Apple Macbook or Dell Inspiron 1520 for Ubuntu ?

I have the exact same macbook and it works really well. I dual boot osx and 64bit feisty, 80gb each. There's a wiki that goes over how to set things up. It took me about 2 hours to get everything working.

If you have any specific questions ask away. Only annoying issue is that if you plan to use dual screens you can't use desktop compositing like beryl or compiz. Dual screens work great in osx. Also, the dvi out goes up to 1920x1200.

Go Mac. You could even triple boot, that way.

well, technically you can triple boot on a dell as well.... just saying.

but that said, i think dell makes more sense...you are getting better hardware for less money. just seems obvious, no fuss no crap. a better computer for the price. whereas dell itself installs ubuntu on those things then they must have made all the hardware on it ubuntu-friendly, if anything i am sure you call em up and ask for details.

Well I will throw this out there...

The ONLY reason I reccomend Dell these days is to get the 24hr Onsite Warranty. They do not make great quality and haven't in a while. I give them credit for making the step to support Linux though, but at this point I think based on straight quality, and no promise from either of Linux support for what you are getting, you will be better off with the MacBook. Get the warranty if you can in either case, but especially with the Dell.

Seablade

Heh heh. True. *snicker*

You know, Seablade, I'm a Apple fan and have several Macs around the house. Had a MB for about six months and loved it - when the damn thing worked properly. In the end, my beloved MB gave me so much trouble, I returned it to Apple (under warranty) and paid the difference in price in order to upgrade to a MBP and be rid of all the problems. The only machine I've ever had from Apple (the list would include a few notebooks, a MacPro, ACD's, and several iPods)which turned out to be a lemon was the MB. IMHO, the MB doesn't rise to Apple's usual high quality standards. So, I guess I have to disagree, based on personal experience with the MB, that the OP will necessarily be better off with the Mac. I've also owned a few Dells and never had any problems with them that weren't software/bloatware related, though Dell's service was awful in my experience.

i have both a dell and a macbook, and from my experience i have to say that the build quality of the mac is far superior to dell. macbooks have a more solid feel to them than the dells i have used, and with the exception of a faulty bluetooth cable in my mac, i haven't had any issues with it, which is more than i can say for my dell (it should be noted that i had to replace the bluetooth module in the XPS as well) but if your going to get better specs for less money with dell, and have no plans on using mac OS, then i would go with the 1520. make sure you get a warranty though

If you're just going to run Linux, get the Dell.

It's a waste to buy a Mac just to run Linux since OS X is *nix based and can pretty much do all the same stuff and it can run mainstream software at the same time.

That's ok, my Wife's MB is still going strong

Seablade

Kakaze you really don't want to get me started on how much Mac tries to hide its *nix underpinnings.

While it is *nix based, it is most certainly NOT Linux. I have been very strongly considering putting Linux on my powerbook for that very reason, but instead have fought to get the same functionality out of my Mac OS, and have come close now, but am still not there.

From a sys-admin standpoint, Mac OS has a severe shortcoming that Windows does as well. In order to do anything even somewhat advanced or that they don't want you to normally be able to do, even thoguh it is quite capable, you jump through TONS of hoops to do it. Linux on the other hand is very simple to do it.

Personally I DESPISE the Mac OS Aqua look and feel. I also despise the single button mouse that apple insists on, but that is another topic. If it were up to me, I would run my Mac OS with X11 fullscreen, and a rootless Aqua. Unfortunately that is not exactly possible thanks to how apple programmed things. Also unfortunately I can't just run X11 fullscreen as people like Mozilla apparently decided that they didn't want to support X11 Firefox on a mac and I really don't feel like doing the hacking involved to support it. The vast majority of my apps I use are x11 based, but X11 and Aqua do not play well together when doing anything other than their quartz wm.

Hmm ok maybe it was a small rant, I could go MUCH longer trust me

Mac OS X is NOT Linux. And I do not mean that in a good way for Mac OS X.

Seablade

I know OS X isn't Linux, Seablade...it's Unix.

I don't use X11 or *nix apps on OS X so I can't say anything towards your rant. But, if the OP wants to use the occasional Linux app it would be much better for ver to run OS X as ve would get the capabilities of a mainstream OS with the ability to run a large number of the OSS software running around out there.

Which brings me back to my argument that if the OP is intent on running just Linux that ve would be better off with the Dell as running only Linux would negate any of the benefits of buying a Mac.

I actually agree with seablade 100%. It's been really frustrating trying to get my linux apps working well. A big part of it is that I don't know OSX very well yet, but to say Linux is useless on a macbook is such an ignorant statement.

