Wow. Fast.
It’s kinda weird to have something running full speed, and only see half my CPU meter full.
That’s right, folks, daddy’s got a brand new toy. Specifically, a Dell Inspiron 640m:
Here’s the specs:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
14.1 inch WXGA+ 1440×900
2GB DDR2 SDRAM
Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
120GB SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R
Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless
Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX Ethernet
Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter
IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth
This is a huge step up from my previous 1.6GHz Turion (1289×768) in almost every respect, and let me tell you, it’s blazing fast. My compile speeds anywhere from 3 to 5 times faster than the old laptop.
Needless to say, after booting Vista once to make sure the hardware worked (Vista was not particularly impressive; it was slow, and it’s interface was hugely cluttered, even relative to XP), I wiped Vista off and loaded Gentoo. I have to say that I can now officially recommend this laptop to anyone using Linux. Everything in it works flawlessly. (Okay, I haven’t tried the bluetooth yet, but reports say it works great.) Literally the only prorpietary piece of software on the entire system at this point is the ipw3945d that sets the regulatory domain on the wireless, and even that will go once the new driver is available. Bravo Dell and Intel, this laptop is great.
The screen is really pretty, Gnome looks great, and I’m really enjoying the extra real estate.