Ubuntu and Kubuntu Gutsy on a Dell Latitude D830

I recently finished installing Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10 on my new Latitude D830. I purchased this Laptop refurbished (like new) and used a coupon code that saved me over $730 compared to the exact same system configured new. It is simply amazing how compatible this Linux distro is with the D830 hardware. I installed PCLinuxOS 2007 and was dual booting with Windows Vista when the notebook first arrived. Driver support was not so good in PCLinuxOS so I decided to wait until Ubuntu Gutsy was released rather than messing around trying to get things working. Plus, I was dealing with web hosting hell at the time.

Since PCLinuxOS wasn't working very well, I got to spend some quality time with Windows Vista. The Vista experience has been simply wonderful. After many reboots accompanied by seemingly endless, "Please Wait/Configuring Updates" screens Windows was updated. I then installed all the software I need and got to work.

One of the great things about Windows Vista is not what is new, but what has been re-implemented. Microsoft went the whole nine yards and put back a feature that was sorely missing in Windows XP. BSOD is back! That's right, the Blue Screen of Death is alive and well in Windows Vista Business edition. I really missed the BSOD when I was using Windows XP as my primary OS. That surprising flash of blue. The memory dump. The cursing at the screen for making me lose whatever I was working on. All of that was nearly extinct in Windows XP. However, when it comes to Vista, the only OS I've seen have more blue screen errors was Windows 98 on a laptop with 96MB of RAM. So, if you've been on the fence about upgrading to Windows Vista, this should put an end to all hesitation.

Kubuntu on the D830

Needless to say, I was looking forward to Ubuntu Gutsy. It was released on October 18th and I downloaded Kubuntu. I had been using Ubuntu Feisty on my old Inspiron E1705 and gained a fair amount of experience using Gnome. This time around I wanted try out KDE.

Installation went without a hitch. Everything but the sound seemed to be working. I found a way to fix the sound card driver. But this didn't seem to stick. After two installations, the sound card would work and then pretty soon mysteriously stop working and I couldn't get it fixed. Also, NTFS read/write support was not working out of the box. When trying to mount an NTFS drive I'd get the following error "hal-storage-fixed-mount-all-options refused uid 1000". Finally, the DPI was set to 147 and I had to force it to run at 96 DPI.

I really like some of the features in KDE, a few of which I had already gotten a taste of with PCLinuxOS. For example, configuring things is very easy because just about every option is at your finger tips. Also, if you leave everything open and shut down or restart the computer, your desktop session is restored perfectly next time you boot up. This is a very useful feature for people who keep a lot of programs and windows open on their laptop, especially if hibernate is not working properly. And, single click to open files and directories is enabled by default. I don't know why I have been using double-click all this time. So many wasted clicks! This can also be configured in Gnome, but isn't the default.

While there is a lot I like about KDE, I need music while I'm working so I decided give Ubuntu a try.

Ubuntu on the D830

Once again. installation was quick and easy. When finished, wireless was working and the monitor was looking crisp running at 1920x1200. In fact, just about everything worked except for the sound card and the touchpad needed a minor adjustment in the xorg.conf file. Fortunately, the sound card fix works great in Ubuntu and doesn't disappear. It is still a little funky with volume adjustment, but works well enough. The desktop session manager in Gnome doesn't work well, the one in KDE is much better. But, I don't need it since hibernate and suspend are performing flawlessly. I definitely like the theme packages available for Gnome better. They are easier to install and integrate well with Nautilus. The volume/mute buttons work. I think even Bluetooth is working, although I'll have to test more later. The laptop runs cool and the battery life seems great with the new improvements in the Linux kernel and Gutsy 7.10. And... I haven't had Ubuntu lock up on me or crash once with heavy use over the past 4 days and multiple hibernations. So far I'm very pleased with my Latitude D830 and Ubuntu.

Here is a list of important hardware specifications for compatibility info:

Dell Latitude D830 Specs

• CPU: Intel T7500 2.2Ghz
• Display: 1920x1200 15.4" Samsung LCD
• Wlan Card: Intel 4965 A/G/N Mini-PCI
• GPU: Intel GM965 (X3100) Integrated Graphics Card
• Bluetooth: Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Module
• Soundcard: SigmaTel STAC9205 HD Audio / Intel-HDA

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