Since beginning of february 2010, I have a new job and got a new work notebook: A shiny Dell Latitude E6400. Interestingly, the company usually relies on getting Lenovo Notebooks due to good Linux support, but we were unable to find a notebook without integrated camera and decent specs. We also researched some HP Notebooks. We ended up with a Dell since the website makes it really easy to find a system that fits your requirements.

There is still room for improvement though – you still have to select between Vostro, Latitude, Precision Mobile and XPS before you are allowed to configure the system. There is a filter on the left side of the shop, but filtering for a Core 2 Duo and 4 GB RAM won’t show you the notebook I got. Instead there is some overpriced Latitude (~ €3000) and an XPS system. I just tried the XPS, but was unable to find a Core 2 Duo processor in the options.

Anyway, somehow I made it through and got the following configuration:

I installed Ubuntu karmic (amd64) the day it arrived and I am impressed. I have yet to find a serious problem with hardware support. Everything just worked out of the box, installation was done after half an hour (I needed 10 minutes to find a network cable since the installer did not support the wireless). I wanted to install Debian on it but so far I did not get around to actually do it. But I expect sid to perform just as well with lenny probably lacking some of the needed drivers.

So why am I writing this? The main point is that you can buy a notebook today and have it fully supported wrt. Linux. Open Source has come a long way!

Second: If I replace my personal notebook (a Sony Vaio), I will probably buy Dell as well. Definitely nothing from Sony, because I did not find any way to change the display brightness for the 3 years old system, which makes it usable only next to a power outlet.