Dell’s Skylake XPS 13, Precision workstations now come with Ubuntu preinstalled

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/dells-skylake-xps-13-precision-workstations-now-come-with-ubuntu-preinstalled/

by bpierre • 10 years ago

345 229 10 years ago

arstechnica.com

davidw2• 10 years ago

I've been very happy with the various XPS 13 systems. This one looks even better. Most likely my next computer.

stinos• 10 years ago

I've been extremely happy with XPS 15z as well. Not a single bluescreen/kernel panic since I got it 4 years ago, which is (in my opinion/experience) a sign the hardware is not only good, but also that all components properly work together which is just as important. Had similar experiences with the Dell workstation/server lines.

krzyk2• 10 years ago

I wonder why they make the keyboard on XPS 15 so small, there is so much space on the left and right, that they could make those keys slightly bigger (but without the pointless numeric pad).

th0br0• 10 years ago

I've got a new XPS13 edition. There's a few downsides like I absolutely have to run the latest kernel - 4.5.0-rc7 - to not have iGPU issues and not all WMI keys being supported properly (running Fedora rawhide). But other than that, I get about a 7w/s power consumption without optimising anything. That makes for 9-10hrs of usage, even under Linux!

Oh, and repairing them seems to be dead cheap as well. My XPS13 took a little dive, replacing pretty much the whole ultrabook put me back 320 EUR.

semi-extrinsic4• 10 years ago

Nitpick: 7w/s is not the correct unit for power consumption. Watt is already energy per second, i.e. power consumption. Watt per second is the unit for change in power consumption.

jpalomaki• 10 years ago

I was surprised to notice that the XPS 15 comes also with quad core CPUs and supports 32GB max memory. Interesting option for those looking for desktop level performance in reasonably sized package.

semi-extrinsic4• 10 years ago

Anyone know how thermal management is on high-end laptop-version Skylakes? I have a three-year-old Dell Precision 15" with a quad core i7 (Sandy Bridge) at work. If I throw work at all the cores simultaneously, it takes about 60 seconds before it starts throttling the CPU to avoid thermal overload... Which makes it a bit useless IMO. Has this improved recently?

tavert• 10 years ago

My i7-6700HQ (Lenovo Ideapad Y700) has been behaving much better under high load than the old Sandy Bridge i7-2630QM (Samsung RC512) I had been using. Though it being a "gaming" design with extra vents and heat exchangers may be helping there.

JetSetWilly2• 10 years ago

I have the 6700HQ in an XPS-15, it never seems to throttle - for example earlier today when I built firefox with -j8 it just pegged all cores and never let up.

I can be a tad noisy in this situation as you would expect, but from what I have seen - and reviews back me up - it doesn't throttle.

radicalbyte3• 10 years ago

It's an absolute beast of a computer: expensive, but I'm glad I bought it.

The only real downside is battery life - it's better than a MBP 13 with Bootcamp but not even close to the MBP with OSX.

Roritharr• 10 years ago

Do you run Linux or Windows on it? I'd expect to be able to add quite a few hours to its battery life with the right Distro.

kylec• 10 years ago

Apple better hurry up with Skylake MacBooks, these look very tempting.

mamon• 10 years ago

One more week - on March 21st Apple will probably debut MacBook Pro 13 with Skylake. For 15 inch version we would probably need to wait untill June

jaseemabid• 10 years ago

They come with Windows by default, but you can pick Ubuntu instead and shave about $100 off the price.

How awesome!

Luyt• 10 years ago

A Windows 10 license is about $50. What is the other $50?

Vlaix2• 10 years ago

Dell tax on options, I'd wager. If you look at the cost on everything that isn't the base, laptop manufacturers generally add an extra 100% on the retail price of these parts. 200% if you're Apple.

alkonaut4• 10 years ago

I thought the "Microsoft tax" was effectively negative these days, i.e that Microsoft wanted Dell to sell Windows machines so OEM licenses are very cheap, but more importantly that the crapware bundlers were also paying the manufacturers to have the trial of their particular AV software pre installed.

That's why I'm surprised the Ubuntu isn't more expensive than the Windows version even if a Windows license itself would add to the cost.

StavrosK2• 10 years ago

I love the random Swedish word in an otherwise flawlessly English comment!

tholford• 10 years ago

Bought a used first or second gen Developer Edition XPS13 last year, installed Mint 17.2 on it and have been very pleasantly surprised. Pretty much just as functional as my old MBP for half the price :)

maartenpi_• 10 years ago

Did sth similar here with a XPS15 (9530). Installed Ubuntu 15.10 on it, most of it works pretty smooth. A second screen is a bit of a hassle if you don't get a 3200x1800-one. Besides that I didn't really have issues. Touch also works fine ;)

siscia• 10 years ago

I am a little scared by the touch screen, I have never had one and I don't think I need it...

Anyway the extra complexity that come with it doesn't makes me comfortable...

