From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B8848138010 for ; Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:14:15 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id B6F93E0886; Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:14:06 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-wg0-f43.google.com (mail-wg0-f43.google.com [74.125.82.43]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 330E1E0849 for ; Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:14:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-wg0-f43.google.com with SMTP id f12so1224202wgh.34 for ; Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:14:03 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=x-received:message-id:date:from:user-agent:mime-version:to:subject :references:in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=clTOfc2rZ9ATBzy+QIQ09JfMqxNXxQJ9KFBl20j1Xm8=; b=m9rxXEqalwtdBCP4F4x7H5NCSCQ8441PmC7ih4oyzzyRvQrNgeHZD3oXkE0K8xa7N/ smWySmkT5e6d9+k1W7d3vrL2PAB6wsq6NMMLwatKHfcjAYwASPIu/OY2foOBJxyWY8k+ TsnuN1tJEcqVFAV2cw+WteBazAvATIKLplErtDE2KTdc4KE2ISKkz4hv3tF+j5lo5UUh 68xf2MEFWMYYc77HUJKrx9ACmv9BPs3OSpQrkBvzKkjt0JDptcWaIBPVR4P2C+aMDz83 /9Z8zAp04ReNjryiTgQUY3UlN+QiXTouV+dRHrshOvr7EDFYnVWbpX6tRzNyE41jwUMP oi1g== X-Received: by 10.180.181.40 with SMTP id dt8mr3999600wic.17.1364685243761; Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:14:03 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [172.20.0.41] (196-210-114-11.dynamic.isadsl.co.za. [196.210.114.11]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id f1sm6396467wib.0.2013.03.30.16.14.01 (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:14:02 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <51577120.1040706@gmail.com> Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2013 01:11:28 +0200 From: Alan McKinnon User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20130309 Thunderbird/17.0.4 Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Current Dells and UEFI/secureboot (or other showstoppers)? References: <20130330042007.GA5613@waltdnes.org> <9876D58A-34C1-4C51-B500-F9E269C08EAC@stellar.eclipse.co.uk> <20130330222051.GA6697@waltdnes.org> In-Reply-To: <20130330222051.GA6697@waltdnes.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Archives-Salt: 3b28edb9-ddab-4ffe-ac66-7af218624a0f X-Archives-Hash: 4bdcc1b3ddef70377703c8f84142ba37 On 31/03/2013 00:20, Walter Dnes wrote: > On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 05:39:15PM +0000, Stroller wrote >> >> Decide whether or not you need a new PC and make a new post - >> UEFI/secureboot is irrelevant to poor YouTube performance. > > I may not have been as clear as I wanted to be. With the increase in > my download speed, the bottleneck to Youtube/etc performance is now my > PC. I *HAVE* decided to replace it. The only question is with what. > > As per the subject line, I'm asking if current Dells have any > showstoppers for Gentoo. If not, I'll probably go with a Dell. My > usage patterns may be different from yours, but Dells have lasted more > years for me than other brands or custom-built machines. > I don't know what your budget is, but if you can afford a Precision, buy a Precision. I'll give you some numbers. We are 1600 staff in the company, more than half are entitled to laptops. Low level staff are "encouraged" to get HPs and mid-level Dell's. More senior staff can basically get any model they want up to a maximum price (which is very generous). Two models are popular: Precision M4700 - over 50 bought so far Whatever Apple thingie Apple sells today The procurement guy won't tell me failure numbers for Apple (he's embarrassed). For the Dells, zero maintenance callouts for failure. To break them, you have to drop them or hit them or stand on them to break them. This one of mine is an M4600, the previous model. It's 15 months old and has given me zero issues just like the 5 Dells before it in a row :-) Same for the wife's (she got one too) The few fellows that got the 17" M6700 range reckon it is actually too big and heavy, stick with the 15" models. Gentoo installs on this one just fine, I use it in BIOS mode, but UEFI works great. I switched back simply because I don't fully grok UEFI and BIOS is familiar ground. All the other Linux users report the same results, including those who bought the XPS range. Two tips though: Don't upsize a Precision to an optical slot drive, stick with the standard tray (dodgy discs stick inside and cause woes). Get the larger 9 cell battery, the 6 cell sucks on battery life -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckinnon@gmail.com