Doug Warner

++++Order details * Ordered: 2008.02.04 * Estimated Ship Date: 2008.02.12 * Estimated Delivery Dates: 2008.02.15 - 2008.02.19 * Delivered: 2008.02.11 * Build Price: $1516 * Order Price: $1116 ++++Specs * Latitude D630, Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.20GHz, 800MHz 4M L2 Cache, Dual Core * 14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD * 512MB, DDR2-667 SDRAM * 128MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M * 120GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 7200RPM * Touchpad with UPEK fingerprint reader * Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Module * 8X DVD+/-RW * Intel 4965 WLAN (802.11a/g/n) mini Card * 6-Cell/56 WHr Primary Battery * 3 yr mail-in service warranty ++++Additional Hardware * 2x 2G RAM ([http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208323 Transcend 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667/PC2 5300]) * Dell P-10 AC adaptor * Dell D/Port docking station * Dell D/View laptop stand +++Decision I chose the D630 to get something smaller and lighter than my current HPzt3000CTO. I knew I would be sacrificing screen real estate for that (size and resolution), but through the 4 years I've owned my HP I've wanted something a little more portable, and having an external monitor should make up for the difference. I was originally torn between the Dell Latitude D830 and the Lenovo Thinkpad T61 15.4" as a full replacement for my current laptop. In the end the smaller size and lighter weight for more portability won me over. I couldn't go down to an ultra-portable X61 or M1330 because the screen size was just too unusable as well as the fact that docks weren't as readily available for the smaller Dell models. +++[http://www.silfreed.net/gallery/v/things/Dell+Latitude+D630/ Photos] [http://www.silfreed.net/photo/gallery/d/30214-2/img_3292.jpg] +++Initial Impressions The laptop seems to be doing great. It's tremendously faster than my previous laptop, and that one wasn't slow. All hardware seemed to work great with F8. Wireless was supported by the iwl4965 driver. I had to install the nvidia proprietary drivers from the Livna repository to get 3d support. I'm not terribly impressed with those drivers as they don't have good support for xrandr to switch my monitor setup dynamically. I have two problems currently: * Random lockups: dmesg/logs seems to indicate this might be related to the iwl4965 driver. * wine doesn't run HalfLife 2: the game crashes when starting to display the menu. ++++Update 2008.03.17 The kernel-2.6.24.3-12.fc8 package seems to have resolved my lockups. The HalfLife 2 game still crashes for me under wine. +++Review coming..