November 24th, 2008
Netbooks + Ubuntu: On fence about form factor; OS solid
Last week, I bought a Dell Mini 9 preloaded with Ubuntu. The idea: Check out a netbook and take Ubuntu for a spin. The early reaction: Netbooks can be handy, but they can also cramp your hands with those dinky keyboards. And aside from some early problems with connecting to my wireless network Ubuntu has proven to be a capable operating system.
First the form factor. Dell’s Mini is a tale of tradeoffs. I brought it to Starbucks and tucked it into the pocket of my heavy winter coat–it has been about 30ish on the east coast. It’s light and would be easily carried wherever you needed to go. And I didn’t feel like the Mini crimped my computing style–I spend most of my time in Firefox anyway. The keyboard, however, just doesn’t agree with me. Ultimately, I’ll probably plug it into a keyboard and monitor for any task beyond generic browsing and email checking.
I also discovered that Dell’s customer service was pretty decent. As Jason Perlow noted over the weekend, I went to Jason first for Ubuntu help. I wanted the Mini to work right out of the box and Ubuntu delivered–except for the wireless connection (click to enlarge Dell’s opening Ubuntu screen). Jason walked me through an upgrade, which I did just for the experience and Dell customer service gave me the tip that I had to specify that the wireless connection was 64/128 bit instead of just 128 bit. On XP and Mac OS X this wireless connection navigation just happens. I don’t care to–or want to know–about the mumbo jumbo in the background. I just want it to work.
Here’s the IM transcript to show my initial reaction (edited to take out a little bit of profanity):
dignan (1:55:41 PM) : hey I need help
dignan (1:55:47 PM) : I got a dell mini with ubuntu
dignan (1:55:55 PM) : and the thing will not accept my WEP key
dignan (1:56:04 PM) : netbook without net equals doorstop
perlow (1:56:06 PM) : is it the latest ubuntu
dignan (1:56:11 PM) : I don’t know
perlow (1:56:11 PM) : or the older one
dignan (1:56:13 PM) : I think so
perlow (1:56:20 PM) : I doubt its the latest
perlow (1:56:29 PM) : Ubuntu 8.10 is not even a month old
perlow (1:56:49 PM) : they made a ton of wireless improvements in the new
version
perlow (1:57:01 PM) : does the thing have regular internet connectivity
dignan (1:57:04 PM) : well I’m about to send this thing back
perlow (1:57:08 PM) : thru an ethernet port
perlow (1:57:12 PM) : so we can update it?
dignan (1:57:12 PM) : yeah
perlow (1:57:35 PM) : what kind of encryption do you use at home
perlow (1:57:39 PM) : regular WEP?
perlow (1:57:46 PM) : you should probably be using WPA-2
dignan (1:58:00 PM) : let me try that
perlow (1:58:00 PM) : WEP can be cracked by a total amateur 12 year old
perlow (1:58:12 PM) : you need to set your router to WPA2-PSK
dignan (1:58:24 PM) : i’m not doing all that right now
dignan (1:58:28 PM) : I want to set it up once
dignan (1:58:34 PM) : so I walk in and poof it’s there
perlow (1:59:29 PM) : I have no experience with the netbook edition of ubuntu or
what the hell dell did to customize it
perlow (1:59:36 PM) : if you can pull up a prompt
dignan (1:59:43 PM) : so it picked up the Ethernet easy enough
perlow (1:59:50 PM) : and type in
perlow (1:59:56 PM) : sudo apt-get update
perlow (2:00:03 PM) : and then sudo apt-get upgrade
dignan (2:00:08 PM) : I missed the first one
perlow (2:00:09 PM) : after it finishes the update
dignan (2:00:16 PM) : where does that type in
perlow (2:00:27 PM) : should be under accessories as terminal
dignan (2:00:42 PM) : terminal right
perlow (2:00:47 PM) : you can also try ctrl-alt-f1 if it was actually a PC
perlow (2:00:53 PM) : that would bring you to a command line
perlow (2:01:07 PM) : so if terminal is there
perlow (2:01:16 PM) : I would sudo apt-get update
perlow (2:01:22 PM) : then sudo apt-get upgrade