First off you're getting standardized hardware so the machine is VERY well supported. Every component (that I know of) is supported. Even the webcam and suspend work perfectly. The video drivers are the opensource intel drivers so compositing effects are flawless. I need OSX at work for development and boot into Linux in my spare time.

The issue with dual monitors is a limitation in X, it's not an intel issue. The 3d effects cannot be enabled with spanned dual screens. That's the only thing bugging me because I want to get a high def 23" display.

As far as build quality goes, it seems very good to me. It's the best keyboard I've ever used, but people have mixed feelings on that. The issue apple's manufacturer has had is that the morons that assemble the machines don't know how to apply thermal grease. So some machines have thermal issues. Wifi works fine with madwifi, my external 1280x1024 lcd works with a modded xorg, battery life is very good, but better in osx. I hear the Gusty kernel is a big improvement for batter life.

Don't forget some of the unique macbook features... You get the magnetic ac adapter so there's no wear and tear on the power plug. The ac adapter is tiny. The LCD is led backlit so it's 100% bright instantly and will not fade over time. The integrated audio capabilities are very impressive.

I think it's perfectly justifiable to run linux solely on a macbook. If you're a student you can also get a free ipod, printer and discount on applecare. If you live near a state with no sales tax (DE anyone?), you can get another 7% taken off.

I bought the mac because I needed OSX, but I do use linux more. I'm sure the dell would be fine too, but I haven't used it so I couldn't say.

Kakaze... Actually Mac OS X isn't unix, it is a combination of Mach and BSD, but I think we have been through this before. At any rate, digging out the BSD underpinning of it is like pulling your own teeth. Quick example I ran into yesterday... hdiutil, according to its man page is a BSD util to handle disk images. Except Apple doesn't ship it for anything but their server setup. I am still working on trying to find another source for it to be honest, as certain programing libs (libcdio) depend on it to eject disks. In the meantime I coded a crap function in to some software I am working with the programmers to port to OS X (Aqualung for those of us here, DOES compile and run well, except ejecting CDs, still working on that that uses the Carbon framework to eject the disc. Except I now have to load in the carbon framework for ONE function, because Apple doesn't want to ship a BSD utility with their standard version of their OS. All that aside... Later section of that aside, that isn't the 'occasional' app. That is most apps he wants is how I am reading this. Most apps in Linux run under X11. For anyone who spends a decent amount of time in X11, Apple is nowhere close to it, and getting it back to its BSD foundings to run said programs is a pain in the arse. Now in as far as which to purchase, Linux runs on both, and most people here have a higher opinion of the build quality of the MB than the Dell, so why exactly would he not get a MB? The extra pay is for the build quality more than anything IMO, the OS is very secondary. Just because it runs OS X certainly doesn't mean it won't run Linux just as well or bette rthan the Dell, that depends on the HW support, which I can't speak on myself. Seablade Who can go on MUCH longer on this topic

Won't ever happen in a way Apple like, but if they carried over Mac on Linux(Development restarted not to long ago I believe) to Intel Platforms and had it nicely supported, I would do that in a HEARTBEAT.

Otherwise I hope VMWare accidently "forgets" to remove the ability to run Apple at some point I will buy the machines for the build quality, still undecided on the desktops as I build my own that are superb quality(No ego there at all but the laptops I find some of the better quality out there.

Seablade

I don't feel like getting into a debate.

Anyway, hdiutil is on my computer and I don't have OS X Server. And you can use drutil to eject disks.

Where did you find hdiutil and what version of OS X are you running? Saves me a LOT of trouble.

Seablade

basically when i am getting out of it apple is like "hey look at our os. because its based on unix it gotta be more secure than windex" but when it comes down to the roots of it, that is simply a marketing ploy and in real life its about as much unix as vista is dos. if you want unix/bsd/linux on your mac...actually install linux/bsd/unix on your mac, not kill yourself with osx.

that said, if osx (and its "unix-ness") is apples biggest marketing ploy, shouldn't i as an educated consumer buy a pc that gives me more hardware for the money and simply install unix on it.

Not actually, it DOES have much more to do with Unix than Vista does. But really it is more along the lines of, what can we use from Unix to make us better while giving a minimal back to them, and minimal is probably being generous. That said, don't get me wrong, there are people that I will wholeheartedly reccomend OS X for, mainly Windows users that don't want to deal with Linux, or can't deal with Linux. But OS X tries VERY hard to remove most of the choice that is good about BSD or Linux. It takes what it can use, hides any possible choice associated with it as deep as they can, so they can force their 'experience' on you. As I have said in the past, this is good for many people new to unix, as they get confused by the choice, however for anyone that wants choice, OS X does not provide that ability in its typical use. Seablade