Inspiron 8000 with Linux -- great!
Written: Oct 01 '08
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Pros: Easy installation of Kubuntu Linux (32-bit) on Dell Inspiron 8000.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Kubuntu 8.04 works on Dell Inspiron 8000 out of the box.
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| j_cricket's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8000 Series |
This computer came pre-installed with Windows 2000 Pro, which is not a terrible OS. It is slow, however.
Still, like all things Windows, it eventually got hit with something. A virus, a trojan, a "malicious update" installed by Microsoft itself. Who knows.
Bottom line is that it just stopped working one day. Hardware all seemed ok. What a pain to try to get help to repair Windows. Sure, I could completely reinstall from the "rescue disk" but that would erase all my files. There was no easy repair, even after a week of trying and lots of expensive support calls. (Did I mention that 5 of my friends had the same thing happen to different Windows computers in their businesses?) Time to dump Windows.
So I tried installing Kubuntu 8.04 (Hardy). Of course, Windows 2000 NTFS locks the disk, so first I had to boot into the live Kubuntu disk and rescue my critical files from the NTFS drive. (Only Linux lets you do this).
Then I merely erased the entire drive and used the entire drive for Kubuntu. (In the past I save a partition for Windows, but now with virtualization don't find this necessary anymore).
The installation was a dream. I used the 32-bit version, as some extras (such as Flashplayer) don't yet work with the 64-bit version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Besides, the laptop uses 32 bit anyway.
Sound, networking -- everything worked out of the box, except I had to adjust the monitor resolution:
System Settings --> Monitor & Display --> Administrative Mode --> Hardware --> Monitor # 1 --> Configure --> Generic --> LCD Panel 1400 x 1050
I left the video as VESA, which worked fine. (The Inspiron 8000 has an ATI Mobility M4 AGP video, which can run using ATI proprietary or open source drivers, but I didn't install them since I don't use 3D effects. I may play with this later).
Kubuntu runs about 3 times faster than Windows. Of course, I only have the 256 Mb stock RAM installed (which I'll upgrade this weekend).
After installing the Kubuntu-restricted-extras package, there is nothing that doesn't work really well. Open Office is a great replacement for Microsoft Office, and conversion of any old Word documents is bidirectional and seamless. I have used Firefox as a browser for a while, so my browsing experience was seamless.
I would very highly recommend this installation.
Addendum:
After installing some more RAM, I will install Virtualbox as my virtualization manager, in case I want to re-install Windows 2000 as a backup (you know, for Turbo Tax or something). But I doubt it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): Free
Operating System: Linux
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 501-600
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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j_cricket
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