Dell Precision 420 with Red Hat Linux (Personal Computer World • September 2000)
Found an old article of mine online. I think this might have been the first review of a machine preinstalled with Linux from a major manufacturer in the UK.
EXCLUSIVE
Linux’s growing popularity gets a boost as Dell entrusts its latest high-end workstation to the OS.
A sure sign of Linux’s growing popularity is that vendors are starting to offer it as a pre-installed OS. Until recently, this has largely been confined to specialist Linux system builders such as Penguin Computing, Digital Networks UK or the large US company VA Linux Computing. Now, though, mainstream corporate vendors are starting to preload Linux and Dell is one of the first to deliver.
The Precision Workstation 420 is a high-end workstation system. The midi-tower case can be opened without tools and internal components, such as the PSU and drive cage, can be released with latches and swung out on hinges for access to thei840-based motherboard. This supports dual Pentium III processors running at up to 1GHz and up to four RIMMs; the review machine had two 64MB modules for 128MB of dual-channel RDRAM.