The Dell Inspiron 3180 is a Windows 10 laptop with hardware specs similar to a Chromebook. It is ultra-cheap. As far as I know, it is currently the least expensive new laptop with Windows 10 installed. After reading complaints from online reviewers about it being sluggish and wishing Dell had offered a Linux option, I decided to test one out with Lubuntu 18.04.

Basically everything works with the default install. The sound, video, wireless networking, bluetooth all work as expected. The laptop functions far better running Lubuntu than Windows 10. There are really no fixes needed, other than picking the software you like and tweaking the appearance.

Despite being cheap, the laptop feels sturdy. It is quiet and has a decent display, good keyboard, and responsive touchpad with tap-to-click enabled by default.

You can read my full installation report and review at my new blog:

http://linuxlaunch.com/content/insta...80-a361gry-pus

The laptop has only a 32 GB eMMC hard drive (probably the biggest limitation) and low-end specs. However, for basic web surfing, emailing, and word processing, it works great. I think it is the best bargain on the market right now for new Linux-compatible hardware. No one paid me to say that (unfortunately ).

You have a nice, slick website and good content too. Thank you for sharing the review. Do you have any plans to look at Devuan at all? I've been rolling out Devuan to some old Dell laptops (read: Broadcom wnics) and would love to compare notes.

Thanks for the feedback and complement. I'm writing a review of a Lenovo Ideapad right now. Next up is another Dell, but I haven't checked what wireless card it has yet. My plan is to try installing on a new model laptop each week if I can keep it up. The money for the site and hardware is all coming out of my own pocket, so I am limited in what I can do. I find it fun to figure out the different hardware quirks and make them work with Linux if I can.

Awesome post, I was just about to head over to BestBuy to check one out!

Looks like it will nicely replace my HP Mini 110 (old battleax) that has been running Lubuntu for some time. Unfortunately, everything is slightly larger than my HP Mini, so I need a new manbag to carry it in. I'm very sentimental about my manbag. Maybe I can cram it in there.

Also, not to threadjack, but @bgstack15 curious about your experience with Devuan. I'm a huge systemd-hater, but otherwise really like Ubuntu's maintenance policies, etc.

I've never run native Debian on anything, so don't know much about their updates. On my servers, I run Ubuntu server with "automatic security updates" turned on, which I rather like.

I was a big systemd hater until I actually used it.

nice site & review.
good to hear that linux can make even brand new low-end hardware better.
the specs are appalling for something new.
q: smooth video playback - possible? e.g. HEVC video?

I read M Yates post with great interest. I also read his install story "Installing Lubuntu 18.04 on the Dell Inspiron 3180" at the linuxlaunch.com web site. If it was only that easy. I admire how easy your install was. I have been trying to install it on the same laptop for a few days with no success. I think I have well over 10 hours trying to get it installed.


I downloaded the Lubuntu 18.04 file and used Rufus, Universal USB Installer, Etcher and a couple others. It installed properly on my USB Sandisk drive each time. This isn't the problem. My problem is an error code I get after I select the USB drive and hit enter to start the installer.

You said, " Press the power button and start tapping the F12 key. When the boot menu appears, select the USB drive and hit enter to start the installer. " I have tried this several times and each time it takes me to a generic Lubuntu install menu with 4 options and I choose install. I have also used "try Lubuntu without installing." Each tme it starts to load then it goes to a black screen informing me of a Firmware Bug. It reads like this:


[Firmware Bug] cpu 0, invalid threshhold interupt offset 1 for b.......(and so on)

Couldn't get size: 0x800000000000000000e....(and so on)

MODSIGN: Couldn't get UEFI db list

psmouse seriol: elantech: elantech_send_cmd query 0x04 failed

(This isn't the complete list of errors)

I have tried to change BIOS settings in setup to every imaginable configuration, including but not limited to enable/disable Firmware TPM, Secure Boot enable/disable and many other setting changes with no success. I even used Legasy and it booted from a cold startup fine but I kept losing my mouse. If I lose my mouse during setup I could have serious problems. Using Legasy isn't ideal for this install but I was desperate.

I have tried everything possible to make this work. You have the same Laptop and apparently had no problems. Whatever changes in BIOS you or others suggest I have probably already tried. It appears if I can get rid of this error code [Firmware Bug] I could do the install with confidence. If anyone has suggestions, please make it as simple as possible. Thank you

^ have you tried commenting on the blog post directly?
apparently it is possible after registration.

