Review: Dell Vostro 270s and Ubuntu

I wanted a new computer for Emma, here were my requirements:

  • Small footprint: so it fits inside her small desk
  • Fast processor: 4-core 3+ GHz
  • Plenty of RAM: 4+ GB upgradeable to at least 8 GB
  • Fast high res graphics, but no need for leading edge gaming 3D
  • Plenty of disk: 1+ TB
  • Built-in network, wired and wireless
  • CD+DVD reader & writer
  • Plenty of fast USB ports

    • I decided she should get a desktop, because by the time she needs the portability of a laptop, a cheap, fast Android tablet will do whatever a laptop would: email & browsing away from home, watching movies in the car or plane, taking notes in school, etc.

    I looked at used computers on Craig's List, Office Depot and Staples, but even old used desktops were a few hundred bucks. I might as well spend a little more and get a new machine with much better hardware. I've had good luck with Dell so I gave them a try again. The Vostro 270s looked like exactly what I needed, and I found good discounts & free shipping, so I ordered one.

    The Vostro 270s is very configurable. Here's what Emma's is like:

  • Core i5-3450s 2.8-3-5 GHz
  • 4 GB RAM @ 1600 MHz
  • CD+DVD r+w SATA
  • Intel HD graphics with VGA & HDMI output
  • 1 TB hard drive, SATA III, 7200 RPM
  • Built-in ethernet & 802.11 b/g/n wireless
  • Built-in sound
  • Built-in CF/SD card reader
  • 8 USB connectors (6 2.0, 2 3.0)
  • Windows 7

    • I would have preferred Ubuntu preloaded, as some Dells have, but this one did not offer that option, so I'd have to do it myself. No big deal.

    I ordered the machine on Dell's web site and selected the above options. I had to go into the small business section because it wasn't offered on the home section. During ordering I ran into only 1 small hitch: I almost ordered an unnecessary wireless card because it wasn't obvious that the Vostro 270s had built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless. Shipping took 12 days, which is slow but it was free shipping so I didn't mind. It arrived 1 day early in perfect condition.

    THE PLAN

    The plan:

  • Log in and make sure it works with the default Win 7 setup
  • Shrink the Win 7 partition to about 100 GB, preserving all Dell's original partitions, software & installation
  • Allocate the remaining 800-900 GB to ext4 and Linux
  • Use GRUB2 to dual boot Win 7 & Ubuntu 12.04 (both 64-bit) with Ubuntu the default
  • Copy all Emma's files, desktop, files, etc. to the new machine

    • FIRST IMPRESSION

    The Vostro 270s arrived on time and well packaged. It is a compact, heavy, solid, high quality box in industrial black. I plugged in a keyboard, mouse & monitor and turned it on. It booted through a set of simple initial configuration screens then to Win 7. The average user would be done at this point: a simple, quick setup and everything working.

    GPartEd

    Next I booted to my GPartEd CD (Gnome Partition Editor) to re-partition the hard drive while preserving the current data. First I reconfigured the BIOS for boot order, then booted to the CD. All went well until the GPartEd graphic desktop was supposed to kick in, but I saw a screen full of white noise garbage.

    I hoped a newer version of GPartEd would fix it. My CD was 0.10; the latest was 0.14. Using a different computer, I downloaded the latest ISO and burned a new CD. Rebooted to this CD - it worked!

    The Vostro's HD came from Dell partitioned like this:

  • partition 1: 40 MB: FAT Dell Utility
  • partition 2: 20 GB: NTFS Dell Recovery
  • partition 3: 900 GB: NTFS Boot Win 7

    • Here's what I did:

  • Keep all Dell partitions intact
  • Shrink the Win 7 partition (the boot partition) to 100 GB
  • Create an extended partition for the rest of the disk (854 GB)
  • Inside the extended partition, create a logical partition of 850 GB for Ubuntu (ext4)
  • Inside the extended partition, create a logical partition of 4 GB for swap

    • Next I booted to Win 7 just to make sure it was all still there - it was!

