non-power but somewhat sophisticated user who places an emphasis on UI and easy system administration.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: ...It will be interesting to see if I can find an open-source audio-editing program that I like. I've used Audacity a good bit, but it's pretty minimalist.
This looks like a pretty good article about audio editing in Linux. It's a couple of years old but I think most of the software it discusses is still active. Wikipedia has a good list of Linux audio software.
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Awesome, this comes up right after my topic falls of the page. So, are there any iTunes like media players that will sync my iPod and work on Ubuntu?
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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At the end of the post there are links to how to use other linux players with an ipod. I don't think your desktop/laptop will play AAC files, however.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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So, any updates on how it's working for you?
Would you recommend someone towards getting a Dell notebook with Ubuntu pre-loaded? Or would it be better to buy a different notebook and install Ubuntu? Would there be hardware issues with the latter?
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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The display may not be spot on -- photos look a wee bit squashed. But I really haven't tried to fix it yet so I don't know how easy it may be to resolve. And I really need to do a side by side comparison with my work laptop. It's possible that I'm just seeing things.
Also: the hibernate option isn't working so well -- but I usually just shut down for the night and let it kick in to powersave during idle times of the day.
But I have to say that in all, I don't regret the decision at all and am very much enjoying not running Windows.
In regards to the laptop, I have read conflicting reports. Certainly, there are more hardware issues with the laptops than the desktops. On the other hand, I've also read a few glowing reports of the Dell laptop.
I'd say it all depends on how willing you are to get things working. In general, my opinion is that you're probably better off finding the best laptop that fits your needs and budget and then deciding which OS to run.
I've heard nothing but good about them, and if I had known about them before ordering the Dell, I may just have gone with one of their builds.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Hmmm, they do seem a bit out of the price range, but if they have better support it might be worth it.
How hard is it to upgrade when a new version of Ubuntu comes out? (I'm looking at the Gutsy Gibbon release)
What I'm looking for is something I can use for school work (Open Office) and use the internet (Firefox) for cheap/free, mostly for schoolwork (which is why I'd like a laptop). I know I can get those on Windows, but I think I'd like to try and experiment with Linux.
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Ubuntu comes with a graphical software updater. If you are only on dial-up it could take a while -- last time I did an update it took 40 minutes on a DSL connection (a not-super-speedy DSL connection). Of course, that was an update to all the software on the system including some extensive updates to OpenOffice.
My understanding is that if all you are running is Ubuntu and you are just upgrading from the previous release to the newest one, it's not hard at all and there (usually) aren't any issues. Trying to jump releases, though, seems to be a problem.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Sorry, I forgot to ask about security. Now, I know Linux doesn't have to worry about many viruses, but would you still suggest getting some kind of protection? Also, would I still need a firewall?
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Zalmoxis: Skipping might be the better term -- trying to upgrade from an old release to the newest release if you haven't been keeping up with upgrades.
posted
I haven't set up a firewall yet. But I plan to. I don't know of any major reasons not to even though I'm not going to be doing anything crazy (well, not crazy -- sophisticated is probably the better word) like try and connect to my work network, use a remote desktop, etc.
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