14" Razer Blade 1060, grab a dbrand matte skin to cover the hideous Razer logo. No problems with Ubuntu 16.10 currently installed. Also have a 13" Dell XPS dev edition used for specific work. It's a nice system as well. The Razer def has more power if you want a full replacement.
Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
81–90 of 112 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconded. I have this running xubuntu and all is fine with the world. My only complaint is the limited ram.
Apparently there are a lot of complains on quality, as in "quality control" before shipping to people doesn't exist, if you are lucky, you're fine, if not, you'll need to return, is that true?
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#83Best developer laptop is a Dell Precision 5510. Up to 32GB ram, thinner and lighter than a Macbook, SSD that does >1.5GB/sec, and has a docking station.
I wish there was a well funded linux operating system like the macOS or whatever so that we all could switch over from MBPs. Apple has been mocking us for the past few years with its lame products and specs and extremely high prices.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#84I wish there was a well funded linux operating system like the macOS or whatever so that we all could switch over from MBPs. Apple has been mocking us for the past few years with its lame products and specs and extremely high prices.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#85Yes, I've been using a Retina MacBook Pro 13" (early 15) and 15" (mid 15) and just picked up the xps 13 9350 with iris pro. There are definitely some quality control issues but once you get a working model with no faults (I had one that wouldn't reboot and had terrible coil whine, one that had loose trackpad and yellow tint on screen but this could also be because of Amazon's shitty packaging where the laptop was in…
> once you get a working model with no faults (I had one that wouldn't reboot and had terrible coil whine, one that had loose trackpad and yellow tint on screen I never understood how people can deal with multiple rounds of RMAing (or whatever) a defective product and still turn around and recommend it to other people. If a company can't consistently deliver their products intact and functional, why should I waste ho…
And as I said, `but this could also be because of Amazon's shitty packaging where the laptop was in a box with only some brown paper crumpled in` - I'm not even sure if the issue was because of improper shipping or factory defect. If you're all that worried about wasting your time, go to the nearest retail store and test your unit as you buy it.
I also forgot to mention, I bought the defective models through Amazon Warehouse Deals - so it could very well have been a return due to the said defects.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#86Yes, I've been using a Retina MacBook Pro 13" (early 15) and 15" (mid 15) and just picked up the xps 13 9350 with iris pro. There are definitely some quality control issues but once you get a working model with no faults (I had one that wouldn't reboot and had terrible coil whine, one that had loose trackpad and yellow tint on screen but this could also be because of Amazon's shitty packaging where the laptop was in…
> xps 13 9350 with iris pro Do you mean Iris Graphics 540? I think Iris Pro Graphics 550 included on-chip eDRAM and isn't available on any of their 15W Skylake CPUs, it's a 28W only part.
I thought only Pro SKUs get EDRAM but turns out I was wrong.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#87Yes, I've been using a Retina MacBook Pro 13" (early 15) and 15" (mid 15) and just picked up the xps 13 9350 with iris pro. There are definitely some quality control issues but once you get a working model with no faults (I had one that wouldn't reboot and had terrible coil whine, one that had loose trackpad and yellow tint on screen but this could also be because of Amazon's shitty packaging where the laptop was in…
> so does OS X if you can replace the wifi card Please tell us more! What card am I supposed to replace it with, and is it anything involving soldering or just sockets and switches?
There are numerous guides on replacing the wifi card in the dell, ifixit has guides. And because this isn't apple, the laptop has a upgrade/repair/owner's manual (online).
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#88I'd love to see some real competition with macbooks but I haven't seen anything close yet... Alternatives do exist but they are still very expensive... I mean really, they are bloody expensive. When I'm thinking about putting this kind of money on the table, I just go to apple store, no? Why on earth there's no startup which just puts together linux laptops? I'm sure you can grab Chinese/Taiwanese/Korean whitelabelis…
Do System76 or ZaReason count? They even have non-Windows super keys. (Ubuntu logo or Tux, respectively)
I have no experience with their laptops, but I have a System76 desktop, and have no complaints.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#89Just be careful with the Dell Thunderbold 3 TB15 dock (not sold any more I think). I got one, and with the latest drivers it works, but has some quirks. Also be careful to sort out complaints about the XPS in the net: may have problems using the dock, not with the laptop itself.
And the touchpad is great by the way.
Re: Ask HN: Is Dell XPS Developer Edition a Good Replacement of Macbook Pro?
#90• Trackpad much worse than on a Mac
• Coil whine
• Bad fan control means it was sometimes noisy in near-idle contitions (though in idle it was very silent)
• there were some flicker issues with the GPU (might have been resolved though)
• one key was bouncy, meaning it sometimes triggered twice
• it woke up from sleep randomly, sometimes while in my bag, often completely emptying the battery
In the beginning it also crashed very often, however this was resolved with an update.
So all in all the quality wasn't on the level of a Mac.
And I wouldn't even start speaking about the OS. If you're used to macOS, it's still such a day and night difference.
Connecting a normal low dpi display to the 9550 with HIDPI display lead to so many annoyances with Windows and all the programs that won't support this for the years to come. I'd barely consider it useful. Although the display itself was quite nice.