    Install Ubuntu

    Using another computer I burned the ISO for Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit to a CD, then booted to it. I used try Ubuntu and verified that the video, wireless network, etc. all worked. Then I clicked install Ubuntu with advanced configuration. The partitions I set up in GPartEd showed up in the Ubuntu installer. I selected the 850 GB ext4 partition I created as "/" and the 4 GB swap partition as swap.

    During install I entered my location and the default user account. It ran quick and seamlessly including GRUB 2. When it was done I rebooted and saw the GRUB boot menu.

    Verify Installation

    I booted to Win 7 to ensure it still worked. It ran chkdsk on boot, as expected, and worked fine. I rebooted to Ubuntu to complete the installation - I had some installing to do. Using the Ubuntu Software Center, and apt-get install where necessary, I installed:

  • ia32-libs [lets you run 32-bit software]
  • samba, smbfs [support for Windows shares]
  • winbind [support for Windows NetBIOS]
  • xubuntu-desktop [the XFCE desktop on Ubuntu, for myself]
  • Adobe Flash
  • remote desktop viewer [compatible with Windows 'mstsc']
  • putty [UI for SSH, optional as you can use cmdline but Putty conveniently remembers sites & settings]
  • vlc media player [plays everything, best media player on all platforms]
  • k3b [for CD/DVD burning]
  • bluefish [text editor with web dev emphasis]
  • git-core, git-gui, gitk [source control]

    • I set up Sun Java 1.6.0_35 64-bit manually, as it is not in any repositories. I manually set up the plugin to work in the browser. This is done by soft linking a library; a Google search will show details.

    I also installed a bunch of other stuff, Google Earth, etc. Google Earth was a pain because the latest version 7 crashed after the splash screen. After some Googling I found it was a bug the developers had already fixed but had not put it up on the web site. I found a .deb file for the fixed version of Google Earth 7 and installed it, works great!

    I installed and set up Minecraft. This is such a well designed game it's easy to install on any platform and runs well even on sub-standard hardware. It's amazing to see how well the Vostro 270s computer runs it. All graphics turned to the max full screen and it runs with 30+ frames per second - even with a Minecraft server running in the background!

    Performance & Specs

    This is one fast machine.

  • Power on to GRUB boot screen: 5 seconds
  • Ubuntu: GRUB screen to login: 15 seconds

    • Every app you run launches in 1-2 seconds. I have not done any benchmarks, but it's one of the fastest desktops I've used, faster than my dual core 3.2 GHz development workstation, which has an SSD!

    A few specs:

  • Processor: Intel i5 quad core, 2.8-3.5 GHz, 6 MB cache
  • RAM: DDR3 1600 MHz, 4 GB expandable to 8 GB
  • USB ports: 4, USB 2.0 ports; 4, USB 3.0 ports
  • Video: Intel HD Graphics, output VGA & HDMI
  • Network: 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless
  • Audio: integrated HD audio (realtek ALC662VD)
  • Storage: 1, 5.25" CD/DVD r+w; 2, 3.5" SATA; built-in card reader (CF & SD)

    • Price: retail for the Vostro 270s in this configuration is $874 plus the little speakers I bought, plus shipping. With my discounts I paid $495 total shipped. I think that's a good deal and the best value I could find.

    Conclusion

    The Dell Vostro 270s:

    Overall this is a great computer if you want a very compact desktop, and a great price. If you want more extensibility you'll need a full size desktop. Good stuff:

  • Performance: this is a fast machine
  • Value: great price for what you get
  • Quality: solid & well constructed
  • Size: a very compact footprint that fits just about anywhere
  • Compatibility: runs Ubuntu seamlessly with built-in support for all hardware
  • Completeness: card reader, 8 USB ports (2.0 and 3.0), HDMI & VGA outputs, Ethernet & 802.11g/b/n built in, etc.

    • Bad stuff:

  • Extensibility: no room for extra internal cards or drives [due to its small footprint]