The Dell XPS M1210: A Subnotebook with a Twist
This article is a transcript of a video that you can watch by clicking the thumbnail below. Hence, certain statements may not make sense in this text form, and watching the video instead is recommended.
Intro
I’ve always loved the older Dell XPS and even considered switching to one as my only personal computer back in 2016. Now that I’ve learned cheaper ways to acquire these amazing specimens of technology, I thought it was time to finally touch the lineup I never had the opportunity to explore. Introducing: the new to me, Dell XPS M1210.
Why Step Out of ThinkPads? (Short Answer)
So what about ThinkPads then, you’d ask? Well… I still prefer ThinkPads for my primary computing needs as I’ve had what I’d call a life’s worth of learning with my ThinkPads and Linux in the last couple of years. Now that I mentioned ThinkPads and Linux, how about a short history lesson?
A Short History Lesson
To say the least, my introduction to ThinkPads wasn’t the best. The first one was a T480 from work, which I was disappointed with for more than a few reasons, and then I picked up an X1 Extreme Gen 3, which (don’t get me wrong) is an amazing machine, but I bought it to primarily run Linux, and it turned out to be not the best ThinkPad for such a use-case. I may not be an expert, but apart from display scaling on that gorgeous 4K OLED screen, that machine turned out to be one of the most nickpicky ThinkPads I’ve ever run Linux on. As I started exploring and eventually got addicted to using pre-owned ThinkPads, I realized other ThinkPads were better suited for Linux, and I ended up going a little too far. I developed weird associations in my mind such as I started to confuse several different things as the same. I related eBay with ThinkPads, ThinkPads with Linux, and somewhat Reddit with Linux on ThinkPads, because of /r/ThinkPad.
Why Step Out of ThinkPads? (Long Answer)
Alright, with that out of the way, let me give you the longer answer to why I’m stepping out of ThinkPads at this point. So now, I realized I had sufficient knowledge about Linux that I could finally revisit the problems I had with other makes from my pre-ThinkPad years, and put my Linux knowledge to the test. In case it didn’t go well, the worst that could happen would be that I would end up appreciating ThinkPads even more for their compatibility with Linux. Besides, the ThinkPads aren’t going anywhere, they’re just making new friends, so the question is how long these new friends stay.
Why Dell?
But then why start with Dells, you’d ask? It turns out, my first ever personal notebook computer was a 2010 Dell Studio 1558, back when I used to be a huge Dell fan. I used to drool about older XPS designs and Alienware notebooks knowing that I would never be able to afford machines like that. After my Dell Studio died, I could not financially afford to replace it with a similar machine and ended up using a cheap Lenovo G-series notebook that I wasn’t really fond of.
I loved the Dell Latitude notebooks I received at work, and I even ended up suggesting Dell as a brand to my friends who used to reach out to me for recommendations on a good personal notebook computer. I considered a Dell XPS as my next computer but ended up with an Apple computer that kept me over at macOS there for four years. By the way, I’m glad to have used an Apple computer as my only computer for four years, as that was full of learning as well. In 2020 when I finally returned from macOS to Linux, I started over with a pretty old Dell Precision T3600 workstation desktop I picked off eBay, which remains my most used machine today. I was even on the fence between the X1 Extreme and a Dell XPS during that purchase, so that says a lot about how much I’ve liked Dell as a brand.
After working with 41 ThinkPads in four years (excluding the two at work), I decided to give Dell the love they deserve, and yes, not the newer ones, but the models from the time when Dell used to be cool. So now the machines you may see in my videos would finally be more than just black in color.
Early Impressions and Initial State
So all that out of the way, let’s finally have a look at my first Dell after all these years, the XPS M1210. The machine is thicker and heavier than I expected when I first learned about it. There are paint wear-offs all around the chassis, but otherwise, the machine is holding up well for its age. After a quick inspection of the body, I could only find two broken elements:
- The wireless slider switch was partially broken.
- The battery had a crack near the back. Oh, that rhymes so well!
Let’s start with what we have around the machine. Starting from the ports, we have a pair of USB ports on either side of the notebook. For video, we have an S-Video that I’ve never had on a machine, and a VGA, which sounds about right for that time. For network we have a modem port, a full-size ethernet port, and this tiny (and apparently delicate) WiFi switch right below the air vents. For data, we have an optical drive above a 5-in-1 card reader on the right-hand side of the notebook. All that leaves us with are the ExpressCard slot, a Firewire port, a Kensington lock, and the charging port. I’d say that’s a lot for a 12” notebook. Just as you approach to open the cover, you see these seven multi-media keys (that are illuminated, BTW), and this 360-degree rotating camera near which you have a pretty convenient outdent to open the lid. The placement of these media buttons felt weird, and yes, a webcam of this kind was my first ever. I do not imagine why I’d need something like that in a notebook, probably adjust the angle of the camera without moving the screen.
