How has your Inspiron 530N experience been?

[Ms_Angel_D]

I'm considering purchasing one, but before I do I would like to hear about others experiences with this system.

Thanks in advance,
Angel

[gbrainin]

I've had one--well, two in my house--since they first came out. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. Pretty much everything "just works," and on those rare occasions where something didn't, the solution has been fairly easy to find.

The hardware options keep changing over time, so I can't say that today's 530 is exactly the same as mine, but there are certainly no strange issues like some of the laptops have had. If you take a look at the Dell Linux Wiki (http://linux.dell.com/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_8.04), you'll see that there is only one issue listed for the 530, and that one is only an issue if you are upgrading the OS from a previous version or trying to dual-boot with windows.

It's not a lightning-fast, top-of-the-line computer, but it's snazzy.

If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer, if I can.

[andybleaden]

i have one and am luvin it...works a dream and I put kubuntu flavour on my pre installed one

[floborg]

Well, I'm not thrilled with the keyboard. It has no extra space around the keys like most do.

It's much quieter than the machine it replaced. There are times, however, when it sounds like one of the fans is rattling inside. Not sure if there's a real problem there.

The optical drive seems pretty flimsy. It functions, but I haven't tried to burn anything yet.

The Ubuntu install comes with all sorts of language packs you probably won't need. Also, there's some apt issue with the Dell repository for kernel updates that will prevent those from being authenticated. It's kind of annoying.

Be prepared to talk to an Indian if you ever call support.

[andybleaden]

I found calling Dell support very helpful actually and their English is better than most of the help lies over here in the UK ;)

My drive works 100% ( bought 2)

It is quiet after the initial burst of energy when it starts and the ati radeon 2400 it came with has been a pain...I use kubuntu and have struggled to upgrade to 8:10 with kde4.1 or use compiz effects

[TeeBird]

Mine is working well now. I tried to use studio for a while and then go to 8.10 but that didn't fly, so I reinstalled from the Dell image and am ok again. ATI card; no real problem there in 8.04. I need to go to the realtime kernel eventually but I might dual boot for that to keep everything happy. I got an m audio delta 44 card for recording but found that the user audio is happier with the intel sound. Jack likes the delta 44 though.

I had a wireless stick working before the 8.10 try; am wired now. Might try the stick again when I get around to it.

Evolution email is getting to be a pain. Large outgoing emails get stuck, it deletes everything from my pop account no matter the setting; crashes sometimes. I think I'll try Tbird.

[andybleaden]

well you have to go with what works I guess and 8.04 still works for me. I use kubuntu so use kontact instead of evolution..used to use thunderbird which was very good

[RGPerson]

My experience has not been so good. We didn't have sound when we first set it up. I ran the updates that were available for Ubuntu. That might have done it. Anyway Dell support was terrible. Dell customer service was pretty terrible, too. And the site if you want to buy it online is confusing. Be warned. It does not come with speakers (well, mine did anyway, but they wouldn't support them saying it didn't). If you click the Customize link, you won't see it as an option. Until you click Software. How speakers or a surge protector are software is beyond me.

Presently, our computer is working fine for the most part. We found a fix to our problem and told Dell tech support how we did it so maybe they can help others in the future. We haven't tried to burn any CDs yet. But we do get sound. We can even get the sound through our TV. What we can't get right now is video to our TV. We added a PCIe Diamond Radeon 4550 HD video card and bought a DVI to HDMI adaptor, but we're not getting any picture on the TV. So we still have to keep the monitor hooked up to the VGA port until we get this solved.

Gabrielle

[BigSilly]

Out of interest, are you generally a Linux person Gabrielle? Hope you don't mind me asking.

I'm about *this close* to buying an Ubuntu Dell 530 desktop. I really like the spec (mostly), and the missus has been really happy with her Dell Ubuntu laptop (1525) so I'm really leaning towards them now. I wanted to ask though - this PC comes with 8.04, and I'd really like to stick the latest Ubuntu on it, being Intrepid of course. What have your experiences been with the Dell 530 and Intrepid 8.10?

Thanks all.

[superm1]

My experience has not been so good. We didn't have sound when we first set it up. I ran the updates that were available for Ubuntu. That might have done it. Anyway Dell support was terrible. Dell customer service was pretty terrible, too. And the site if you want to buy it online is confusing. Be warned. It does not come with speakers (well, mine did anyway, but they wouldn't support them saying it didn't). If you click the Customize link, you won't see it as an option. Until you click Software. How speakers or a surge protector are software is beyond me.

Presently, our computer is working fine for the most part. We found a fix to our problem and told Dell tech support how we did it so maybe they can help others in the future. We haven't tried to burn any CDs yet. But we do get sound. We can even get the sound through our TV. What we can't get right now is video to our TV. We added a PCIe Diamond Radeon 4550 HD video card and bought a DVI to HDMI adaptor, but we're not getting any picture on the TV. So we still have to keep the monitor hooked up to the VGA port until we get this solved.

Gabrielle
Hi Gabrielle:

Did you purchase it preloaded with Ubuntu? This would be quite shocking if it didn't work OOTB.

[superm1]

Out of interest, are you generally a Linux person Gabrielle? Hope you don't mind me asking.

I'm about *this close* to buying an Ubuntu Dell 530 desktop. I really like the spec (mostly), and the missus has been really happy with her Dell Ubuntu laptop (1525) so I'm really leaning towards them now. I wanted to ask though - this PC comes with 8.04, and I'd really like to stick the latest Ubuntu on it, being Intrepid of course. What have your experiences been with the Dell 530 and Intrepid 8.10?

Thanks all.
There shouldn't be any large gaping problems on 8.10. As I've seen, even suspend works.

[RGPerson]

Hi Gabrielle:

Did you purchase it preloaded with Ubuntu? This would be quite shocking if it didn't work OOTB.

Yes, it was preloaded with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. It has an onboard video card. We put the new Diamond Radeon (bought separately) in before even turning it on. We also added 4GB of ram. Other than that, it's what they sent.

Gabrielle

[BigSilly]

There shouldn't be any large gaping problems on 8.10. As I've seen, even suspend works.

That's fantastic, thanks. To be honest, I didn't imagine there'd be any problems, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I recently popped Intrepid onto the 1525 laptop (which came with Gutsy 7.10 pre-installed) and it was a breeze, so the 530 shouldn't have any issues hopefully.

The Dell seems to be the best deal for Linux, so I'll be ordering it soon. Can't wait! :biggrin:

[superm1]

Yes, it was preloaded with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. It has an onboard video card. We put the new Diamond Radeon (bought separately) in before even turning it on. We also added 4GB of ram. Other than that, it's what they sent.

Gabrielle
Are you referring to the audio off the graphics card then? HDMI audio is a different ball game. The mixers may have been a little low for the onboard, but that's just to make sure that no speakers get blown.

Can you elaborate on the sound issues then?

[Carolsrn]

I have had a 530 since Aug 2008. Until I installed 8.10 everything seemed fine. However in the past month I have had multiple bouts of the screen freezing while using simple graphics prgrams such as card games. I have made multiple calls to Dell"s tech lines. I was finally instructed to reinstall 8.10 & all would be well. It wasn't & the next tech. person instructed me to reinstall 8.04 & all would be well. It wasn't. It was clearly a problem with the hardware and finally someone is to come out next week to replace whatever is needed. I have limited tech abilities & have found this experience extremely frustrating & did finally get a supervisor to whom I complained about the 2-3 week hassle that I have been through. Just for info for anyone purchasing a new system.