Seeking opinion of Dell Inspiron 7520

English Hardware
#1

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to but a Dell Inspiron 7520-148282 notebook with the following specification:

CPU Intel Core i5, 2.5Ghz
8Gb DDR3 Ram
1Tb 5400 RPM HDD
FullHD display
AMD Radeon HD 7330M 2Gb + Intel HD 4000 graphics (switchable, at least that’s what I read on net)
Comes with Linux (probably Ubuntu)

If somebody has experience with this notebook, please share with me. My biggest concern is the graphics card, I have no experience with AMD gpus. nor with switchable graphics.

For those interested, here is the link with some more details, however in Hungarian
http://For those interested, here is the link with some more details, however in Hungarian

Thanks.

#2

Well, if they’ve put Ubuntu on it (or whatever) they’ve probably already installed the prop. AMD fglrx driver.

If you plan on installing openSUSE, then that is also the likely route that you will want to go right now

Do note that there are reports of difficulty getting the prop driver installed, though you can work around it: https://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/hardware/478053-switchable-graphics-card-ati-intel-failed-boot-after-install-ati-drivers.html#post2487732

For a little bit of info regarding the AMD graphics card and OSS driver for it see my very recent post here: https://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/hardware/479913-ivy-bridge-suse-compatibility-3.html#post2509347 (seeing your thread is what prompted me to go back and correct the info in that thread :shame:).

For switchable graphics with the OSS AMD & intel combo, I think you are limited to the VGAswitchroo, or an experimental branch of the Bumblebee project (which is geared towards nvidia optimus) that addresses AMD adapters … no idea what shape that one is in.

I also talked a bit about PM for the OSS drivers here: https://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/laptop/479322-ati-fglrx-drivers-not-work-radeon-6470m-opensuse12-2-a.html#post2501456 … you might want to read through the rest of that thread, as its conclusion (although still unclear) is likely the same issue for installing the prop. driver linked to above.