Dell Inspiron 17R (7720)
This laptop is my primary laptop. I use it pretty much on a daily basis for just about everything.
Pros: Lots of RAM (8GB + video memory). Nice screen 1920 x 1080; 17″. 10-key on the keyboard Intel i7 processor which includes the Virtualization features (makes a big difference)
Cons: Nvidia discrete graphics card (bumblebee gets it to work but with much pain).
Current OS: Ubuntu 12.04
Details (installations, etc)
Dell Inspiron 1721
I have retired this laptop. The screen seems to have quit working, but I think it might be a driver issue. It is now performing light duty as my wife’s computer for checking email and such.
Pros: Lots of RAM (4GB, which at the time that I bought it was about the most you could get in a laptop). Nice screen 1440 x 900; 17″. 10-key keypad.
Cons: Broadcom wireless (actually has worked quite well in recent versions of Ubuntu), Intel Core 2 Duo chip doesn’t have Virtualization features (won’t let me do multiple processors in VBox or 64-bit guests in VMWare).
Current OS: Ubuntu 12.04
Details (installations, etc)
My Server
I don’t exactly know what to call this computer. I assembled it from parts at Comp USA, so it doesn’t really have a brand name. It doubles as a desktop in our den and a server that supports a few small household tasks.
Pros: Cheap, has been running for a while now.
Cons: It’s maxed out at 2GB RAM, something’s wrong with the hard drive and it doesn’t boot on the first attempt.
Current OS: Ubuntu 12.04
Details (installations, etc)