Any experiences so far ?

truncate• 10 years ago

Its useless. Hopefully doesn't get in your way. I had it disabled for a while, until some update overwrite my settings. I perhaps didn't realize this for quite some time, and later just didn't care to re-edit the config.

Otherwise, it good laptop. I'm happy with my decision.

tudorw• 10 years ago

Love it, thought I would not use it, but actually, when typing, if it's a pop up window, touch is quicker then trackpoint or pad to tap away, swiping windows to lock them to the sides is good, swipe to go forward and back in a browser, sure, it's not viable to hold your arm up and do anything intensive, but for single location taps, I like it!

treffer5• 10 years ago

XPS13 / QHD / Touch user here (last years model). I've used it rarely but it works without flaws. (Well, firefox can't really handle multitouch on X11, but that's a whole different story).

Only problem is that it's incompatible with kids. "Hey, what's that? TAP"

Oh, let me press reply on the screen :-)

Ruud-v-A4• 10 years ago

I am running Arch on the non-developer edition XPS 15 (late 2015 edition). Initially the touchpad was occasionally not recognised, then having a touchscreen is really useful :) Other than that, I got it because there was no HiDPi screen without touch. And HiDPi is definitely worth it.

auxym• 10 years ago

How is hidpi support on Arch?

corin_• 10 years ago

I have a different 13" laptop with a touchscreen (also Dell, but not XPS), and while I don't use it a huge amount I do quite like being able to quickly tap at stuff now and then. Personally I wouldn't pay more than a very small amount to upgrade to a touchscreen, but I don't mind having it there, and I've not had any issues caused by it at all.

(Disclaimer: I used to work on marketing - Dell was my client, not my employer - for the brand I'm using, which is Alienware. Currently I have no connection to Dell/Alienware other than friends working there and trying to decide whether to keep using my Alienware 13 or to switch to an XPS 13...)

richardboegli2• 10 years ago

If the Razer blade stealth had a 16/32gb option I'd pick it over a Alienware 13 or XPS 13

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-stealth

toolslive• 10 years ago

I have a 'Dell precision m3800' and it has a touchscreen. Never touched it. It came with ubuntu preinstalled, and the first thing I did was a full reinstall: these manufacturers tend to just have 1 partition for everything, while I prefer another scheme ( /home really needs to be a separate partition IMNSHO)

jeremyjh• 10 years ago

Does Dell offer a repository for all their drivers or some other way to get the same build that it comes with out of the box? Or all they really all open source and in Ubuntu's repository? I need a laptop with great Linux support but may prefer to have it pre-installed with Windows for gaming and install my own Linux partition.

abrowne2• 10 years ago

There will be a non-touch option (a matte 1080p screen): "The i5 configuration will come with 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD and FHD NT. The timing of the i5 config is dependent on the depletion of the current inventory on hand." From the project lead's blog: http://bartongeorge.net/2016/03/10/xps-13-developer-edition-...

I'm personally looking forward to this model!

Adaptive• 10 years ago

I have the previous gen xps 13 9350 in matte 1080p and it's great. I don't want higher res or touch. Plus lower power. I do wish I had 16GB in it, but that wasn't an option.

stordoff• 10 years ago

I use a Microsoft Surface, and don't use the touchscreen most of the time (type cover + USB mouse are almost always connected). It is nice to have though - some things (like zooming into a certain section of a webpage) are more convenient with the touch screen (I've actually caught myself about to reach out and touch my non-touch desktop monitor a couple of times...)

JL2010• 10 years ago

I have a new XPS 15 and you can completely disable the touchscreen in the BIOS. I did this pretty much the first week I got the machine.

latch• 10 years ago

I've oft wondered if these would sell better without the Dell branding. Put a nondescript logo on the back (no word), remove all "Dell".

This really annoyed me years ago when I spent a small fortune on a beautiful TV that had "COMPANY" in white letters on the otherwise perfect dark bezel.

benevol• 10 years ago

sell better without the Dell branding

Of course it would be nice, but you can't seriously ask a commercial company to remove its identity from its products.

rahimnathwani2• 10 years ago

It doesn't need to be on the same side as the screen, though. Neither my iPad nor my Nexus have any branding visible on the front of the device. The screen's border is perfectly black. Even the hardware button on the iPad is almost invisible.

Sure, the iPad has a big apple on the back, but I never see that when I'm using it as I can't see around corners.

mseebach• 10 years ago

Why would the branding matter? Any halfway serious person knows that Dell makes decent (if slightly boring and enterprisy) stuff, and that it's about what you do with it that matters, anyway. The hipsters are going to see that it's not a Macbook from a mile away, Dell logo or not. If anything, I myself would be likely to assume that an unbranded laptop is something dodgy picked out of a supermarket clearance bin.

a beautiful TV that had "COMPANY" in white letters on the otherwise perfect dark bezel

That distracts from watching the screen and so actually affects the primary operation of the TV. I'd argue that's a very different matter than the presence of a logo on a laptop lid that you can't even see when using the computer.

