dell inspiron 1720 should i install linux??
 

I used Ubuntu on my desktop before, i liked it. i bought a laptop from dell and it has windows vista on it, my question, is there a distribution of linux that i could install on my laptop that would grant me the same functionality that vista does? i want to install games play dvds burn/rip cds and also b able to use wireless internet like i do now. if you could help me with this it would be appreciated!

i'll go ahead and give my system specs so i don't have to later lol
intel core 2 2.2ghtz 2gb ram 8600m gt vid card (nvidia) realtek hd audio 160gb hdd. this laptop has a dial up modem and an ethernet card also has sd card reader i need all of this to work (not out of the box but at least be able to make it work, i don't mind having to tweak or anything) if you need more information i will be glad to give it out.



thanks in advance!

Why didn't you just buy a dell laptop with ubuntu already installed? One way to see if you may have potential problems is to download the 'Live' cd/dvd of a distro and try it out. That way you don't have to (for now) disturb your winblow$ installation.

If you liked Ubuntu, you'll probably like gOS. It's Ubuntu based, runs as a live distro and very newbie friendly. Check it out here: http://www.thinkgos.com/index.html

What distro doesn't have the "functionality" that vista does?, just about any distro will work on your hardware

I just tried installing ubuntu on my new laptop that has the 8600m gt. Apparently this card is poorly supported in Linux.

If you want to game with your new laptop, you might want to dual boot for the time being.

Nvidia themselves say otherwise:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree8...ppendix-a.html