If you order any, compare RAM upgrade rates against Newegg - I ordered 2 1GB sticks for the 1505N I'm typing on now for $80 a year ago, while Dell wanted $200 for the same upgrade. I also passed on a HD upgrade for $125 (from 80GB to 160GB) - I didn't need the space at first, and now if I need it, I can get a 250GB for that price. Like JR, I suggest getting the bigger battery - 9 cell, and I get 4 1/2 hours on it. Don't forget a bluetooth module, they can be tricky to find later, if you might want it down the road. -Keith On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 5:03 PM, John reese <jwreese0 at comcast.net> wrote: > Terry, > > I have had two Dell Inspiron 1420s with Ubuntu 7.10 pre-installed. I was > happy with both machines, but here's what I recommend should you decide > to go this route: > > -Get at least 2 GB of RAM. CPU speed probably isn't important for most > users so there's an opportunity to save a lot of money. > -Get the 9-cell battery. > -Don't get the Blue-ray DVD option. For whatever reason, some of the > live CD kernels don't like it. > -Throw away the Ubuntu install disk sent with the laptop. Neither disk > sent with each of my two laptops worked for me. In each case, I > re-installed from downloaded ISOs with no problem. > -If you love Gnome, fine. If you like KDE, don't bother to upgrade from > Gnome to KDE (Kubuntu) on the Inspiron; both times I ended up with ugly > fonts, clunky icons, sort of a mess. Just re-install from your Gutsy ISO > and go directly to Kubuntu. The default desktop setup (fonts, icons, > screen resolution) looks great. > -Get an Nvidia video card and use the free proprietary drivers. It's > worth the expense. Get the glossy high-def screen option to take > advantage of it. > -Don't upgrade network card management with Synaptic or Adept. Your > network services will re-set in the middle of downloading and installing > packages, leaving you with broken packages and a serious desire to > reboot. > > That's about it. Good luck with your new laptop. > > JR > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >