Ubuntu 10.04 on a Hewlett Packard dv3500 laptop

Alrighty then,
this post's purpose is for www.linux-on-laptops.com usage to let others know how Ubuntu Linux runs on a HP dv3500 laptop.

First off,
the laptop's specs are as follows:
1. Processor - Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz (i386)
2. RAM - 2 x 2GB DDR2
3. Graphics Card - Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS
4. Pre-included OS - Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit OEM
5. Harddrive - 320GB
6. Ports - HDMI+USB, 2 single USB 2.0 ports, VGA, S-Video, SD, 2 headphone jacks and 1 mic jack, LAN
7. Fingerprint recognition

Alright, I think I covered some important specs that will be useful in describing the experience of using Ubuntu Linux OS on the laptop.

Installation:
Since it came preloaded with Vista Home Premium, I went and dual booted so that Ubuntu 10.04 was side by side with Vista. Beforehand in Vista itself I determined the amount of harddisk space Vista was not to use. I then installed Ubuntu in that free space.

There was no issues in reading the Ubuntu LiveCD using this laptop. To ensure that the laptop reads the disc at boot up, press the Esc button to enter the Startup Menu and then proceed to press F9 ("Boot Device Options"). Use the down arrow key to highlight "Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive" and press Enter. You will then be prompted with the standard Ubuntu options of install, try, memtest and etc.

There were no hiccups, disc reading issues or problems with running the LiveCD and installing Ubuntu 10.04. It was rather pleasant and speedy (compared to reinstalling Vista from the repair discs... ) install.

First Run:
After completing the installation, from the grub menu (which works beautifully and recognises Vista clearly) I chose Ubuntu and booted up into it.
Before I continue, I would like to mention previous serious problems with running Ubuntu on this HP laptop. The versions of Ubuntu which suffered these issues were 9.04 and 9.10.
Sound:
No sound, had to mess around for about a week with each version to get sound working.
Very painful and annoying experience. (Headphones did work, but the laptop speakers did not)
Wireless capability:
2 things here were a problem.
First, if in Vista I disabled Wireless and Bluetooth on shutdown when I loaded back up into Ubuntu wireless was not enabled and could not be enabled (only in 9.04).
Second was that it required a lot of searching on the net to realise that i needed something called ndiswrapper from the LiveCD before wireless would actually function and detect my wireless network at home (applicable to both).
Last but not least, with the touch sensitive sound bar on the laptop I would have frequent problems with it not realising that I was not touching the sound bar anymore. The sound notification would then get stuck and only when I restarted or shut down would it stop.

With that said, when I booted up into Ubuntu 10.04 it was a happy and enjoyable relief that the Ubuntu sound was played upon login through the laptop's speakers. I have not had to tinker/tweak/mess with any configuration files of sorts to get the sound working. IT JUST WORKS.

Next, the previous wireless issue. Gone. No need for that ndiswrapper stuff anymore. It just works again. After inserting my WEP key, the laptop was able to connect to my home wireless network. It still works till today.
Also an important thing to note, the sound notification bar is not as buggy as it was anymore. If I slide up or down and it happens to get stuck, I just press and release on the sound bar and the notification goes away. No more need to restart or shutdown.
Bluetooth is still an issue here. I have not been able to successfully have Bluetooth up and running no matter what software I use. It always returns to me telling me either the daemon is not running or it does not detect any bluetooth devices (eventhough I have several on).

What about games?:
Some of my favourite Linux games like Urban Terror, Spring, Tremulous, Blood Frontier, Sauerbraten, Counter Strike 2D , Savage 1 and 2 and the new Heroes of Newerth all work flawlessly. This is before installing any graphics driver, just using whatever Ubuntu already uses right after install. Not to mention screen resolution is properly detected all the time.
Although, it is recommended since the Laptop uses an Nvidia card that you use the proprietary drivers from Nvidia. I use them, and it greatly increases the graphics and speed performance of the games I run in Ubuntu.
Games like Warcraft III, Sudeki and some Steam games I play all use the latest Wine 1.1.42 and its a wonderful experience. No problems, just fun filled gaming :)

What about Internet surfing?:
Hmm lets see, the greatest thing now about using Ubuntu Linux is that nearly all the popular browsers are available and work great for Linux. I have with me on this laptop the Chrome Beta for Linux, Opera 10 for Linux and Firefox 3.6.3 which comes preinstalled with Ubuntu.
The skins for Chrome and Firefox work which is awesome :D
Flash used to be an issue for Linux users as it was not supported on Linux. Now Adobe has created a Linux version and thats what I use to view flash related stuff like the all annoying ads and videos from Youtube and many other sites. Although Flash is a little more heavier on the resources with Linux than it is on Mac and Windows, I can hardly feel it. It also works awesomely.

What about those ports? Do pendrives and HDMI cables work?:
Yep they do! All my pendrives and thumbdrives work off the bat. Instantly usable once you plug them in. The nice thing is that the icon appears on the desktop in Ubuntu so I can go ahead and search all the files quickly and hassle free.
The HDMI works beautifully, although HP designed it so that only images pass through it. Not sound. I have plugged my Ubuntu HP laptop to my 32" flatscreen tv at home and play around since it acts as the new screen output for my laptop when its plugged up. I've also tested playing High Definition videos by viewing through my laptop on the flatscreen tv. It works !
With the USB ports, plugging in a mouse (or several) a cooler pad, keyboard(s), USB fans and anything that uses USB works so far with Ubuntu on this laptop. (mp3s, handphones, all work)

The Fingerprint recognition usable?:
Sadly, this is not possible yet. Any laptop so far that has this from what I've experience, works only with Windows. So, for now that is a non usable feature when running Ubuntu Linux.

Gamepads, headphones/microphones and the disc drive all work?:
Yes they do. Headphones and microphones work off the bat. Just plug it in, and I use audacity or the preinstalled recording software in Ubuntu and it just works. The disc drive is great, although it can get a little bit noisy when running DVDs. It hasn't failed me yet :D
Gamepads can be a little tricky. I normally use them to play my playstation games on Ubuntu. To ensure that Ubuntu on this laptop recognizes my gamepads, I just installed joystick from the Synaptic Package Manager. I haven't had problems with this yet. I even play Sudeki in Wine with my Logitech Rumblepad 2.

So, out 10 stars for user experience, what do you give Ubuntu Linux + HP dv3500?:
Honestly, I give it a 9/10. Why not 10/10? This would have to do with the Bluetooth capability not functioning and when I use Nvidia proprietary drivers, everytime there is a kernel update I have to reinstall that driver. Other than that, I'm happy I don't have to worry about black/blue screens of death, viruses and defragmenting which Vista on this laptop has given me several times... I no longer boot into it :)
I'm thinking of going Linux only :D

All in all, I am very satisfied with how well Ubuntu 10.04 Linux works with this HP dv3500 laptop.