I tend to buy a laptop after reading, pouring over spec's and coming to a conclusion about which one is best for me... I set my sights on the Dell Latitude E6410. The reason I chose this one right off, is simply because it is one of the best built laptops I have come across. It is made mostly to be durable, it has many metal parts, and the system comes with a factory 3 year warranty. There are very few laptops that come with this kind of backing. To me, that kind of warranty says a lot about the unit. Now, go to Dell's site and customize the spec's a bit, and you can end up with one powerful desktop replacement... Intel i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB or SSD Drives, DVD Burner, Backlit Keyboard (my fav part), and so very much more... Since I put in so much effort in to my research, people often ask me, what I recommend for them... and of course, I say, you should get what I bought! Then the questions come about how to put on the OS or OSes that I put on mine... well, this little step by step is for my friends, so that they can duplicate what I have done. Hopefully you will find it useful too.... Below you will find a play by play walkthrough of how to install Ubuntu 10.10... Note: this same walk through works for 10.04 with some minor changes... Step One, www.ubuntu.com - download and burn ISO of 10.10. I am using the x86 version for this example. Press F12 on boot, select boot from CD. Press ESC after you see the logo with the Keyboard and David Symbol. Select Language Highlight Install, press F6, then highlight and press enter on nomodeset Press Esc, you will notice that you have a line of entries at the bottom, back space on it, removing the "quiet splash --", in it's place type, nomodeset Press Enter You will see quite a few buffer errors, etc on screen, just ignore them. After a few minutes you will see the Ubuntu 10.10 background and install screen. For this example, I selected English, then selected both optional Check boxes to Download updates, and the MP3 Plugin/MPEG Encoder. I am installing mine side by side with Windows Server 2008... so I did some custom formatting... you can choose what you want here... Select your time zone / Then Keyboard Layout / UserName and PassCode I am choosing to Require PassCode for Login, and not to encrypt the home folder... This is up to you... (Please Note, I highly recommend that you make a "Strong Password" for your login password. If it doesn't show as Strong, then choose a different one. After accepting the above, you just sit back and wait... depending on your selections, it can take quite a while... (approx 24 minutes) Click Restart Now / Disk will eject during shutdown, press enter Immediately after the Dell Bios Splash, press E a few times. This will bring up the boot loader screen. Go to the line that says... "linux /boot/vmlinuz"..." Press the End Key... backspace over quiet splash, and in its place type in nomodeset Hold down CTRL and Press X. In just about 20 seconds you should be at the Login Window. Congrats,... you have just installed Ubuntu on your Latitude. Now, let me tell you a secret about the Dell Latitude, and where to buy it,... don't get a new one... instead, go here: http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfb/notebooks/latit_usage/ct.aspx?refid=latit_usage&s=dfb&cs=28 The best thing to do is go to the Dell Refurb models... spec up a machine just the way you want... then while going through the checkout.. make sure you absolutely apply the accidental damage converage to be added to your warranty... This warranty is the absolute best warranty Dell offers, and I tell you this, if something happens, anything, a sticker falls off, the screen breaks, whatever.. they will replace it. They will send someone out the next day! Anyway,... Check it out... you will be impressed with this laptop... and if you choose to put Ubuntu on it, you will love that too... especially the boot time! |