THanks mfillpot for your reply. I was thinking about Fedora, but I heard from various people Fedora isn't good for beginners. Do you think for a first time linux users that Fedora is better than Ubuntu?

Hi Goineasy9,

I know I'm happy to see Linux.com back up! However, it seems like the traffic very lown on the site. I know you guys are still tweaking the functions of the site, but maybe once your done, you could send out an email to all of the members notifying them that the site is back up and running. I know I almost gave up on checking the site because it was down for so long, maybe some others gave up as well and the email could be a good way to bring them back. Idk... it's just a thought.

Welcome back!

Good Afternoon All!

So, I finally bought a new machine!!! After a lot of research, I decided that a Dell XPS 15 laptop was what I wanted. I would of liked to buy another mac, but they're way too expensive. I've heard some really great things about Linux but before I installed just any distro, I thought I should try and figure out which distro was right for me. Is it Ubuntu, Fedora, etc? Here are the specs for the computer I bought:

1 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
1 6GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
1 Backlit Internal Keyboard - English
1 15.6HD TLF WLED LCD L50xX
1 NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
1 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, No Media
1 Tray Load Blu-ray Triple Writer (reads and writes CDs, DVDs, BDs)
1 JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
1 Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 and Bluetooth 3.0
1 90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
1 Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student, English
1 2.0MP HD webcam with single digital mic (H.264)
1 Mini DisplayPort (1),
2 USB 3.0
1 USB 2.0 (eSATA/powershare combo)
1 Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45)
1 HDMI 1.4
1 Audio jacks: headphone (2 total) with SPID/F support (1), 1 Mic-in
1 9-in-1 media card reader Supporting SD, SDIO, SDXC, SDHC, MS, MS Pro, MMC, MSXC, xD

My concern is that I want to make sure everything will work and that the distro will be user friendly and intuitive. I also want to make sure the bluetooth, blu-ray player, webcam, etc, all work before I make myself regret what I've done. So, which Linux do you think is right for my hardware? Your thoughts and insight will be very appreciated!

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I was thinking the same thing as you Richard Sims. I'm definitely going to go that route Richard.

I was on the phone with someone from HP and I was asking for an NVIDIA graphics card. He stated that NVIDIA is not compatible with Linux. Is that true?

@arochester Is it easy enough for a novice like myself to install Linux and use it without major problems?

I was looking at the System76 site. It looks like they have nice stuff, but it's still pretty expensive. For example, check out this link to this dell costing $849.99:

http://www.frys.com/product/6661324

If I were to get something that would be similar to the dell, it would be the serval profesional at a cost of $1481.00.
http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=114

For that price, I'm back to where the Apple machines are in price. Although, I'll probably get a lot more bang for my buck w/ the system76.

Maybe I had the wrong impression that Linux was cheaper and better. Maybe it's just better :-) I could always get the Dell and install Linux myself, but having not done that before, I don't want to spend all that money just to break it. :unsure:

Hey guys, this is exactly what I was looking for. Have any of you gotten laptops from here? If you have, what kinds did you get?

Hello Everyone,

I'm currently using a Mac computer, but it's getting old and it's not working with a lot of things out on the web anymore because of its age and computing capability. I'm looking to buy a new laptop and I'm not considering mac because it is so expensive and too much of it is becoming proprietary. Unfortunately, they don't seem to sell laptops without operating systems so that I can load a Linux into it. Does anyone know of good websites where I can buy a reletively inexpensive high quality laptop without all the extra sotware stuff so that I can put linux into it?

I know this probably may not be the best forum for these questions, but I couldn't figure out where I should ask this question. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide!