Dell Laptop Recommendation

[Mark Phillips]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I have traced the problem on my current
laptop to a heat problem. If I install both 512MB RAM boards, the laptop
dies somewhere from power-on to fully running. I have run the Dell
diagnostics on each 512 MB RAM card separately, and they both pass. I also
swapped out each card in the lower slot, and the machine runs, albeit
slowly. When I put a RAM card in the upper slot, it dies. My conclusion is
that the RAM controller on the mother board is overheating or rapidly
reaching its EOL, so it is time to get a new machine. If you have other
thoughts, please let me know!

I am looking at two machines now, but am open to suggestions on other
machines -

A refurbished Dell latitude D830 or a new Dell Studio 1555. Both are about
the same price ~$700.

The Studio 1555
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
15.6” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
4GB2 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz
Speed: 500GB3 SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
512MB4 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
Intel® WiFi Link 5100 802.11agn Half Mini-Card
56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)

The Dell Latitiude 830
Intel® Core™ Duo processor
L1 cache 64 KB (internal)
L2 cache 2 MB (on die)
External bus frequency 800 MHz
System chipset Intel® 965GM and 965PM
Data bus width 64 bits
DRAM bus width 64 bits
Processor address bus width 36 bits
CardBus controller OZ711
Memory module capacities 2GB (max 4GB)
Memory type 533/667 DDRII SDRAM
Network adapter 1-GB Ethernet LAN on system board
Graphics - nVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M or nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, Intel GM965
WXGA, WSXGA+, or WUXGA
6-cell lithium-ion battery 56 WHr

I will be running Debian testing, windows XP/7 as a vm. Mostly used for
Java, Python , web development, and all the normal work processing, email
stuff, and video/audio editing. This is my main workstation, so I need some
degree of portability.

I am leaning towards the Latititude only because I have read some reviews,
and it seems to be a little more sturdy than the Studio.

Thanks for y our laptop ideas!

Mark

On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 10:07 PM, Stephen <cryptworks at gmail.com> wrote:

> I would take a look at makeinh a disk image then restore to vm or if
> useing xen you can use thir tools to convert to virtual
>
>
> On 11/7/09, AZ RUNE <arizona.rune at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have used Dell Studio 17 and it worked great for Ubuntu which is the
> only
> > somewhat support version of non-server Linux they provide.
> >
> > Ubuntu being a debian derivative you may have good luck (YMMV).
> >
> > My current Dell is a M1730 XPS and it has been great for me and I do love
> > the blue beast (pet name).
> >
> > Later,
> > Brian
> >
> > On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Mark Phillips
> > <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>wrote:
> >
> >> My Dell Latitude just died...a subject for a different post. I just
> >> received an advertisement from Dell for a Studio 1555 on sale for $699
> >> (Windows 7). The Dell sales rep said it is also Linux compatible. I want
> >> to
> >> install Debian testing on it.  It has a dual core 64 bit processor. I
> have
> >> never had a 64 bit processor pc before.
> >>
> >> Are 32 bit Debian packages/apps compatible with this processor?
> >>
> >> Are most Debian packages 64 bit today, or just a subset? Large, small
> >> subset? Growing?
> >>
> >> Is there a way to re-install the windows 7 as a virtual os or am I stuck
> >> with a dual boot situation?
> >>
> >> Finally, has anyone every used this beast, or other 15" Dell Studio
> >> laptops? Do you like it? Hate it? Why?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> Mark
> >> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
> >> ---------------------------------------------------
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> >>
> >
>
> --
> Sent from my mobile device
>
> A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from
> rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
>
> Stephen
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