“I configured my 3700 with a 433 MHz Celeron processor, 96 MB of
memory, a 10 GB hard drive and the 24X CD drive. I chose not to
equip my system with a Dell-supplied modem or network card because
I could get a better deal from another vendor. I also declined
the Microsoft Office 2000 option, which saved USD$50. Dell does not
preconfigure its notebook systems with Linux, and does not offer a
“no-OS” option. This wasn’t a problem for me, because I will
need to run Windows on occasion….”
“Booting Linux from the RedHat 6.1 distribution media requires
tweaking the BIOS to allow booting from the CD drive. The new Red
Hat graphical installation program won’t run because it requires
the X server, which has trouble starting up on the 3700’s ATI video
system. The simple way around this problem is to just use the old
text-based install program, which is available from the Red Hat 6.1
boot menu….”
“The trackpad works well with XFree86, which sees it and the
stick as PS/2 mice, but the trackpad has to be handled with some
care. It has a “tapping” feature. which means that a single, short
tap on the trackpad surface is the same as a single click on the
trackpad button. A nice feature if you want it, but I sometimes get
unintended mouse clicks. There does not appear to be any way to
turn off this tapping feature from Linux.”