On opening the lid, you see an old-style Dell keyboard with a tiny trackpad with two dedicated buttons. There are status LEDs at the top right of the keyboard and these two keys around the power button, which we’ll talk about in a moment. The screen bezels are OK, for that time I guess, and there are two front-firing stereo speakers below the WXGA TrueLife TFT screen. Man do I have memories with this logo! The hinge is pretty sturdy as well. We’ll talk about the bottom of the machine during the restoration process.
Now this machine had already been set up by the seller, and here was my first experience with it. On pressing the power button, the machine started up pretty quickly, more so for an Intel Core 2 Duo machine from 2006, with only 2GBs of RAM. Within seconds, I was automatically logged into Windows XP, soon to be welcomed by a Windows Messenger window. Everything after that point was pure nostalgia, with frequent “pop” sounds from several pop-ups from the notification tray. It certainly reminded me of my Windows days. I even got to see something I had never seen before: WiFi on Windows XP. It turns out, back during the Windows XP days, all that we had at home was an assembled desktop computer, so there was no way I could have ever seen a machine equipped with WiFi, that too running Windows XP.
The keyboard was way different than what I’m used to and the keys appeared to need a little bit of extra actuation force as compared to my ThinkPads from similar years. I wish it was backlit though, the way some of these keys were, but sadly it wasn’t. So coming back to these two around the power button, the right one had a camera logo on it, and pressing it instantly captured a snap. I had also never seen that software before. The button on the left had the label “MediaDirect” over it, though the logo made it look like “home”. Pressing it brings up a Dell media center, which is neat, maybe?
This machine was performing so well, that I started to reconsider my plans of running Linux on it. I’ll talk more on that later. There was one clear thing I was missing, and yes, you guessed it right: the TrackPoint. My fingers kept seeking that red thing in the center of the keyboard, but the only means to move the cursor was the tiny trackpad with two physical buttons. I should say that the trackpad was pretty smooth and responsive. The battery was working but had a reduced capacity.
With the addition of the ThinkPad X301, my X61s wasn’t the slowest machine anymore, and with the addition of this XPS M1210, it won’t be the oldest either.
Restoration
The machine was sold in a pretty good state. The seller mentioned that they had restored it with a 128GB SSD, and some fresh PTM7950 thermal pads. This would have meant that there wasn’t much left for me in terms of restoration. However, as usual, it wasn’t how it all played out.
My first step was an obligatory cleanup, but mostly on the surface, and certainly not as deep as I usually do. The listing description made it sound like the seller was an enthusiast like myself, and knew what they were doing, so trying to get into every nook and cranny didn’t make sense.
I thought I would save a lot of time not having to disassemble and re-assemble the notebook completely, but then this partially broken WiFi switch was bothering me, so I had to purchase an entire bottom shell, as the WiFi slider is a part of this huge assembly. Replacing the bottom shell cover of course needed way more work than I anticipated, even more than what I would have needed to replace the CPU thermal paste, which usually is something I consider as a lot already. I had to take every single thing apart and get it all re-seated on the “new” shell. I found the following while working inside the machine:
The WiFi module on this model comes off without a screw. On ThinkPads, there are two screws securing these.
There was another major broken piece inside, which made me glad that I was going through all this hassle. This piece also had a screw clinging to it, and it refused to leave the assembly.
Even after all the screws were taken off, the motherboard was refusing to come off, which is when I realized that the heat-sink screws were actually fixed to the bottom shell as well. So, I had to remove the heat sink too, pretty much what you’d need to do for a thermal repaste.
On the new shell,
I found this captive screw, so I didn’t have to worry about the one I left on the previous one. So apparently, that screw wasn’t supposed to come off.
I received this sticker that I could fill up at least one blank section with.
Most importantly, there was this WiFi slider, which was the reason for all the extra work.
After some quick tests, I decided to put everything together.
I upgraded the storage drive from 128GBs to 256GBs, which to me is a minimum on a computer today. I decided to hold on to the storage drive that the seller provided, as it had Windows XP Media Center setup, and I might give it a closer look someday, just for nostalgia reasons. The storage drive tray is secured with four screws and even this trim piece is attached to the storage caddy with a couple of screws. Interesting!
I also replaced the two 1GB DDR2 RAM modules with a pair of 2GB modules, making it 4GBs in total, and that is the max this machine supports. Though one of the modules is easily accessible behind a single screw underneath this small cover below the chassis, the other one is actually behind the keyboard and needs prying open this panel above the keyboard, opening up three screws to get the keyboard out, and finally getting access to the module. I took care of this while re-assembling the machine after the bottom shell replacement.