JadeNB• 10 years ago

I'd argue that's a very different matter than the presence of a logo on a laptop lid that you can't even see when using the computer.

I haven't used a Dell for a long time, and never a laptop, but the other commenters seem to be discussing a logo on the bezel itself, directly visible to the person using the computer.

jkot3• 10 years ago

Price is not that great. 16GB RAM version is more expensive than Windows edition at my local shop (Prague). At least it has Intel wifi.

tomschlick2• 10 years ago

RAM is usually a terrible thing to upgrade via the manufacturer (too expensive) unless its soldered in like some of the macbooks.

jkot3• 10 years ago

XPS 13 has RAM soldered on board

sethhochberg• 10 years ago

The RAM options on the current crop of ultraportables annoy me to no end - all soldered, and all basically require grabbing the top of the line i7 + massive SSD models to get 16GB of RAM. I just want that much RAM on a mid-tier CPU and a big-enough-but-not-overkill SSD config, but I can't find anyone who will sell it to me.

treffer5• 10 years ago

You can ping Barton (the project Sputnik head) on twitter about pricing and availability bugs. He usually gets them sorted quickly and is happy about feedback. I've reported issues when the XPS13 launched. It works. They fix this stuff.

But keep in mind that the EU/Prague pricing might be different once launched there.

xkiwi2• 10 years ago

If anyone needs or have to install windows 7 on DELL brand laptops for any reason, I highly recommend you to wait until you confirm it can be done.

I have Dell XPS/Precision 11 and 13, the problem is the Windows 7 have difficulty to boot from UEFI, and you will stuck because AHCI is not supported by these DELL's BIOS.

izacus• 10 years ago

What does any of that have to do with Ubuntu shipped Dell XPS 13s?

xkiwi2• 10 years ago

I bought some XPS 13 with ubuntu installed. By the time I need windows 7 on the field, but I found out it is not possible because you will stuck at "AHCI not competable" BSoD no matter what ever you do.

I bet not everyone realized it is not possible(with my limited knowledge) to install Windows 7 on DELL laptops with UEFI bios.

zavandor2• 10 years ago

I booted Linux in UEFI and Legacy mode on my XPS 13 9350, it works fine.

AHCI is not related to UEFI. It's a SATA disk controller mode and these laptops ship with new NVMe disks which use PCIe bus instead of SATA.

Timshel2• 10 years ago

Looked really good until they had to botch something: let's put hdmi 1.4 and no DisplayPort, it's not like we're selling 4k screen ...

jkot3• 10 years ago

USB-C is display port. Reduction is $10

Timshel2• 10 years ago

O yeah missed that there is direct usb-c cable to DP thought it needed another adapter.

krzyk2• 10 years ago

Yeah, I'm wondering why Dell does that. I have M2800 and they give only HDMI, while most monitors require either Display Port or DVI (I'm ignoring VGA connector).

yitchelle• 10 years ago

Can anyone share their experience when compared to Macbook Air?

zavandor2• 10 years ago

I've recently switched from Macbook Air 11", running Linux, to XPS 13. They are practically same size, XPS is a bit bulkier, its plastic attracts fingerpints like crazy unlike Mac's aluminium, and I absolutely hate it that Fn and Ctrl positions are swapped and there's absolutely no way to override that. But beside all this, it's a very nice machine technically and I'm quite happy with it.

Ruud-v-A4• 10 years ago

I’ve been running Arch Linux on the non-developer edition XPS 15, and I’ve experienced very little problems. Occasionally the touchpad does not work, and sometimes headphone audio is silent. Other than that, everything works like a charm, even the Broadcom WiFi adapter.

natch• 10 years ago

Does this have a magsafe-type connector for the power cord?

I did look for it in the review but maybe I missed it.

radicalbyte3• 10 years ago

No it doesn't, unfortunately.

davidbanham• 10 years ago

No, but it does allow you to charge via USB-C which is pretty great.

giovannibajo1• 10 years ago

The previous models didn't support DFS in wifi 5ghz making them unable to work in high density wifi environments. Actually what's worse is that they randomically lose connection on a DFS AP (when the channel gets into one of the DFS-reserved ones they can't access). So you basically have to force them on 2.4 or disable DFS on the APs.

This applied to both the Broadcom and Intel wifi. Any chance these models are better in this regard?

treffer5• 10 years ago

The only cards that support DFS are atheros ath10k (I've tried DFS frequencies with an openwrt AP).

Anyway, I've yet to see an ath10k mini-pcie cards that would fit into this machine. The wireless can be easily replaced (at least on last years machine), so hardware hints welcome.

forgotpwtomain4• 10 years ago

I have a new XPS 15 running the 4.4 Kernel - Skylake is very buggy as is the broadcom wireless firmware.

Also slight physical tremors can cause complete system crashes. I would stay away from it.

nyc6403• 10 years ago

All the laptops mentioned in the article ship with Intel WiFi.

forgotpwtomain4• 10 years ago

> We really liked the updated Skylake-powered Dell XPS 13, and its bigger brother, the XPS 15, was also pretty great.
All the laptops mentioned in the article ship with Intel WiFi.

