DELL Inspiron 1420N with Ubuntu: Is it ready for mainstream?

Filed in archive Hardware on August 19, 2007

We noted back in May that Dell was planning to sell laptops/notebooks with Ubuntu installed. Michael of Starry Hope recently took delivery of a DELL installed with Ubuntu and for which he reviewed the machine when he took delivery.

Overall, there are some really good aspects of the DELL Ubuntu Machine, but there are still some major shortcomings. The one that really stood out for me was the "windows" key on the DELL Ubuntu Machine. That is really a faux pas on DELL's part!




The review suggests that while there is much to be positive about, there are some major shortcomings with matching the Ubuntu software with DELL hardware. The major problems experienced by the reviewer was difficulties with wi-fi connection, no video drivers, and hibernate and suspend functions stopped working after awhile of use.

The final evaluation from the reviewer is that while a Linux Geek might be very happy to get the Inspiron 1420N, a newbie to Linux might find it all just too much to get it going the way it should work.