I skipped upgrading the WiFi and Bluetooth modules, as I couldn’t find many references to custom BIOS builds with the hardware whitelist removed, and I didn’t want to take chances especially given my relatively little experience working with Dell notebooks. I found it interesting how these were hidden behind a single screw as well and could be replaced without having to remove the palmrest, unlike most ThinkPads from that time.
I couldn’t find any used replacement batteries, instead, all of the listings I could find were “brand new”, and we know how these brand new batteries are. Besides, I would rather buy two used ThinkPads rather than paying a hundred dollars for an aftermarket battery. So, unfortunately, the machine will have to live with the one that came with it. By the way, I’ve always loved this feature on Dell notebooks for how it lets you check the battery charge level without turning the machine ON. I had a similar feature in my Dell Studio as well, and I’ve seen similar lights in the newer XPS models where they’ve moved these indicator lights on the chassis given how batteries aren’t removable anymore.
With all the hardware restoration, it was now time to test it with Linux, so I proceeded with installing Void Linux on it to evaluate if there was any friction or challenge with any hardware component or drivers. I wish there was none.
Experience with Linux
Usually, with machines as non-standard as this one, my concern is whether I’d be able to utilize the non-standard hardware the way it is possible with Windows. I’m sure the rotating camera wouldn’t be any different regardless of the operating system I ran, but these extra buttons might need additional configuration in order to utilize them. How much, though, that might depend on the Linux distribution you use.
Running Void Linux
As soon as I booted into the Void Linux installer, the WiFi card wasn’t recognized, so I had to perform the setup sitting next to my modem, while also being tethered to the charger. Once I was connected to the network using the ethernet cable, I proceeded with the setup as usual. However, after rebooting into the newly installed system, I still wasn’t able to use the WiFi module. I tried looking for help over the web, but couldn't find any, so switched over to one of the mainstream Linux distributions, and my favorite one: Zorin OS.
I could have gone with Fedora or Suse, but as I was looking for the most software support, Debian or Ubuntu base is always the answer. If you disagree, I’m open to discussions in the comments.
Running Zorin OS
At first, the Zorin OS setup couldn’t identify the WiFi card either, but I proceeded with the setup through ethernet, just to see if things changed once it downloaded additional drivers during the installation.
During the setup, just as I planned, I made sure to opt-in for installing additional drivers. As it specifically mentioned “WiFi drivers”, I had my hopes up, proceeded with the rest of the installation, which is usually pretty much automated, and waited for it to complete.
Once the setup was complete, and the system rebooted, WiFi was working with no issues. I could finally step away from the internet modem. Also, these media keys simply worked out of the box. I mean, it had to work, after all, there must have been a reason why Dell used to ship some of their machines with Ubuntu as the official Linux distribution.
I tried running a few older and appropriate titles on Steam, but all I’d say is that I wasn’t impressed, not that I thought I would be.
I’m Letting This Thing Run Windows
So overall, there were no other troubles with Linux, but I’d rather let this one stay original, so I put the storage drive I received with this machine back, in turn reverting it all back to Windows XP.
A Quick Comparison with the X61s
So now’s the time for some comparison, with you know what kind of machines.
I let the X61 go, and I’ve been told, “It'll be in good hands running the jankiest build of Gentoo humankind has witnessed”, so the closest thing for a comparison I have is my X61s.
The Dell XPS M1210 is heavier but does come with a lot of things the ThinkPad doesn’t have. The screen is way better than the terrible TN panel on the X61s, maybe because it's glossy? It has more ports and status LEDS, a set of dedicated media buttons, a pair of stereo speakers, and even an onboard optical drive.
The ThinkPad X61s on the other hand has a cover latch, way slimmer screen bezels, and the legendary TrackPoint. Adding the Ultrabase dock, it gets even better with those additional ports along with the optical drive and yet manages to barely cross that weight. Even at that point, there’s one thing the X61s misses, which is a webcam, let alone a rotating one.
Conclusion
So overall, I found the Dell XPS M1210 to be a great little machine, and to be frank, way more usable than my slightly newer ThinkPad X61s. Now don’t get me wrong for saying this, but I still prefer the X61s over the XPS. I mean I’m sure there’s an audience for this kind of a product, but that’s probably not me. I think after spending these last couple of years working solely with ThinkPads, I may have gone too far in that direction and gotten used to those black notebooks “that all look the same”. This entire series of episodes with this machine also reminded me how much I’ve become attached to the TrackPoint, something that I didn’t even use on my first couple of ThinkPads. It grew on me very gradually, ending up becoming something that I find very hard to live without, on a notebook.
As it goes with the XPS, there probably isn’t a single example of these in such a great condition, especially with the kind of love and treatment it received from its last owner and myself, let alone for a cheaper price.
Outro
That's all I have for this video, and thanks for watching it to the end. May the maker watch over you. See you in the next video! And yes, "Free Palestine!".