Thank you for the reply but I have thrown in the towel. I simply can't spend any more time with this install. At Dell's website, they direct you to a list of Linux compatible laptops and mine is not on the list so I will leave it at that. I only paid $125 for the new laptop on sale with the intention of installing a Linux OS on it. I did a Windows 10 clean install and will keep it as a backup

Sam; I have the same issue; I have attempted to install Ubuntu 18.04 and 16.04 as well as Ubuntu Mate 18.04 and 16.04. I can get past the error you are mentioning, but then the entire machine locks up; whether doing a strait install or booting to the USB environment.

The work around I have found is to install Debian 9.5. It installs without any issues (it's not Ubuntu; but it makes the machine usable)

I have a thread open here about the issue: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2400268

I suppose if the problem is the same; you can at lease use it this way.

Hey Sam, I was right there with you on throwing in the towel at this mini-pc, but that isn't the way I do things haha.

I tried lubuntu, budgie, ubuntu, and bodhi, right as I was about to rage quit and take it back. I thought why not 14.04, older yes and

it worked right when I installed it. I did take off secure boot, tpm, and load legacy rom, you'll also need to set the usb boot for
the install. I wouldn't recommend trying to dual boot. Honestly I wouldn't think that there would be enough space. So, after install
there were a ton of updates. but I have zero problems with it except a minor screen flickering that happened twice in the past week,
to that I shut down and restarted and it stopped. Other that that it's been completely fine all components work bluetooth, wifi, just with 14.04 there aren't many store options, but you can easily go to their page and download them(pycharm, discord, notepad++, etc). On the fresh install only 5.4 gigs was used on the ssd, after all of my installs and updates i'm still sitting at like 7 something used out of the 30 gigs it has. It is also surprisingly fast, it only gets sluggish if the second screen is plugged in and you're just going nuts. I added a couple of pictures so maybe they will help. Lubuntu 14.04 might work as well, Ubuntu based so maybe.

Hope this helps!

Attached Thumbnails

   

i see this so often.
people say "i tried so many different distros - nothing works" - and they turn out to be ALL ubuntu-based!
to get a better picture of the situation, you/they should also try something that is definitely and absolutely NOT based on ubuntu.

1 members found this post helpful.

Well lucky for me I wanted ubuntu, as you can see I tried all Ub based os. If I wanted another distro I would have tried. But, like I said regular ubuntu 14.04 is the only one that worked on this laptop that I tried.

Nimkora:

I took your advice and tried Ubuntu 14.04 and it was flawless just as you said. I booted using UEFI in BIOS with no issues whatsoever. Usually I get firmware error warnings. I will probably have to use Legacy in BIOS for it to boot up without going into BIOS first. I must say that's the oldest version of Firefox I have ever seen. It's almost generic. I have only used the "Try Before You Install" option and haven't actually installed it yet but I don't foresee any problems. It appears everything will need updated just as you said.

I have recently tried MX Linux which is a lightweight version of Debian and I love it. I got some errors booting from BIOS UEFI but I like it so much I might try to install it anyway. My screen didn't lock up either so that's a plus. I know you like Ubuntu but I think you might like this a lot more. After comparing the two I would take MX Linux hands down.

I am tempted to do a dual boot but I have enough problems as it is. I am hoping if things go badly that I can reinstall Windows 10 using the same file as I did for the clean install and don't end up with a dead computer.

Anyway, I'm happy for you that you didn't throw in the towel. Please let me now if you try MX Linux. You can use the "Try Before You Install" option to kick the wheels and drive it around the block. Also, please inform me how Ubuntu boots from BIOS after you installed it. Is it booting from Legacy and did it make any changes in BIOS? Is the Windows stuff in BIOS deleted after the install?

Nimkora (follow-up):

I just recently installed MX-17 (Horizon) Linux and it went thru flawlessly. The Ubuntu 14.04 was a little too dated for me (it was tempting though) but I guess anything is better than the alternative, the OS we all love so dearly (sarcasm). I used Legacy in BIOS for the USB install and simply left it alone after the install and it works fine. Wiping an entire (fake) HDD clean is somewhat unnerving but I got this inexpensive lapptop just for the purpose of trying Linux. I saw no remnants of the other OS in BIOS

I still see the firmware error at start-up but I haven't had any problems. I think you're going to love this version of Linux if you decided to use it.

You can download the ISO file at:
mxlinux.org

Best of luck!