I
recently purchased a new Dell 1525 laptop running Ubuntu 8.04. I've
been in need of a new laptop for about a year, and decided to take the
plunge and see how good a Linux based laptop from Dell really is. My
needs are fairly modest. I'm not a gamer, and don't watch many videos.
Mainly it's used for blogging, internet, OpenOffice, IRC/IM, listening
to podcasts and programming. Portablity is only somewhat important,
mostly it'll be used 80% on a desk with the remaining time mobile.

Model: Dell Inspiron 1525N
Price as reviewed: $749
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2 Ghz/800 Mhz FSB/2MB Cache)
OS: Ubuntu 8.04 with DVD playback
Screen: Glossy 15.4" widescreen (1280x800)
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Memory: 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667Mhz
Hard Drive: 120GB SATA (5400 RPM)
Combo Drive: CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW)
Wireless: Intel 3945 a/g Mini-card
Camera: N/A
Battery: 6 cell Li/Io
Sound: High Definition Audio 2.0
Network: Integrated 10/100
Weight: ~6 pounds

Initial Impressions

I
ordered this laptop on a Tues and according to Dell, it was going to
take 7-10 working days then 3-5 days shipping before I'd see my new
laptop here in Southern California. Much to my surprise, it shipped two
days later, and arrived at my home two more days after that! I'd say
Dell is very conservative in estimating dates. For once, it was great
to see a laptop that didn't have all kinds of extra packaging. Dell
packaged the laptop with a very minimum amount of packaging material.
My box arrived via DHL intact. The contents of the box were very
minimal as well, only including the power supply and Ubuntu DVD. A
quick start guide and manual was also included, but not really
referenced. It's a laptop after all, there's not much to put together!
The included manual was for Windows OS only, there were no directions
on using Ubuntu.

Upon power up, it was cool to see the Ubuntu
splash screen. It went through some hardware configuration, found my
wireless network and I was online in under 10 minutes from opening the
box! A very flawless start! Ubuntu is installed in mostly a default
configuration, and after a few minutes of being online, it had almost
700MB of updates for me to download. I transferred my data from my
aging desktop system on a USB thumbdrive to the Dell. I was 100%
working off the Dell in about 30 mins from the time I opened the box.
The 700MB of updates would wait until I went to bed before downloading
and updating.

Performance

Performance is
very subjective, but for my needs, the 1525N has been great. Firefox
3.0.1 performance has been very acceptable. OpenOffice also has very
acceptable load times too. I downloaded the latest branch of Drizzle
and compiled it in about 8 mins. Under normal use, the CPU fan isn't
running very fast, but during the compile, it was running at fullspeed.
Graphics has been very good for my needs. Watching the occasional
video, it was crisp with good colors. The Intel GMA runs at 500Mhz and
uses up to 384MB of shared RAM. Using that amount of system RAM, it's
best to install as much RAM as you can afford. I rank installing the
most RAM you can afford as the #1 upgrade you should do to this laptop.
Upgrading to a faster CPU or harddisk may not be a great return on your
investment. YYMV of course.

I tested out the DVD writer by
creating a restore disk using the Dell/Ubuntu Rescue DVD. I used
standard Memorex DVD-R disks, and it burned about 1.8GB of data in
around 3 minutes. I made two DVDs, and when trying to burn the second
disk, it took a few ejects before the system would recognize a blank
DVD was inserted.

Wireless has been flawless. My WAP is a
Buffalo WHR-G54S flashed with dd-wrt. The laptop hasn't dropped the
link at anytime, unlike my work HP/Compaq 6710b which drops WIFI every
few mins.

Sound is a tad weak, it's not very loud. The speakers
are upward facing, and Ubuntu responds to the hardware volume controls
just fine. Sound quality is what you'd expect from built-in speakers,
kinda rough. Plugging in headphones is the high quality option.

The
touch pad is just OK. The default settings are ,very sensitive, causing
text selection to occur when that's not the intended action. Double
clicking by double tapping doesn't work reliably either. This could be
due to Ubuntu settings, something I haven't investigated yet.

Keyboard
has a nice tactile feel to it. I use the Dvorak layout, so I might see
about rearranging the keys from QWERTY layout. By default, the
backspace and delete keys are not configured to autorepeat.

Battery
life is about what I expected. I'm seeing around 2 hours and 45 mins
runtime with the 6 cell battery. I haven't made any configuration
changes to Ubuntu for power saving modes, this run time is based on the
stock Ubuntu configuration and "general" useage.

Not Tested

• Modem
• 8-in-1 memory card reader
• HDMI port
• S-video output
• Express card slot
  

Conclusion

For
less than $750, this is a fantastic laptop. I'm very happy with it. My
other choice was an IBM Thinkpad T61, but I'm glad I went with the
Dell. I've only had the laptop about 5 days now, but it's performed
flawlessly for my needs. I think the Dell/Ubuntu laptops are a great
combination. Only a few small negatives, but they are not a major
concern for this laptop. I think Dell should include some kind of
Ubuntu quick start guide instead of the manual that ships. If you're
already experienced with Ubuntu, this won't be such a big issue, it's
more of a concern for users that are new to Ubuntu.