This is wrong - the XPS 15 does not.

02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC (rev 01)

ThePhysicist5• 10 years ago

I think it's really impressive what Dell has put together here. As my old Thinkpad T430 is nearing it's fourth anniversary I have been looking for an upgrade for a while and compared different options with a focus on lightweight, powerful laptops with good Linux support. And so far the XPS 13 seems way more attractive than the new Lenovo Skylake laptops (e.g. the 460s), which have lower resolution displays (some models still start with a 1.366 x 768 (!) display, which is just ridiculous in 2016), less and slower RAM, smaller hard drives and -as far as I can tell from the specs- less battery life as compared to the XPS 13 but are actually 300 - 400 $ more expensive, even when choosing three year guarantee for the XPS. The only thing I don't like about the XPS is Dell's guarantee, which is "send in", meaning that I probably won't see my laptop for a few weeks if it has to be repaired, whereas Lenovo will send a service technician to me who will usually be able to repair the laptop immediately (I already had to make use of this service twice, once to exchange a noisy fan and once to replace a broken display bezel).

I guess I'll wait for Apple to reveal the new MB Pro line before making a decision, but it seems that for the first time in 10 years my next laptop will not be a Lenovo/IBM.

rahimnathwani2• 10 years ago

I'm pretty sure Dell sells 'premium support' as a paid add-on, and that it covers on-site hardware repairs. I've used this service myself, albeit many years ago, to have a laptop motherboard replaced.

If you add this option, then the two laptops you're comparing may be closer in terms of price and support. Then it's just about the other factors you mention.

ThePhysicist5• 10 years ago

Good point, I wasn't aware that Dell offers this kind of service, will check that again!

marklyon• 10 years ago

They do. I bought my XPS 13 (9343) through the Microsoft Store because they had a rather significant discount and then called Dell to add on an extended next-business-day onsite warranty. Just like with the Lenovo, when I had a key get stuck on my keyboard (the space bar was double-spacing every time, by itself) a nice third-party tech showed up at my office and swapped it out.

awakeasleep• 10 years ago

Dell offers remarkable on-site hardware repair to busineses. Really sui-generis support.

They send a technician (with an enormous backpack full of dell parts) to your location within 24 hours. The tech will work on it on-site until repaired.

I do not believe there could be a less disruptive, quicker way to repair a laptop.

Not sure if they offer that same level of support to consumers, but if they do, know it blows AppleCare out of the water.

igravious• 10 years ago

I got two years on-site for a XPS 13 (9343) dev edition for not many €s at all. One year is standard I think, I paid for an extra one. Screen got some wonky pixels in that time-frame but it wasn't until the power brick started acting up that I called Dell. They did make triply sure that a house call was necessary to make sure that the engineer wouldn't be wasting their time. Friendly guy showed up who used to work servicing mainframes and miniframes until that work dried up. Took the machine apart, swapped in a new screen, gave me a new power brick and went on his way.

MichaelGG6• 10 years ago

The XPS13 appears to have a junk trackpad (no buttons, no middle button) and a messed up keyboard (I don't always use the arrows but when I do, those tiny ones suck.) And no trackpoint? Despite better other specs, poor basic human interaction devices are a showstopper. ThinkPads are the only ones I've seen with fairly good keyboards (even after Lenovo's "redesign").

Dell does have on call service, and in some countries it's better than Lenovo by far. I've had Dell send a guy into a village up a mountain in a 3rd world country, next day (!) whereas I couldn't even figure out how to make a claim with Lenovo in that country (and friends that work for the relevant company there confirm there is no inventory).

wazoox• 10 years ago

I haven't seen a trackpad with buttons for 8 years (Apple, Dell, Asus... ditched them between 2008 and 2012). People have chosen a long time ago, and physical trackpad buttons are a curiosity nowadays.

treffer5• 10 years ago

The touchpad works well with multi-tap and can handle single/double/tripple tab. Feel free to map that to the middle mouse if needed.

The keyboard is actually quite good once you get used to it. I used to need a keyboard replacement every 12-18 months on my lenovo (yes, you read that correctly). The Dell one has now survived 12 months, so I'd say the build quality is quite good, perhaps even better than the lenovo one (might also be due to design - nothing gets stuck under the keys, which helps a lot).

Dell has even send me replacement parts in the past to repair stuff on my own.

[EDIT] type.

ThePhysicist5• 10 years ago

That might be true but even now I don't use the trackpad so it wasn't an important factor for me. With my Thinkpad I either use a mouse or the little red dot, which is a bit more fatiguing for the hands though.

Thanks for sharing your service experience, as I need my laptop for work everyday this is an important point for me.

alkonaut4• 10 years ago

There may exist some non-crap trackpad with buttons but I have never used one. The buttonless trackpad on my current Dell precision is just as good as the one on my 2011 MBP.

