Saturday, November 17, 2007
My New Laptop
I've been using my new laptop for a couple of weeks now, and I've finally started forming some opinions about it. I thought I'd take some time and try to put those opinions into words and jot them down here.
First, some of the good things (always lead off with the positive, so you don't sound totally negative). I really like the screen. I've got the Inspiron 1420, and it turns out that the '14' in '1420' represents the screen size. I actually thought that a 14" screen would be way too small. However, it also turns out that my previous laptop was apparently something like 12" or 13", because this is a much larger screen than the old machine I had. So on that point, I was pleasantly surprised. I also got the glossy screen, and I like the look. If you've compared the typical LCD screen with the 'glossy' screen (or whatever they refer to it as) you know what I mean. The LCD screen has a 'foggy' look about it. The 'glossy' screen looks more like a monitor, and I think it makes it easier to look at, and it's basically 'easier on the eyes.'
There are also four USB ports, which is nice. I don't plan to be using more than two at a time in most cases, but there are times when you might need more than two. Lots of devices use USB and who knows when you'll want more than two of them to be connected at the same time? There have been times when I've had two USB memory sticks hooked up to a machine, and wanted to connect a third device (a camera, or something similar). So having four ports is nice and probably means that I won't have to find a USB hub to connect extra devices. There is also a Firewire port on the left side. I've never used a Firewire device and it's possible that I never will, but it's nice to have it there, just in case.
I've also got a S-video output port. I was really excited when I saw this, and had high hopes about using my computer as a basic Home Media system. However, I've tried using this, and haven't been able to get anything to show up on my tv. I don't know if I've got to set the resolution to a particular setting or if there is something I have to do to enable the S-video output. I haven't been able to find much info from the docs, other than that I have an S-video connector on my machine. If anybody knows what I need to do, let me know, 'cause I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to watch videos that I've downloaded on my tv rather than watching them on my glossy 14" screen.
I've also got Bluetooth. However, I don't own anything that does Bluetooth. I've got an older cellphone, and it doesn't do Bluetooth. Nothing else I own does Bluetooth. So I can't tell you anything about that, except that my machine is supposedly capable of communicating via Bluetooth. Someday, I'll get a new cell phone, and it will probably have Bluetooth, and then I can start playing with it and give more info on whether or not it works. But till then, those are the basic positive points for this machine.
On the down side... I don't like the physical locations of most of the I/O connections. The fact that they put the sound I/O on the 'front' of the machine seems nice at first, but it quickly turns out to be inconvienient. I tend to lay down (or recline) when using my machine, and the front (or face or whatever you want to refer to that portion of the machine as) tends to rest on my stomach. This isn't a problem, unless you happen to have a headset plugged in. Then it's a problem. The connector then jabs into your stomach, and you have to worry about either damaging the connector or keeping things at an angle that keeps the whole contraption from poking you in the stomach.
At the same time, the power connector now plugs into the side of the machine. In the past, it plugged into the back of the machine. For whatever reason, I tend to like the power connector to plug into the back of the machine. I can't give a definite reason why I like things that way, but I do. So if I'm using my computer and putting it in my lap, the combination of the audio I/O being in the front and the power being in the left side of the computer for some reason bothers me. I don't like it. This could be just a personal preference, and others might feel that they like it this way. But for me, it's an annoyance.
I also don't care for the keyboard (my old laptop had the same layout, so this is a continuation of my dislike for the old laptop's keyboard). The layout is non-standard. No, I don't mean that the keys are laid out differently for typing. The keyboard is the typical QWERTY layout. But the other keys are not standard. DEL, HOME, PAGE UP, DOWN, etc, are all laid out differently than the typical keyboard. I've got a Dell laptop that I use at work (it's a Latitude, I think). I use it in a docking station, but that doesn't matter. The screen is 14" just like this one, yet the keyboard is laid out differently The keys I just mentioned above are laid out just like they are on a standard keyboard. If they can use a standard keyboard layout on that machine, why can't they do it on this one? As far as I can tell, they're the same physical size so why does the 'cheaper' Inspiron have a screwy keyboard, while the more 'upscale' Latitude machine have a standard keyboard layout?
