But I just can't seem to get over the fact that you are obviously not a Linux person (you seem to have strong preferences and by the looks of it, you know well that you are very much a Mac person), who won a Linux laptop for free and hasn't used it at all.
Had you but magnanimously declined the offer and passed it on, someone else could have used it happily all along....
Why jump on someone for giving their opinions on a product they won at a raffle? Are you supposed to decline prizes because you might not like them?
Also, what the hell is a "Linux person"? Is that someone who doesn't consider a day complete without compiling their own kernel extensions?
Maybe I count as a linux person because I've written my own kernel extension?
Level. Description
-10. Macintosh/Windows evangelist
0. Never heard of linux
1. Heard of linux, never used it
2. Tried linux once in '97, didn't get OSS working, gave up
3. Tried linux, couldn't make it be exactly like some other OS, gave up
4. Uses linux from time to time at home and/or at work as a server os
5. Uses linux as a desktop os when needed
6. Uses linux as a desktop os, but dual/triple boots for some apps
7. Uses linux exclusively
8. Uses linux exclusively and writes kernel patches
9. Uses linux exclusively, writes kernel patches and has touched Linus Torvalds
10. Is Linus Torvalds
11. Is Linus Torvalds's wife
The point of mentioning it seemed to be that someone who is not a regular Linux user will not thoroughly evaluate the laptop because they won't spend enough time on it and use it in enough ways.
Kudos to Dell for doing this, hopefully more vendors will follow suit.
EDIT: Just found your other post! That's really cool that is has such good support.
>>> The point of these beta tests is to get feedback from people
Exactly. And that's my main point. In all this time, feedback was not at all achieved (edit: contrast with, say @chimeracoder's review above), because by his own account, he barely used the laptop, ergo, no feedback to Dell or anyone else in the matter.....
Which is why I mentioned in the original comment "someone else could have used it happily all along...." (note the ellipsis, where the ending is left unsaid, as in, it c(w)ould have resulted in feedback, in the very least)
To be more precise, _market_ feedback was achieved. A small, pizzling drip of market feedback. When you hand out devices, you're looking for _product_ feedback.
That said, if someone offered me a free laptop, I probably would keep it because I don't own nearly enough laptops.