Hardware question from "fly-over country"

[Dave Woyciesjes]

W. Scott Lockwood III wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> 
> I'm in RURAL SW Missouri. A local used/surplus computer store is offering a
> Dell Latitude D620 (4GB memory, 80GB hard drive, Intel Core Duo @ 2.4 GHz)
> for ~$500. It reportedly has the majority of manufacturer's warranty.
> 
> Any comments on how suitable a Linux platform this would be?
> 
> TIA
> --------------------------------------
> 
> Those are awesome. My D630 is still in use as my wife's primary machine, and
> my D620 is our spare. I was actually much happier with the D series in
> general than I am with the E6410 or E6420, which I'm using now.
> 
> In short, they rock. They Just Work (tm). The only thing I've heard people
> like better is a ThinkPad, but personally, I love me some D630/620 series
> machines.
> 
> 

	The D6xx series are nice, I miss my D620. Good size, nice resolution...

__BUT___

	If it has the nVidia video chip, _keep_it_cool_. There is a flaw, where 
the video chip will cook itself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Latitude#Latitude_D620_problems
	I was using it on a docking station/port replicator (which lifter the 
back a bit, for better airflow) during the workday. At night I had it on 
my lap, for maybe 1.5 hours at a time before shutting down.
	Then, during one class, I had it flat on a hard table, for the 6 hours 
class, running all day. Then the artifacts starting coming in, and other 
odd video issues... Same story with an external monitor hooked up.

If it has the Intel video, you're fine.

-- 
--- Dave Woyciesjes
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--- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/
--- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/
             Registered Linux user number 464583

"Computers have lots of memory but no imagination."
"The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back."
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