New XPS 15 Laptop • Hacker News Board

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#111

Post by easytiger » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:52 PM UTC

hussong wrote: post #88

StavrosK wrote: post #51

Speaking of laptops, what would you recommend to someone running Ubuntu? My 2013 MacBook Air is feeling it, with its non-upgradable 4 GB RAM. A discrete graphics card so I could play DotA2 once in a while would be nice, even if it's at medium graphics quality.

Thinkpads are generally a safe bet. I've been using different models from the X-Series with Ubuntu since 08.04 and am currently looking at the T450s (14", but still an Ultrabook and light enough for me). The X1 Carbon looks damn sweet as well.

The X1 Carbon (latest.. 4th? gen) is my daily laptop since release and I can't wait to get rid of it. In anything other than low light/perfect lighting the screen is unbearably dull, speakers are appalling (though in ubuntu you can override to > 100% volume). Keyboard is pretty unsatisfying to use also.

I got it because i wanted a 14" laptop and it was the only one on the market. Screen size is perfect (15" is a bit big for travelling & carry on luggage)

This looks like the laptop i've been waiting for

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#112

Post by varlock » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:52 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #66

pilooch wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ve switched from air running Ubuntu to XPS 13 dev edition with Ubuntu. Not everything beautiful but a decent switch, great power, autonomy and screen.

Thank you! What are some things you don't like about it? Looking for a laptop is pretty frustrating, there are a ton of models and each has a ton of versions, it's really hard to know what to get :(

Not OP, but got the same laptop. "Jumpy trackpad" [1] and "stuck key" [2] problems are the ones I feel most.

They should have been fixed by the latest firmware (apparently still in 2015) but I can still experience them sometimes. I believe I have the latest fw (I'm surely >= 06A), but can't check ATM, so chances are I'm not on the latest. Then again, I admit I can work with it almost seamlessly (dev-work from CLI mainly).

[1] http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/46... [2] en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/t/19637021

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#113

Post by morganvachon » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:53 PM UTC

sisk wrote: post #93

Tangential but I figure the folks who will know the answer will wander into this thread. I need to buy a decent but lightweight 15" for a family member who is undergoing cancer treatments and has gotten too weak for his current behemoth 17". Light work (browsing, some streaming) but definitely a windows machine. Any recommendations? I've been keeping an eye on this exact machine (previous model now)—anything better?

Even though I flagged the HN post as it's pretty much spam (a direct link to Dell's product page and not a review or analysis of the device), I have to say that in my experience Dell's XPS line is pretty much the gold standard for Windows alternatives to the MacBook and MacBook Air. The only other lightweight notebook that comes close is the Asus ZenBook, which directly competes with the MBA and is a pretty amazing machine for the price.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#114

Post by lorenzhs » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:54 PM UTC

vladharbuz wrote: post #96

Anyone else getting an access denied error? Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-15-9560-laptop" on this server. Reference #18.f4741602.1482244883.2126641

Yes, but the archive.org link further down worked for me: http://web.archive.org/web/20161220095136/http://www.dell.co...

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#115

Post by nhumrich » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:57 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #51

Speaking of laptops, what would you recommend to someone running Ubuntu? My 2013 MacBook Air is feeling it, with its non-upgradable 4 GB RAM. A discrete graphics card so I could play DotA2 once in a while would be nice, even if it's at medium graphics quality.

I always recommend the thinkpad T series. The 14s has almost the same profile as a macbook air. I've ran Linux on thinkpads for a while now, never disappointed.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#116

Post by adrusi » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:57 PM UTC

codewiz wrote: post #69

No USB Type-C, seriously?

It has thunderbolt 3, which is compatible with all type-c devices.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#117

Post by hajile » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #51

Speaking of laptops, what would you recommend to someone running Ubuntu? My 2013 MacBook Air is feeling it, with its non-upgradable 4 GB RAM. A discrete graphics card so I could play DotA2 once in a while would be nice, even if it's at medium graphics quality.

I'm kinda in the same boat.

I want a laptop with Iris Pro 580/p580 and NO dedicated GPU. The 580 has a bit over a TFLOP of compute (plenty for games like DoTA) and more importantly, the drivers don't suck on Linux. The issue is that any laptop that ships with that processor also ships with a crappy dedicated GPU.

When I have a 45w processor, I want to pay a few hundred extra for a 55w Nvidia M2000m that has 10% more compute power (granted, more efficient at GPGPU) and horrible drivers.

What I want:

15.6", i7-6770HQ, 32gb DDR4, M.2 SSD, high-res IPS screen, Thinkpad-grade keyboard, good webcam, decent ports (At least 2x thunderbolt, 3x usb3, SD, 3.5mm, and ethernet), a little thicker for a battery that lasts a couple days, durable build quality, large trackpad with builtin wacom, NO dedicated graphics.

I guess that's too much to ask.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#118

Post by thirdsun » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

fortytw2 wrote: post #107

vladharbuz wrote: post #96

Anyone else getting an access denied error? Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-15-9560-laptop" on this server. Reference #18.f4741602.1482244883.2126641

It seems like they block access to the US store from outside the US? No VPN here, just a DE IP and it's blocked. Incredible to see the price differential between the US and DE stores though, on top of the 18% VAT you expect

That seems to be the case here. Visiting http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/ from my german IP yields the same result. Unbelievable. Frankly, the whole site looks like a mess to me.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#119

Post by trzeci » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:00 PM UTC

I have "old" one 9550 i7, 4K, 32GB - as a device for this money I wouldn't expect that I will have:

- unaligned Jack socket, so that only one channel plays

- Flickering backlight, where only one rescue is to downgrade BIOS: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/t/...

- random freezes: Whole computer hangs, there is no error in Windows log, it's not related to nVidia card, it's not related to load.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#120

Post by 0wl3x » Tue, Dec 20, 2016, 3:02 PM UTC

reitanqild wrote: post #102

0wl3x wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like using Ubuntu but I don't like Unity. My solution? Run Awesome WM instead :)

Same here, except KDE 5, nicely wrapped up in the Neon distro by the KDE people.

Wow that's really cool. I didn't know about this project before. Thanks for the headsup!