[ubuntu-uk] Desktop Advice
Hi all, I'm considering getting a new desktop. I'm considering one from Dell, but can't find any reviews of their ubuntu-ized Inspiron (everyone seems to be talking about the laptops). Does anyone on this list have one? Can they tell me 1: if it can handle two monitors? 2: how loud it is? Dual monitors and noise levels are the two most important things to me, so if you have any tips for where to look, I'd be much obliged. TIA John -- John Levin http://www.technolalia.org/blog/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Desktop Advice
John Levin wrote: Hi all, I'm considering getting a new desktop. I'm considering one from Dell, but can't find any reviews of their ubuntu-ized Inspiron (everyone seems to be talking about the laptops). Does anyone on this list have one? Can they tell me 1: if it can handle two monitors? 2: how loud it is? Dual monitors and noise levels are the two most important things to me, so if you have any tips for where to look, I'd be much obliged. TIA John Well I can't speak for the Inspirons themselves but the Dell Latitude notebooks were very quiet and they did support two monitors (at least a mirrored display on Ubuntu, I'd presume that they would support Xinearama or whatever it's called too - at least my old D610 had an ATI Chipset which was supported by both free/non free drivers). Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Desktop Advice
2008/9/5 John Levin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi all, I'm considering getting a new desktop. I'm considering one from Dell, but can't find any reviews of their ubuntu-ized Inspiron (everyone seems to be talking about the laptops). Does anyone on this list have one? Can they tell me 1: if it can handle two monitors? 2: how loud it is? Dual monitors and noise levels are the two most important things to me, so if you have any tips for where to look, I'd be much obliged. Hey John, A little over a year ago I built my current desktop from scratch to support the same requirements as yours, quiet running, twin monitors and Ubuntu. I ended up assembling the following kit: - Antec Solo enclosure with a single 12 cm case fan - Additional 92mm case fan at front of case to cool the hard disk - Nesteq 450 Watt Semi-fanless PSU (from quietpc.com) - Basic Asustek P5L-VM1394 motherboard - Intel Dual-core 2140 1.6 GHz Pentium - Zalman CPU fan (quietpc.com) - Nvidia 7600 GS fanless dual-head video card - 320GB hard disk - 2GB RAM - Edimax Wi-Fi Ralink RT2561 chipset adapter (from the Linux Emporium) - OEM Panasonic DVD player and CD writer Into this I plugged a couple of TFT panels (1280x1024 NEC and a 1680x1050 Philips), a basic Lenovo keyboard, optical mouse, Creative sound system and other minor stuff (USB card reader, etc). The Antec case has a decent number of sound reduction features, although its 12 cm fan is the most audible sound from the system (although very muffled and not intrusive or unpleasant). The Nesteq PSU is virtually silent, has superb build quality and uses a modular connector system, enabling you to lose the connectors you don't use which helps keep the case internals much neater. As you would expect, the fanless VGA card is silent. In fact, the noisiest component by far is the OEM Panasonic optical drive, but I use that only occasionally. Oh, and I replaced the rather noisy standard Intel CPU cooler with a quieter (and larger!) Zalman equivalent. I hadn't built a machine for several years and was pleasantly surprised at how much better packaged components such as the motherboard and the ATX case were compared to some of the nasty kit available back in the '90s. Both the mobo and Antec case were supplied with plenty of accessories and spares, and the case mounting points and connector cut-outs matched the motherboard perfectly. It seems that motherboards are also supplied with well organized and comprehensible instructions and manuals these days. I've built two machines in the last 18 months or so, one used an Asustek and one a Gigabyte motherboard and both components were very well packaged and documented, with bags of spares such as screws, grommets, and the rest. The slim SATA drive cables make routing and working on the internals much easier than used to be the case with the awful old IDE data-ribbon connectors. When it comes to wiring everything up, the important connectors are all keyed these days, so it's hard to plug anything in the wrong way around. The Edimax wireless adapter is compatible with Debian, Ubuntu, Suse and Fedora, and the Linux Emporium supplies it with custom scripts for the first three of those distros. I think I used a script for Feisty, but on Gutsy the adapter installed automatically and required no manual intervention (I'm wired into a network at the moment, and haven't used the Edimax with Hardy). It's been as reliable as any system I've ever owned. It's low spec by today's standards, but it's like a diesel car, not sexy, but is dependable, stable, rarely groans, and just gets on with it with the minimum of fuss. It's very quiet (if not silent), runs Ubuntu, productivity apps, development tools, etc without even getting warm and was relatively cheap to assemble. I rarely utilize more than 30-35% of the installed RAM and the hard disk is of course huge for Ubuntu's modest system and application needs. It's totally flexible and I know the machine like the back of my hand. If something breaks, I don't have to call an engineer, return it to base or junk the system, I'll just order a new component and pay a fiver for next day delivery. Empowering stuff. Yep, I can thoroughly recommend building your own machine these days. It's a smoother experience than it was seven or eight years back and you can guarantee that your components will work with Ubuntu. When you need component compatibility re-assurance, there's always the Linux Emporium. Moreover, you can target your funds, spending more on key components like a good quality PSU and wasting less on a ridiculously over-specced processor. No idea if this will tempt you or not, but for what it's worth... :-) Roger PS. A couple of links to services that I found very helpful: http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/wireless/ http://quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] What the Dell?