I'd actively avoid a laptop if the trackpad had buttons now I think.

curt153• 10 years ago

The XPS 13's trackpad does conform to the Microsoft Precision touchpad specification, and handles multitouch gestures quite smoothly in Windows. Any failings of the trackpad in Linux can't be blamed on the hardware.

toyg• 10 years ago

Sorry dude, you're stuck in 2001. Physical trackpad buttons break, and break often -- which is why they're disappearing. MacBook trackpads are widely recognized as superior, and they are buttonless. The "clit" is also a history footnote at this point, it never got mainstream adoption. If you like Thinkpads that's fine, but don't try to pass your judgement as something universal because it's clearly coming from a very small minority.

rayiner2• 10 years ago

Trackpad buttons are a crutch for trackpads that can't reject small cursor movements while clicking the tracking surface.

CalRobert3• 10 years ago

I own an XPS 13 (the 9333, the first 1920x1080 one).

I have very much enjoyed it. The trackpad, to me, has been excellent, and the keyboard a delight, even with the tiny arrows, which I use constantly since they work in coordination with Fn to be Home, End, and Page up and down. There is no physical middle button, but I switched to the XPS 13 from an MBP so I am used to this arrangement.

The only complaint I have is the small coil whine noticeable in quiet settings, which I believe they've fixed, the lack of anything like magsafe on the power cord, which is a patent issue, and the soldered-on ram, which is understandable given the form factor, but frustrating. I DO like that the mSATA storage is upgradable.

CydeWeys4• 10 years ago

The XPS arrow keys don't look any different from the ones on a Macbook Pro, and those are fine.

I end up using the touchpad for many of the things I used to use the arrow keys for anyway.

sergiosgc4• 10 years ago

If you're looking for lightweight, high spec, go for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It's a gorgeous machine. Leaps and bounds better than MBPs. The XPS15 is about on par with the X1C

gcr• 10 years ago

I've used a Thinkpad t430u (the "same idea, more servicable" spiritual successor to the Thinkpad X1 Carbon) and a 2014 MBP.

In my opinion, t430u is the second-best laptop I've owned, but the Macbook blows it away, even in terms of build quality.

ThePhysicist5• 10 years ago

Yes I actually have a X1 Carbon as my work laptop and really like it, but again I have the feeling that you can get a better spec'd laptop with similar performance for less money these days.

eecks3• 10 years ago

How is it leaps and bounds better than a MBP? You say that but don't offer any reason.

MrUnderhill• 10 years ago

Did you mean XPS13? I think it would be on par performance- and weight-wise with X1C. XPS15 is _significantly_ bulkier, but in return you get the i7 6700HQ (quad core). I believe the MBPs use the HQ CPUs as well, so we are talking a slightly different class of laptops..

sonnyp• 10 years ago

I have a bad experience with X1, in 6 months of _very_ lightweight use the motherboard broke and a key detached itself.

meritt• 10 years ago

Maybe the 2016 version that just came out is better, I hope. Because last year's model has half of the stated battery life and the screen catches more reflections than a mirror. The touchscreen's responsiveness is very clunk, slow, and unnatural.

jjawssd2• 10 years ago

lmao this is simply untrue. what you are experiencing is called buyers remorse

sandGorgon2• 10 years ago

While thinkpad has removed BIOS whitelist...Ubuntu has introduced charger whitelist. The forums are replete with people having a conked out charger and the replacement charger causing the laptop to run slower.

But I agree with you - the current crop of thinkpad are unworthy. I'm planning to hold on to my t430s for another year.

bvttf• 10 years ago

thinkpad has removed BIOS whitelist.

Wait, what. Link please?

johnchristopher• 10 years ago

Honest question: I am a bit concerned about 1080p resolution on a 13" screen. Isn't too small to read ? Or do most people just increase the rendering quality (à la retina) ?

Kenji• 10 years ago

I have a 14" 1080p screen. I put everything to 125% (like font sizes, etc.) It's okay. My eyes are very good at short distances so I don't mind things being small. But yes, Windows 7 does not have enough scaling options to make higher resolutions on smaller screens work. With Windows 10 it is no problem though. With Ubuntu it also shouldn't be a problem. Yes, you do increase rendering quality, but not by much. You can still see individual pixels. But any higher pixel density probably wouldn't be useful, considering the small visual benefits and the higher CPU and GPU and thus battery demands.

ant6n• 10 years ago

As a friend of mine said: "I'm done with pixels"

mlvljr• 10 years ago

768 on 11" is OK, btw, using it daily :)

treffer5• 10 years ago

I have a QHD version. I have Firefox set to 125% (or 150%). I'm heavily relying on <ctrl> +/- to control the information density in terminals and browsers. That works really well.

Most UIs nowerdays adept to DPI, so no real problems there (idea/intellij just fixed their stuff to work better on HiDPI).

