What works, executive summary:
3D graphics (Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT) - yes (minor config required)
Sound output (Intel 82801H HDA controller, ICH8 chipset) - yes (more serious config required)
Sound input (mic, line-in) -untested
Wired network -yes
Wireless network -yes
Firewire (IEEE1394) -yes (more serious config required for MiniDV video camera usage)
SD card slot -yes
Integrated webcam (optional) -yes (but seems unsupported by some older software)
Touchpad pointing device -yes
External CRT video port -
only in ‘text’ modeyes, enable with ‘nvidia-settings’ commandPCI Express slot -untested
Here’s the output of lspci so everyone can see exactly what hardware I have, since sometimes Dell changes components within models: Dell Vostro 1500 lspci output
What follows is a review of the hardware features of the laptop that worked out-of-the-box with Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10, and what I did to fix the few problems that I encountered. Overall, I’m extremely happy with the performance and hardware support of Ubuntu Linux on this notebook, and apart from a fix required for sound support, there were no show-stoppers that would prevent any computer user capable of installing Microsoft Windows or Apple OSX from installing and using Ubuntu happily on this machine.