And then there's the built-in synaptics pad. I've always hated those things for one reason: they never turn off the "tap" function. And it's always set to be too sensitive, so any time that I happen to brush against it, the pad takes it as a "click." Sometimes that doesn't matter, but sometimes it does. And this complaint doesn't just go for Linux machines, it goes for Windows machines too. But in this case, no one at Dell bothered loading the necessary drivers and interface so that I could configure it the way I like. So I was forced to go hunting around, and eventually I found some drivers and an interface (ksynaptics) that allowed me to configure it to my liking. Turn the tap off, enable the vertical scroll, and disable the horizontal scroll. Now the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that there isn't any "buffer zone" between the buttone and the pad. On my old machine, there was a definite physical barrier between the buttons and the pad, and you could feel it. On this machine, there's nothing like that. So you can go looking for the buttons and end up hitting the pad instead. You can actually go sliding off of the button onto the pad. Fortunately I can turn off the "tap" function, or I would really be hating the whole thing, and would have to resort to using a mouse. As it is, all that happens when I miss the button is that the cursor goes sliding around the screen off of the object I wanted to click on, and I have to move it back to what I was aiming for. A pain, but no show stopper.
As a sidenote, this month's "Linux Journal" has a review of Linux laptops, and this one (the Inspiron 1420) is featured in the review. One of the things that they point out is that this machine is available with either Windows or Linux installed. If you get the Windows version, there are more options available. You can choose between two different video cards, you can get a much larger hard drive (the max on the linux machine is 160 Gig but the max on the windows machine is 300+ gig) and the Win machine offers a built-in webcam, whereas the linux machine doesn't. I don't know why the big differences exist between the two machines, but I had no intentions of giving my money to Microsoft just to get a machine with slightly better hardware. Plus, what's the point in paying for Windows, then basically deleting it?
Still, all in all, it's not such a bad computer. It's lightweight, and I got the larger 9 cell battery, so it has a relatively long life when I'm using it unplugged. Battery time does vary, depending on what I'm doing, but that's always the case. I've got a Logitech webcam for the incredibly rare occasion when I might want one. I would have liked the option of getting the distro of Linux that I preferred (I like Mepis over Ubuntu, but if forced to choose between Ubuntu distros, I would have preferred Kubuntu over Ubuntu). For the money, it's not bad at all. I haven't used very many Linux laptops (or many laptops at all for that matter, outside of Dell machines) but if I had to rate it based on what I know (and that's all I can rate it on, to be honest) I think I'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. Let me know what you think...
First, some of the good things (always lead off with the positive, so you don't sound totally negative). I really like the screen. I've got the Inspiron 1420, and it turns out that the '14' in '1420' represents the screen size. I actually thought that a 14" screen would be way too small. However, it also turns out that my previous laptop was apparently something like 12" or 13", because this is a much larger screen than the old machine I had. So on that point, I was pleasantly surprised. I also got the glossy screen, and I like the look. If you've compared the typical LCD screen with the 'glossy' screen (or whatever they refer to it as) you know what I mean. The LCD screen has a 'foggy' look about it. The 'glossy' screen looks more like a monitor, and I think it makes it easier to look at, and it's basically 'easier on the eyes.'
There are also four USB ports, which is nice. I don't plan to be using more than two at a time in most cases, but there are times when you might need more than two. Lots of devices use USB and who knows when you'll want more than two of them to be connected at the same time? There have been times when I've had two USB memory sticks hooked up to a machine, and wanted to connect a third device (a camera, or something similar). So having four ports is nice and probably means that I won't have to find a USB hub to connect extra devices. There is also a Firewire port on the left side. I've never used a Firewire device and it's possible that I never will, but it's nice to have it there, just in case.
I've also got a S-video output port. I was really excited when I saw this, and had high hopes about using my computer as a basic Home Media system. However, I've tried using this, and haven't been able to get anything to show up on my tv. I don't know if I've got to set the resolution to a particular setting or if there is something I have to do to enable the S-video output. I haven't been able to find much info from the docs, other than that I have an S-video connector on my machine. If anybody knows what I need to do, let me know, 'cause I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to watch videos that I've downloaded on my tv rather than watching them on my glossy 14" screen.
I've also got Bluetooth. However, I don't own anything that does Bluetooth. I've got an older cellphone, and it doesn't do Bluetooth. Nothing else I own does Bluetooth. So I can't tell you anything about that, except that my machine is supposedly capable of communicating via Bluetooth. Someday, I'll get a new cell phone, and it will probably have Bluetooth, and then I can start playing with it and give more info on whether or not it works. But till then, those are the basic positive points for this machine.