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 John Levin wrote: Bruce Beardall wrote: The new Mini Inspiron 9 is out. Thanks to Engadget, the link to the Ubuntu flavoured US version is here: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19kc=6f961oc=dnpcxw1x=7y=8 http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19kc=6f961oc=dnpcxw1x=7y=8 But only a WinXP version on the UK site: http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?c=ukcs=ukdhs1l=ens=dhsref=homepg http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?c=ukcs=ukdhs1l=ens=dhsref=homepg It's just not good cricket if you ask me. According to http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=103918 a version with Ubuntu will shortly be available, for £30 less than the XP version. Bizarrely the US version doesn't seem to be available *with* Windows XP, there's only powered by Ubuntu 8.04 as an option - and given there is only the single choice it seems odd that they add the comment May delay your Inspiron Mini 9 ship date! Having just played with the ordering process a bit I was also intrigued to note that the UK version allows for no adjustment of the specification, where the US does. Thankfully it is supplied at the highest specification. I also note that where the US site quotes $349 (about £197) compared to the £299 on the UK site, if you actually bring the US machine up to the UK specification it rises to $494 (about £279), plus whatever mark up they would add for Windows XP if they offered it. If you work to the suggested £30 discount for the Linux version in the UK, that would put the US version at around a tenner dearer than here in the UK! Of course when you adjust the default specification you generally end up paying over the odds so that would likely adjust if the US defaulted to the higher one. Ah well, I don't generally expect sense out of Dell these days. I wonder if their pre-sales email still bounces back as it used to. I contacted them way back in 2001, iirc, and got my email returned, so gave up. Then in 2002 sometime I had reason to use the same email again and it got returned with exactly the same error - which from memory was something about the address (as published on their website for over a year) not existing! Which reminds me, I'm still battling with them about the fact that their Dell branded Broadcom WiFi card doesn't work properly in Vista with my access point, and each time I ask customer services for an exchange for an Intel card they pass me back to tech support who yet again fail to fix the problem and suggest I talk to customer services - wheee, loop de loop :( - -- Paul Tansom | Aptanet Ltd. | http://www.aptanet.com/ | 023 9238 0001 == Registered in England | Company No: 4905028 | Registered Office: Crawford House, Hambledon Road, Denmead, Waterlooville, Hants, PO7 6NU -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkjBW2MACgkQ62AAfTDMCKVL2wCghscNpfFY1hkr+0ryVMoPWs/Y 3v8An0F7bwdkaUp/JMM0wAJQ00n6f73w =INiW -END PGP SIGNATURE- begin:vcard fn:Paul Tansom n:Tansom;Paul org:Aptanet adr:Widley;;39 The Thicket;Waterlooville;Hants.;PO7 5JL;England email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] tel;work:023 92380001 tel;cell:07799 662434 x-mozilla-html:FALSE url:http://www.aptanet.com/ version:2.1 end:vcard -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] keyboards
On Tue, 2008-09-02 at 10:31 +0100, Stephen O'Neill wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Sean Miller wrote: What is quite useful is a wireless keyboard. Got some Logitech one that is invaluable if giving presentations etc. where the laptop needs to be close to a projector and I'm in front. A few places I have worked in have had those things, and wireless mice ... however whenever I needed to use them the batteries were running out and everything seemed a bit haywire as a result. Not my greatest anecdote, but there you go. - -- Stephen O'Neill w: http://www.thefloatingfrog.co.uk/ e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFIvQf/J+Auntu1v4QRAlg2AJ980gKqeooTe93+UrhXsIC/8rQ37wCfcg/k WsKlT2k/UCDd5PGNRjVICTk= =bz+S -END PGP SIGNATURE- how about one of these mac keyboards by logitech? http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard_mice_combos/devices/158cl=gb,en === Farran Lee I'm only 15 :-P attachment: smiley-10.png-- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] gracenote