It's today just a matter of choice. I usually use a prescaling/font size etc. that does not pack too much information onto the screen but I enjoy that I can increase the density if needed!

npaquin2• 10 years ago

I've been using the XPS 13 for years and the 1080p screen is excellent, especially if you're coding or running multiple virtual machines on the box.

CydeWeys4• 10 years ago

The years of having "too many pixels" are thankfully well behind us (by several years). All modern OSes handle lots of pixels great, so having more pixels is always better, except maybe as far as battery life is concerned.

berkeleynerd• 10 years ago

I really like my new puri.sm laptop (the librem 13") ... especially the fact that it doesn't require any non-free bits in the distribution (in my case, debian stretch). I know some folks have issues with the fact that there are non-free bits under the hood (bios, etc...) but if what you're looking for is a solid, compact laptop with modern internals (I'm looking at you, my beloved Thinkpad x200) that can run a "pure" OS sans non-free components it fits the bill.

I should also note there was a recent price drop for the 13" model. I also love the hardware wifi/bluetooth and camera/mic on/off switches.

nickpsecurity2• 10 years ago

Whoa that costs money! My original HP 17" Media Center PC had comparable specs for less! Sounds interesting but many of us gotta wait for price drops or used on eBay.

click1702• 10 years ago

The Dell Latitude E7250 works pretty well, Debian Jessie is missing some drivers and things (eg for Wifi) but Linux Mint (ugh, I know...) works wonderfully well. I haven't tried Ubuntu but I would expect the same experience or better. I was worried about the trackpad being horrible, but I'm actually quite impressed. It's not an Apple trackpad but it's actually pretty decent. (The Disable-Trackpad-While-typing option is almost a requirement though)

Edit: I would emphasize though, if you're going to purchase with Dell, do it as a business (Just pretend you are a business, dont buy it through work). Dell consumer customer support is f#$&ing atrocious. I'm still fighting with them to rectify a problem from an order back in Nov 2015 that I never received. I can't overstate this enough, Dell consumer support is f$#&ing HORRIBLE.

ThePhysicist5• 10 years ago

Thanks for pointing this out, I wasn't aware that they offer this kind of service.

CydeWeys4• 10 years ago

And so far the XPS 13 seems way more attractive than the new Lenovo Skylake laptops (e.g. the 460s), which have lower resolution displays (some models still start with a 1.366 x 768 (!) display,

Laptop shopping is so frustrating because almost all of the manufacturers are clearly segmenting the market into two groups: shit and non-shit. In the shit group, you get painfully slow HDDs and painfully low res displays that would feel right at home on a laptop from a decade ago. In the non-shit group, you get SSDs, good displays, and prices that are two to three times higher even though the actual cost of the components hasn't gone up by nearly that much.

It's infuriating, not so much for myself (I end up wanting the high-end anyway), but when trying to give recommendations to friends and family on more limited budgets, because the entire lower end of the market is unnecessarily terrible. I just end up recommending Chromebooks because, hey, at least a lot of them have SSDs, and they're cheap. The screens typically suck, but when you're paying so little it doesn't feel like getting ripped off. Buying a mainstream $600 laptop feels like getting ripped off.

k_bx2• 10 years ago

I have to admit, I expected laptops to cover that niche you described (not too expensive and not shitty), but it seems to me that tablets with keyboard-covers will rather do that.

iheartmemcache• 10 years ago

There definitely is that market segmentation. It's been there for as long as I can remember. The way I've gotten around it is spending $600 on an 18-month-old laptop which was in that ~1000-1200 bracket (i.e. more than good enough for the power-user to run 3 VMs at once + multi-monitor via a dock or just HDMI out at full 2600x1460 on a 27"). A W-series IBM of Ivybridge[1,2] at $550 is a steal. 32 gigs of RAM + SSDs being as cheap as they are and you'd be golden.

[1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-W530-i7-3720QM-Quad-... [2] These will command a premium, so you might have to wait 30 months rather than 18, just because of the value retention IBM holds in the W/T/X lines. The benefit is you get meticulous machines most of the time.

cyphar• 10 years ago

And you can install Linux on the Chromebooks to give them a fully usable operating system. Unfortunately there aren't that many large-SSD Chromebooks. The best you can really get is the 500GB spinning HDD Asus or something similar.

I really like that we are heading toward more affordable computing. I just wish we would also push for more freedom-respecting computers as well.

dayjah• 10 years ago

I've an XPS 13, and I like it a lot. I use i3 as my window manager which, due to being keyboard driven, is quite infuriating on this device. The trackpad is incredibly sensitive and the heel of my hand being within 2" or so will trigger a contact. I've attempted to lessen the sensitivity to no avail. Most of the time this isn't an issue because I'm using an external keyboard and mouse, but when I'm on the road it drives me nuts. Enough so that I now remote work on an mbp, and desk work on the XPS.

obvio171• 10 years ago

The killer feature in the Thinkpad line for me is the military-grade sturdiness. Does Dell have the same kind of resistance to spills, drops, heat, etc.?

listic2• 10 years ago

Lenovo will send a service technician to me who will usually be able to repair the laptop immediately

What is this guarantee called and where is it available?

