Dell Announces Ubuntu 7.10 PCs with DVD Playback

Dell has told DesktopLinux.com that it will be announcing Dec. 19 that it will be releasing PCs with Ubuntu 7.10 (aka Gutsy Gibbon) as part of its Dell Consumer Linux lineup along with the ability to legally play DVDs.

According to Dell spokesperson Anne B. Camden, the “Dell Inspiron 530N desktop and Inspiron 1420N notebook PCs are now available with Ubuntu 7.10 pre-installed.” Both of these models were part of Dell’s second wave of Ubuntu-powered PCs, which were released in June 2007.

Camden continued, “Possibly in the ‘more importantly’ category, we are now pre-installing DVD movie playback all Ubuntu 7.10 systems—a feature we feel will resonate with … Linux enthusiasts as well as the mainstream consumer market. In fact, one of the key requests from customers interested in Linux is the ability to watch their favorite DVD movies.”

The Inspiron 1420N, which comes in eight different colors, is powered by a 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor. This chip set also comes with a 667MHz FSB (front-side bus) and a 2MB cache. Dell will let users who want a faster processor upgrade it to a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 with an 800MHz FSB and a 4MB cache.

For storage, the default setup starts with an 80GB SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive with a spin rate of 5,400 rpm. At the high end, Dell offers a 160GB SATA hard drive with 7,200-rpm speed. It comes with a 24x CD burner/DVD combo drive or an 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability.

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