perlow (2:01:30 PM) : after it finishes the patches
perlow (2:01:33 PM) : reboot the box
perlow (2:01:38 PM) : and try your wireless again
perlow (2:01:43 PM) : if THAT does not work
perlow (2:01:49 PM) : we can do a apt-get dist upgrade
dignan (2:01:59 PM) : it’s updating now
perlow (2:02:02 PM) : which will bring you to ubuntu 8.10 assuming they have a
netbook version
perlow (2:02:14 PM) : after the update you do sudo apt-get upgrade
perlow (2:02:23 PM) : that downloads the packages and installs them
dignan (2:02:26 PM) : says now reading package lists done
perlow (2:02:29 PM) : the update just updates the database
perlow (2:02:37 PM) : sudo apt-get upgrade now
dignan (2:03:26 PM) : typed in yes and it’s doing a bunch of stuff
perlow (2:03:32 PM) : good
perlow (2:03:47 PM) : it should download a ton and patch it to the latest level
of 8.04
perlow (2:03:51 PM) : thats heron
perlow (2:04:00 PM) : the latest PC version is 8.10 or ibex
perlow (2:04:07 PM) : I dont think they did a netbook one yet
dignan (2:04:26 PM) : so now I have system restart
perlow (2:04:31 PM) : yes
dignan (2:04:49 PM) : now here’s the deal
dignan (2:04:56 PM) : if you weren’t around I’d be screwed
dignan (2:05:03 PM) : how could you leave that wireless stuff out
perlow (2:05:08 PM) : well, doesnt Dell support its products
dignan (2:05:22 PM) : well yeah, but they wouldn’t walk me through that in 10
minutes
perlow (2:05:24 PM) : this is not some thing you downloaded, you bought it
from Dell as an ubuntu unit
perlow (2:05:30 PM) : well, that IS a column
perlow (2:05:38 PM) : if dell cant support it’s a major issue
dignan (2:05:52 PM) : but the point is I didn’t call
perlow (2:05:54 PM) : first lets see if the wireless works after we updated
dignan (2:06:05 PM) : I’ll take out the ethernet
perlow (2:06:19 PM) : how old is your router
perlow (2:06:31 PM) : if its a 3 year old linksys you might need to update your
firmware
perlow (2:06:57 PM) : to make a lot of wireless crap in my house work, I had to
buy a new router
perlow (2:07:05 PM) : the older linksys doesn’t cut it
dignan (2:07:15 PM) : mine is dlink
dignan (2:07:20 PM) : whatever verizon gave me
dignan (2:07:31 PM) : fios
perlow (2:07:35 PM) : oh for fios
perlow (2:07:44 PM) : so its gotta be brand new then
perlow (2:07:47 PM) : you cant touch it
perlow (2:07:50 PM) : its provider equipment
dignan (2:07:59 PM) : right year old
dignan (2:08:06 PM) : asking me for wep key again
perlow (2:08:12 PM) : can you update the firmware on it or do they do this
automatically
perlow (2:08:15 PM) : so plug in the wep
perlow (2:08:26 PM) : now, what format are you plugging the wep in
perlow (2:08:40 PM) : you cutting and pasting from what you have in the router
config screen?
dignan (2:08:55 PM) : Wep 128-bit passphrase
perlow (2:10:08 PM) : did it take the key?
dignan (2:10:29 PM) : still not taking it
dignan (2:10:36 PM) : the macbook downstairs takes it
dignan (2:10:40 PM) : and so does the laptop
dignan (2:10:43 PM) : on xp
perlow (2:11:01 PM) : before you throw this thing away
perlow (2:11:03 PM) : I would call dell
perlow (2:11:07 PM) : make them help you
perlow (2:11:32 PM) : I will say this, that the ASUS netbooks are very well
integrated
dignan (2:12:20 PM) : calling now
perlow (2:12:20 PM) : lets try one more thing
perlow (2:12:26 PM) : well
perlow (2:12:27 PM) : call them
dignan (2:12:29 PM) : sure
perlow (2:12:32 PM) : if that STILL doesnt work
perlow (2:12:39 PM) : we’ll do a dist-upgrade
dignan (2:12:47 PM) : k
perlow (2:12:56 PM) : if dell cant make it work we’ll do the dist-upgrade
perlow (2:13:04 PM) : but I would still return it and get an asus
perlow (2:13:19 PM) : also the sylvania unit is supposed to be very nice
dignan (2:13:25 PM) : I can go to toys r us and get one
perlow (2:13:32 PM) : exactly
perlow (2:13:36 PM) : for what, 269 bucks?