can gracenote be connected to rhythmbox to download track info in any way? the one it uses at the moment doesn't always return the right info, and there isn't much there anyway. I'd like the whole ID3 tag filled in, not just the basic stuff :/ Sorry, I'm awkward. - (is that spelt right?) thanks === Farran Lee I'm only 15 :-P attachment: smiley-10.pngattachment: smiley-9.png-- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] keyboards
On Fri, 2008-09-05 at 17:37 +0100, Farran wrote: On Tue, 2008-09-02 at 10:31 +0100, Stephen O'Neill wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Sean Miller wrote: What is quite useful is a wireless keyboard. Got some Logitech one that is invaluable if giving presentations etc. where the laptop needs to be close to a projector and I'm in front. A few places I have worked in have had those things, and wireless mice ... however whenever I needed to use them the batteries were running out and everything seemed a bit haywire as a result. Not my greatest anecdote, but there you go. - -- Stephen O'Neill w: http://www.thefloatingfrog.co.uk/ e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFIvQf/J+Auntu1v4QRAlg2AJ980gKqeooTe93+UrhXsIC/8rQ37wCfcg/k WsKlT2k/UCDd5PGNRjVICTk= =bz+S -END PGP SIGNATURE- how about one of these mac keyboards by logitech? http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard_mice_combos/devices/158cl=gb,en === Farran Lee I'm only 15 :-P okay I've decided to go with one of these two - http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard_mice_combos/devices/134cl=gb,en (diNovo non-bluetooth) or http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard_mice_combos/devices/3072cl=gb,en (wave). Apparently the mac one isn't very good, and I'm not in a position to be sending it back if I could just pick another one :) === Farran Lee I'm only 15 :-P attachment: smiley-10.pngattachment: smiley-3.pngattachment: smiley-10.png-- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu Windows Dual Boot
Ok strange question but i have a ubuntu system that is running only ubuntu, and i could do with doing a dual install with windows, however i am not keen to have to format. I really need the dual boot with windows for performance reasons on this project and am struggling to think of a way to do it without messing up my MBR etc.. does anyone have any ideas, a backup and restore from my current install would be a possibility if anyone has any good ideas for doing that. Thanks, Andrew. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] keyboards
2008/9/1 Farran [EMAIL PROTECTED] hi all [image: :D] has anyone got any suggestions for a new keyboard? I've got a horrendously old one, and i'm looking to replace it. i know a lot of shortcut buttons, for example, don't always work, and i don't know which keyboards are good anyway, so i was wondering if anybody could help me? I stumbled across Cherry a while ago with their Linux keyboard. having a little difficulty finding the page where they sell it, but i've seen a couple of pages where people said they were having trouble with it. is it any good? I've been using a coouple of Lenovo ThinkPlus Preferreds (readily available on Amazon) for that last 18 months or so .They're under £20.00 each, but I've yet to experience a sticky key on either of them (unlike virtually every MS keyboard I've owned, and I've owned most of them). Their mechanical action can't rival that of the old pre-membrane IBM monsters, and they have become a little clattery (in both a mechanical and aural sense), but crucially, I can hit any key from any angle without that nagging concern that it's going to jam if I come in from too shallow an angle (Microsoft Natural Keyboard - go the the back of the class!). The action of each key is predictable and there's a decent amount of key travle and tactile feedback, especially by today's standards. Oh, and they come with a detachable wrist-rest, USB cable and in a nice shade of anti-kitchenware black. Summary: they become a little clattery with use, but this doesn't affect their fundamental mechanical action and they are the cheapest acceptable-quality keyboards I've ever used. Roger -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