On the down side... I don't like the physical locations of most of the I/O connections. The fact that they put the sound I/O on the 'front' of the machine seems nice at first, but it quickly turns out to be inconvienient. I tend to lay down (or recline) when using my machine, and the front (or face or whatever you want to refer to that portion of the machine as) tends to rest on my stomach. This isn't a problem, unless you happen to have a headset plugged in. Then it's a problem. The connector then jabs into your stomach, and you have to worry about either damaging the connector or keeping things at an angle that keeps the whole contraption from poking you in the stomach.
At the same time, the power connector now plugs into the side of the machine. In the past, it plugged into the back of the machine. For whatever reason, I tend to like the power connector to plug into the back of the machine. I can't give a definite reason why I like things that way, but I do. So if I'm using my computer and putting it in my lap, the combination of the audio I/O being in the front and the power being in the left side of the computer for some reason bothers me. I don't like it. This could be just a personal preference, and others might feel that they like it this way. But for me, it's an annoyance.
I also don't care for the keyboard (my old laptop had the same layout, so this is a continuation of my dislike for the old laptop's keyboard). The layout is non-standard. No, I don't mean that the keys are laid out differently for typing. The keyboard is the typical QWERTY layout. But the other keys are not standard. DEL, HOME, PAGE UP, DOWN, etc, are all laid out differently than the typical keyboard. I've got a Dell laptop that I use at work (it's a Latitude, I think). I use it in a docking station, but that doesn't matter. The screen is 14" just like this one, yet the keyboard is laid out differently The keys I just mentioned above are laid out just like they are on a standard keyboard. If they can use a standard keyboard layout on that machine, why can't they do it on this one? As far as I can tell, they're the same physical size so why does the 'cheaper' Inspiron have a screwy keyboard, while the more 'upscale' Latitude machine have a standard keyboard layout?
And then there's the built-in synaptics pad. I've always hated those things for one reason: they never turn off the "tap" function. And it's always set to be too sensitive, so any time that I happen to brush against it, the pad takes it as a "click." Sometimes that doesn't matter, but sometimes it does. And this complaint doesn't just go for Linux machines, it goes for Windows machines too. But in this case, no one at Dell bothered loading the necessary drivers and interface so that I could configure it the way I like. So I was forced to go hunting around, and eventually I found some drivers and an interface (ksynaptics) that allowed me to configure it to my liking. Turn the tap off, enable the vertical scroll, and disable the horizontal scroll. Now the only thing I don't like about it is the fact that there isn't any "buffer zone" between the buttone and the pad. On my old machine, there was a definite physical barrier between the buttons and the pad, and you could feel it. On this machine, there's nothing like that. So you can go looking for the buttons and end up hitting the pad instead. You can actually go sliding off of the button onto the pad. Fortunately I can turn off the "tap" function, or I would really be hating the whole thing, and would have to resort to using a mouse. As it is, all that happens when I miss the button is that the cursor goes sliding around the screen off of the object I wanted to click on, and I have to move it back to what I was aiming for. A pain, but no show stopper.
As a sidenote, this month's "Linux Journal" has a review of Linux laptops, and this one (the Inspiron 1420) is featured in the review. One of the things that they point out is that this machine is available with either Windows or Linux installed. If you get the Windows version, there are more options available. You can choose between two different video cards, you can get a much larger hard drive (the max on the linux machine is 160 Gig but the max on the windows machine is 300+ gig) and the Win machine offers a built-in webcam, whereas the linux machine doesn't. I don't know why the big differences exist between the two machines, but I had no intentions of giving my money to Microsoft just to get a machine with slightly better hardware. Plus, what's the point in paying for Windows, then basically deleting it?
Still, all in all, it's not such a bad computer. It's lightweight, and I got the larger 9 cell battery, so it has a relatively long life when I'm using it unplugged. Battery time does vary, depending on what I'm doing, but that's always the case. I've got a Logitech webcam for the incredibly rare occasion when I might want one. I would have liked the option of getting the distro of Linux that I preferred (I like Mepis over Ubuntu, but if forced to choose between Ubuntu distros, I would have preferred Kubuntu over Ubuntu). For the money, it's not bad at all. I haven't used very many Linux laptops (or many laptops at all for that matter, outside of Dell machines) but if I had to rate it based on what I know (and that's all I can rate it on, to be honest) I think I'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. Let me know what you think...
Labels: Dell, laptop, linux. Ubuntu, Mepis
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