Post by Admin on Nov 14, 2022 17:07:55 GMT 10
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I bought this refurbished computer about 7 years ago for $220 . It came with Win 7 Pro installed on a 320GB hard disk. This has been my most useful test machine due to the fact that its hard disk can be easily removed and replaced without having to open up the back of the machine. It has a solid build, although a bit heavy to lug around. There is an eSATA port which allows a much faster backup speed to an external device than through its USB-2 port. On the downside, it has a low resolution screen (1366x768), and no USB-3.
Over the years, the battery could no longer be charged, and the plastic panel all around the keyboard has deteriorated and become sticky. Other than that the Dell-6420 has not missed a beat despite all the testing that I have thrown at it.
- Removed the 320 GB hard disk, replaced it with a Samsung-830 256 GB SSD . Installed Win10, which was soon dual-booted with Linux Mint 17. Both OS'es worked very well. (In fact for about two years I've used this machine even more often than my rather expensive touch-screen Dell 7240 notebook, which unfortunately developed a fault on its screen after the warranty period.)
- I've lost count of the number of Linux distros that have been tested on this Dell-6420 . Listed below are only some of the more interesting and worth noting experiences I've had with it.
- Installed Fedora-35 (KDE Plasma). It worked well. (Fedora uses the btrfs file system)
- Made the mistake of installing MX-Linux Fluxbox to dual-boot with Fedora-35 . MX-Fluxbox did not detect Fedora-35 . Could not boot into Fedora at all . Could not restore it, despite trying the Fedora installation-USB in rescue mode.
- Had to delete the Fedora partition, then re-installed it. Fedora-35 could readily detect other Linux OS's on the disk, but not the other way around. (So just DON'T put Fedora OS on first if dual- or triple-booting is desired).
- Installed Manjaro-KDE Linux without its boot loader. Then used Fedora to re-install the grub boot. The command for this was: sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
(Fedora found Manjaro, however there was something rather peculiar about Manjaro as well. Unable to boot Manjaro from the first grub entry. Had to use the FALL-BACK entry to activate Manjaro).
I bought this refurbished computer about 7 years ago for $220 . It came with Win 7 Pro installed on a 320GB hard disk. This has been my most useful test machine due to the fact that its hard disk can be easily removed and replaced without having to open up the back of the machine. It has a solid build, although a bit heavy to lug around. There is an eSATA port which allows a much faster backup speed to an external device than through its USB-2 port. On the downside, it has a low resolution screen (1366x768), and no USB-3.
Over the years, the battery could no longer be charged, and the plastic panel all around the keyboard has deteriorated and become sticky. Other than that the Dell-6420 has not missed a beat despite all the testing that I have thrown at it.
- Removed the 320 GB hard disk, replaced it with a Samsung-830 256 GB SSD . Installed Win10, which was soon dual-booted with Linux Mint 17. Both OS'es worked very well. (In fact for about two years I've used this machine even more often than my rather expensive touch-screen Dell 7240 notebook, which unfortunately developed a fault on its screen after the warranty period.)
- I've lost count of the number of Linux distros that have been tested on this Dell-6420 . Listed below are only some of the more interesting and worth noting experiences I've had with it.
- Installed Fedora-35 (KDE Plasma). It worked well. (Fedora uses the btrfs file system)
- Made the mistake of installing MX-Linux Fluxbox to dual-boot with Fedora-35 . MX-Fluxbox did not detect Fedora-35 . Could not boot into Fedora at all . Could not restore it, despite trying the Fedora installation-USB in rescue mode.
- Had to delete the Fedora partition, then re-installed it. Fedora-35 could readily detect other Linux OS's on the disk, but not the other way around. (So just DON'T put Fedora OS on first if dual- or triple-booting is desired).
- Installed Manjaro-KDE Linux without its boot loader. Then used Fedora to re-install the grub boot. The command for this was: sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
(Fedora found Manjaro, however there was something rather peculiar about Manjaro as well. Unable to boot Manjaro from the first grub entry. Had to use the FALL-BACK entry to activate Manjaro).