Here in Russia, I've had experience of giving away my ThinkPad to the service company for 2 months; they didn't call and the call center girl could not provide further information than "it's being worked on" (the law here requires service centers to complete repairs of such equipment in 3 months,). When I finally had enough and went to the service center for the explainations, or to retrieve my laptop back, and asked them what took them so long, they said they have "emailed IBM but they didn't answer back" (it was a while back and my ThinkPad was X60s, from IBM). It even was working, I just had some issues I wanted them to work through (e.g. the cooling system became noisier and hotter, apparently having been clogged with dust; etc.)

Raed667• 10 years ago

The only thing holding me back is the CPU.

boothead• 10 years ago

Any info on when this (or the XPS 15 with linux) will be available in the UK? I just had a look on Dell's website, and as expected it's still a shower of shit WRT finding what you want.

I bought one of the first or 2nd gen XPS 13s and loved it. However the experience of buying from Dell was awful and customer service was so intractable as to be useless too.

abrowne2• 10 years ago

According to the project lead†, "Europe [is] being readied for launch as we speak, stay tuned for more details."

†: http://bartongeorge.net/2016/03/10/xps-13-developer-edition-...

storrgie• 10 years ago

Seems like there isn't a way to get a 15 without being forced into hybrid graphics.... :(

cududa• 10 years ago

"forced into hybrid graphics" you mean 'modern hardware'? Sorry if your OS of choice doesn't support the trends of this decade

tiatia• 10 years ago

I use an XPS 13 with Kubuntu.

I have no experience with preinstalled Linux, but similar to Android, I would be afraid of presinstalled crabware. Just remove the windows and make a clean install.

manaskarekar• 10 years ago

I've had great luck with Dells for Linux support. Lubuntu on Latitudes has run flawlessly over the years.

It is unfortunate that Dell chose to use small arrow keys and at the same time overload the arrow keys with the 'Home-End-PgUp-PgDown'. Hard to believe this layout was chosen for their Latitude and Precision lines too.

Zer88• 10 years ago

I've had the XPS 15 since December and that is my only complaint.

PgUp/Dn is not an issue, but having to hit two keys (Fn + Arrow) to Home / End is simply unacceptable when you're used to spam those while writing and refactoring code.

I did some tweaking to mirror my old setup that had Home / End above backspace and that I love, because you can have your left hand thumb on the arrows while your middle finger drives Home / End.

The rightmost 3 keys above backspace are PrtScr / Ins / Del, which I re-mapped to Del / Home / End, and put PrtScr / Ins on the Fn+Arrow instead.

Glyptodon• 10 years ago

Yeah, I have a Dell (a cheap plastic 13" of some kind) and don't mind the small arrow buttons. But I can't stand that they used them with fn for begin/end/page up/page down.

Vlaix2• 10 years ago

Now make a laptop with a keyboard and touchpad that justifies me stopping frankensteining my old machines to keep them alive.

That chiclet keyboard and phone-sized pad nonsense is very limiting.

mistat• 10 years ago

Are these available in Australia yet? I can only ever find reference to the US store

tunichtgut• 10 years ago

Hell, its about time!

JustSomeNobody2• 10 years ago

I don't understand. Dell has been shipping Linux on laptops for a very long time.

mixmastamyk• 10 years ago

It's been a long wait for Skylake, 16gb+, and hi-dpi... personally I've been waiting about two years for the last two.

davidy123• 10 years ago

This is great, but Thinkpads have always had good Linux support. I have a friend who bought the previous XPS 13 Ubuntu edition and it had all kinds of problems which are only being worked out now, problems that aren't present on most Thinkpads.

I got the X1 Yoga one month after it came out, installed an alpha version of Ubuntu 16.04 on it and everything just works, including the touch screen.

otar• 10 years ago

One tiny detail that bothers me is that there's a Windows logo on the keyboard. It could be Tux or Ubuntu logo.

Tux Penguin sticker solved my problem on my XPS 13, but would be nice to see it coming out of the box.

jon-wood• 10 years ago

I reconcile the Windows logo on my keyboards by using it as the meta key in XMonad, meaning the windows key is used to manage windows.

ersii• 10 years ago

If it makes you any happier, there is a Ubuntu logo on the metal flap on the bottom of the first XPS Developer Edition laptops (Project Sputnik). On the regular ones, there's a Microsoft/Windows logo instead.

akerro• 10 years ago

Why is this a news? I bought two laptops before, both of them came with Linux, one Asus one Dell.

ciokan2• 10 years ago

Just got the xps 15 (9550) yesterday which had windows on it. Installed ubuntu 16.04 beta and works very well. I had huge problems trying to install any lower version of ubuntu & variants.

