| Are these Dell's Ubuntu PCs? |
May 19, 2007
Analysis -- Dell reportedly will release its new Ubuntu-powered computers on May 24. In his blog, LinuxQuestions.org founder Jeremy Garcia writes that a Dell staffer told him, "We will be launching a Linux based OS (Ubuntu) on the E520, 1505 and XPS 410 starting next Thursday, 5/24."
From this employee's note, it appears that Dell doesn't expect these system to sell all that well. "We expect these systems to be less than 1% of our OS mix for the entire year which is ~20,000 systems annually," he is quoted as saying. Still, this employee clearly hopes the Ubuntu-powered Dell systems sells better than that, as he reportedly added: "The goal of launching Linux is to continue to give our customers more choices to customize their new Dell. Providing more options to our Linux Enthusiast customer group will hopefully create even more Raving Fans!!"
Dell has also not made an announcement yet on its Direct2Dell Web site. The company's online shopping system is still not offering Ubuntu as an operating system option on any of its PCs. As of May 19, the only systems with Linux as a pre-installed option remain the Dell Precision open-source n Series workstations with Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS v4.
DesktopLinux has been unable to confirm with Canonical Ltd., Ubuntu's parent company, or Dell that these will be the Ubuntu-enabled systems. However, the three systems mentioned include the same systems that Dell sources previously said would be shipped with Ubuntu. The date, late May, is also when Dell has confirmed that it will begin shipping Ubuntu-powered computers.
The first of these computers, the Dimension E520, comes from Dell's budget-priced desktop PC line that starts at $408 without a monitor. The base system comes with 512MB of RAM and a 160GB SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drive. The E520 uses an Intel 2.8GHz Celeron D processor. For graphics, it uses Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3000.
Dell Dimension E520
This is a very flexible system. You can upgrade the processor all the way up to an Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo processor. As for memory, it can handle up to 4GB of dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM. The E520 can also be configured with twin 320GB hard drives for up to 640GB of total disk storage. For graphics, it can be upgraded with either a NVIDIA GeForce 7300LE TurboCache 256MB PCI Express or the ATI X1300 Pro with 256MB of RAM.
For a Linux-powered laptop, it appears Dell will be offering its well-regarded Inspiron E1505 line. The low-end family of this line uses an Intel Pentium dual-core 1.73GHz T2080. Its two more powerful siblings use the Intel Core Duo 1.86GHz T2350.
Dell Inspiron E1505
For RAM, two of the systems come with 1GB shared dual channel DDR2 SDRAM. The high-end system, which includes a Dell AIO 926 printer, comes with 2GB of shared dual channel DDR2 SDRAM. All these laptops offer a 15.4-inch wide-screen XGA display as their basic screen. Display upgrades, albeit at the same size, are available.
For WiFi -- all too often a sore point with Linux and laptops -- these laptops include the Dell Wireless 1390b/g card. This interface can handle up to 54Mbps using 802.11g. It's based on the Broadcom 4311 chipset, which historically has not been an especially Linux-friendly WiFi device.
However, beginning with the Linux kernel 2.6.20.6, Linux distributions were finally able to consistently and successfully use Broadcom 4311-based WiFi devices. Ubuntu 7.04, the version Dell is using, is based on the 2.6.20.x Linux kernel, so it seems a safe bet that it includes support for the Dell Wireless 1390b/g card in its kernel.
Finally, the XPS 410 is a powerful home desktop system. For a processor, the XPS 410 line's low-end uses the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.86GHz E6300. At the high end, the XPS 410 offers an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.66GHz E6700.
Dell XPS 410
These systems support up to 4GB of Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM. For hard drives, XPS 410 uses SATA-based disks. With the ability to handle two 500GB drives, an XPS 410 could potentially support a terabyte of internal storage. The XPS 410 line comes with a variety of optical drive options. These include, at the highest of the high end, a Blu-Ray drive.
For almost a year now, there has been Linux support for Blu-Ray as a storage media. Playing Blu-Ray video is trickery -- thanks to DRM (digital rights management) -- but if Dell offers Blu-Ray as an option, it can be presumed it would come with video-playback capability.
To display that video, or any other graphics, the XPS 410 offers users a choice of three graphics cards: the 256MB PCI Express NVIDIA GeForce 7300LE TurboCache; the 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS; and the 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro.
If these are indeed the systems that Dell will be offering, Linux desktop users will have a nice selection of both desktop and laptop computers. Dell has indicated that pricing for these systems will be lower than that of their Vista-powered twins.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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