perlow (2:13:42 PM) : the Asus uses Xandros
perlow (2:14:04 PM) : which is a very windows-like linux that was specially
customized for the netbook
dignan (2:15:44 PM) : going to india
dignan (2:17:08 PM) : she seems ok (Ed note: I had an offshore debacle with HP
on printer support two weeks ago so someone offshore with a clue was greatly appreciated)
dignan (2:17:25 PM) : but between my lenovo
dignan (2:17:26 PM) : and this
dignan (2:17:31 PM) : I’ve had it
perlow (2:17:32 PM) : I hear ya
perlow (2:17:51 PM) : dell should not be rolling out products that arent ready
for prime time
perlow (2:18:11 PM) : ASUS spent a lot of time and effort on the eeePC to make
the thing work right
perlow (2:18:32 PM) : you dont just throw ubuntu on a netbook reference hardware
and expect consumers to be able to use it
dignan (2:19:16 PM) : this needs to just work
perlow (2:19:24 PM) : totally
perlow (2:19:46 PM) : If apple did a netbook in the 400 dollar price point
they would rule
perlow (2:19:53 PM) : with ipod OS
perlow (2:20:01 PM) : iphone OS, whatever
dignan (2:21:53 PM) : ok got connected
perlow (2:22:00 PM) : what was wrong
dignan (2:22:03 PM) : 64-128 hex code
perlow (2:22:07 PM) : jesus
dignan (2:22:13 PM) : instead of 128
perlow (2:22:21 PM) : still, that should be addressed by the software
perlow (2:22:35 PM) : Dell should have caught that in product development
perlow (2:23:07 PM) : I mean if you cut and paste a code, the software should be
able to try it both ways
perlow (2:23:14 PM) : and get you on
perlow (2:23:37 PM) : your average consumer has no idea what the difference
between a 64-bit and 128-bit hash is
perlow (2:23:45 PM) : or even hexadecimal
dignan (2:23:51 PM) : nope that said the service was ok
dignan (2:24:26 PM) : it just connects now
perlow (2:24:54 PM) : you didnt change your distro
perlow (2:25:10 PM) : all you did was a manual step that you could have gotten
via the software update utility in the menus
perlow (2:25:17 PM) : but I wanted to ensure that you did it
perlow (2:25:31 PM) : and the only way I knew you could do it for sure is via
the prompt
dignan (2:26:04 PM) : yeah
perlow (2:26:44 PM) : I think the greater issue here is while Dell’s tech
support is OK, did they do enough customization of the OS to prevent mass returns
by frustrated end users
perlow (2:26:56 PM) : and is their product more friendly than Asus
perlow (2:27:03 PM) : if the answer to both is no
perlow (2:27:08 PM) : then dell has more work to do
dignan (2:27:31 PM) : it’s interesting though, I only bought this thing to try
ubuntu
dignan (2:27:41 PM) : and see if fantasy football and other stuff works
dignan (2:27:46 PM) : like my streaming quotes
dignan (2:27:47 PM) : etc
perlow (2:29:19 PM) : well, from a customer perspective
perlow (2:29:30 PM) : people dont buy netbooks to try ubuntu
perlow (2:29:35 PM) : they dont know what ubuntu is
perlow (2:29:48 PM) : you know what ubuntu is
dignan (2:29:48 PM) : yeah but it is a prominent choice in checkout
dignan (2:29:55 PM) : and it’s cheaper
dignan (2:30:03 PM) : so i bet some folks wind up with it that shouldn’t
perlow (2:30:05 PM) : when you buy this thing
perlow (2:30:21 PM) : what exactly does it say, Linux OS, user friendly, etc?
dignan (2:30:28 PM) : it’s an experiment
perlow (2:30:29 PM) : or does it say “Netbook with ubuntu”
dignan (2:31:08 PM) :
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhsST=dell%20mini%209%20(exact)&dgc=ST&cid=34900&lid=871959
dignan (2:33:17 PM) : so you can detour to ubuntu easily
dignan (2:33:25 PM) : I’m going to give it a few days
dignan (2:33:35 PM) : my hands are too damn fat for this keyboard though
So after that relatively rough start, I’m getting used to the Dell Mini. I’m comfortable with Ubuntu, opened Word documents and tackled generic tasks easily. I’m still the fence about the netbook form factor and whether you need a device that fills a niche between the laptop and the smartphone. Stay tuned.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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