mtreis86• 10 years ago

Is speed step turned on in the bios? I have had issues with installing lower (3.x) kernels on my dell desktops and turning speed step off worked

ciokan2• 10 years ago

No idea. I haven't changed anything besides safe boot ans some UEFI bits.

arca_vorago• 10 years ago

I have ordered a few midline desktops from dell for testing their Ubuntu setup. In the end I wiped and installed my own, and the eula that pops up on first boot was fucking ridiculous, I mean I know they like tonpush the boundaries for self protection, and I understand things like wanted to keep any issues in their jurisdiction and stuff like that, but clauses in the eula stated you waved all rights including constitutional ones (yes, the word constitutional was used in the actual eula,) agreed to forfeit any trial by jury or anybother legal procedure except private arbitration in Dells jurisdiction, and some other stuff that really bothered me to see as the first thing that popped up on first boot.

Lots of it is obviously totally unenforceable and wouldnt stand in court, but they put it in there anyway just because they can get away with it.

Does no one do reasonable eulas/tos?

nivertech• 10 years ago

I waiting for Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon 4th gen with Skylake CPU. Anybody knows if it's already available?

bliti• 10 years ago

How much does this thing cost?

nickpsecurity2• 10 years ago

History repeats: the Dell Inspiron that just crapped out on me (somewhat) after years of use was their first Linux model. It also had Ubuntu by default. Great laptop. Interesting enough, after all the updates, I'm having trouble finding something that works out of the box that's not Ubuntu. It's running Fedora fine right now but software management is totally different from my Debian-based experience. Might ditch it. ;)

modzu• 10 years ago

looks great on paper, but the 2015 xps13 had some serious issues like useless webcam and trackpad...

it's the laptop that flipped me to mac. wont go back.

intrasight• 10 years ago

Is it less expensive than one with Windows?

moonbug• 10 years ago

At the other end of the spectrum, the 5" Inspiron 3552 that comes with Ubuntu, which I'm typing this on, is quite the best 200 dollar laptop you can get.

listic2• 10 years ago

You have missed a significant digit. For a moment there, I thought I have missed something and netbooks are back again (with screens as small as 5", this time).

dblooman• 10 years ago

Is there a 13 or 15 inch laptop without a number pad that supports Ubuntu for less than £500 that uses an Core i5 Skylake CPU?

rcthompson2• 10 years ago

The placement of the webcam in the lower left corner is truly idiotic.

_RPM• 10 years ago

I seriously can't tell if this article being here is an advertisement. Is it possible the site owners have been paid to have this post here?

pascalo• 10 years ago

For all the people dealing with shitty dell customer support on the phone, try using their @dellcares twitter account. Had a broken acreen glass and later a faulty fan on my 2014 xps 13, and they sent around a technician each time, all via twitter. Much less painfull than hanging on the phone. Excellent customer support.

jjawssd2• 10 years ago

This is really strange. Why is this?

passivepinetree• 10 years ago

It could be because of the immediate negative publicity complaints on social media get.

Irate customer complains via Twitter, @ mentions Dell => a bunch of people see it.

Irate customer complains via a private communication channel => others are much less likely to notice/find out.

Mikeb85• 10 years ago

It's nice to see Dell beginning to actually adopt Linux and Ubuntu. I always kind of figured part of the strategy of going private was to be able to move away from the status quo of being just another Windows vendor... By offering choice and eliminating lock-in, they can go after techie types and serious users who otherwise would have probably just bought a ThinkPad or MBP.

jgalt212• 10 years ago

I have a new (purchased Dec '15) XPS 15. And despite having dual booted about 10-15 different PCs and laptops (mostly Dell and HP) have thus far have had zero success getting Ubuntu on my new box. I suspect it has to do with two internal hard drives, but I've sort of given up at this point (I bricked the first box, and Dell sent me a new one) and relegate this otherwise very nice laptop to the accounting department to run Quickbooks and Office.

cttet• 10 years ago

The keyboard though.

krob• 10 years ago

If you're not looking for an ultra book. I've got a 7510 Dell Precision Laptop base. i7-6820HQ supports upto 64gb of ram in the laptop, 2 ram slots above keyboard, 2 below. Supports 1 m.2 epci nvme, 1 sata3. I've Samsung 950 Pro NVME 512gb ssd, 1 2tb Samsung Evo 850. I don't believe the NVME works w/o AHCI booting. My experience with linux on this laptop was bar none one of the best. I did have to install ubuntu 15.10, but everything worked without a hitch. This laptop also worked with optimus graphics chip switching. Quadro 4gb DDR4 M2002 chip. Battery is really impressive. Monitor is 4k matted. It's probably the best laptop I've ever owned. Since I purchased it, it now comes with usb type-c w/ thunderbolt 40gbit support. So you can get a really nice fancy docking port for it. Also I've a 2014 macbook pro fully loaded and this is only 1lb heavier than that was. You can also get a xeon chip on this platform. http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-m7510-workstatio...

Dell’s Skylake XPS 13, Precision workstations now come with Ubuntu preinstalled

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