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New XPS 15 Laptop

dell.com

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Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#121

GTX 1050 for the laptop? Why aren't there more laptops with this SKU...

Nvidia does top down, so 1080 first, 1070, then 1060 on the desktop. Then a few months later on laptops. The 1050 was recently announced for desktops, and is now about to hit laptops. I expect to see many more 1050s, likely a ton will be announced at CES in Jan.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#122
> Available with Windows 10

so sad

> Dell Thunderbolt™ Dock | TB16

I wonder if they fixed all the issues? I doubt they didn't.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#124
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 :(

One issue would be the webcam placement, it's below the screen. If you get the XPS 13 don't make the same mistake I've made, don't waste your money on this POS http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk... Linux support is very bad, it uses a proprietary technology. Get a USB-C to HDMI adapter instead.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#126
post #119

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.

That's why things you buy usually come with warranties.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#127
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for a start, by default accounts can access the root account by simply running sudo -i

For me that always came across as a sane choice for single user developer/power user machines. Also IIRC it is only the very first user that has this privilege by default. For extra users I think you'll have to explicitly enable it when you create the account (or at a later stage.)

i barely trust my own programs to have access to the root account, why should any old script be able to access the entire machine in 6 letters?

"you should never run anything as root" yet on ubuntu everything as good as runs as root by default.

even windows ussually has a seperate password to create user accounts, but with ubuntu make the mistake of leaving your machine unlocked and unattended and any little script kiddy can own your machine in fractions of a second. worse even than windows, because they get remote access by default.

I understand why they did it. but if they are making those kind of changes I dont have the energy to track down what other things they "broke" to favor some (what i consider to be) misguided idea of useability over security.

you know, stuff like this

http://askubuntu.com/questions/153933/no-password-prompt-at-...

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#128
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dell "developer" releases come with linux preinstalled. so almost certainly. although i wouldnt touch ubuntu with a barge pole. e.g. http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/xps-13-9350-laptop-ubuntu/...

> i wouldnt touch ubuntu with a barge pole Just curious what makes you say that?

Not the parent either...I'm not a fan of Ubuntu proper, even variants like Xubuntu (and I adore Xfce). I do, however, really enjoy Elementary OS which is Ubuntu based but has an amazing UI and all sorts of helpful little features baked in. I get the same feeling of "whoa, I didn't know an OS would do that and I don't know how I got by without it!" as I did 12 years ago when I started using OS X for the first time.

Some examples: The terminal is smart enough to know when you want to paste a command, and allows you to Ctrl-V without the Shift modifier if you have a terminal command in the clipboard. The terminal will intelligently auto-correct a tab completion when you use the wrong case (e.g. type "docu" and hit tab, and it will complete to "Documents" if there is no file/folder starting with "docu", instead of failing on the mixed case). Start a process in the terminal and minimize or send that window to the background, and you'll get a system notification when the task completes. That's awesome for when I start to compile something big, then load up Netflix or Vimeo to pass the time while it runs; I don't end up binging away my night on videos and forgetting about that build. There are a few more niceties in the terminal but this paragraph is already huge.

In the file manager, dealing with networked drives is much more seamless than even macOS. It has built in support for sftp, afp, nfs, smb/cifs. I can put in the ssh credentials for one of my VPS instances, and I can then browse that instance as if it's a local drive. Ironically, browsing a Windows share from Elementary is easier than from another Windows box, thanks to regressions in Windows 10's file sharing settings.

There's a bunch of functionality I won't go into as this is turning into an advertisement, but in my experience it is by far the best desktop Linux experience I've had, and the only one that comes close to the cohesiveness of macOS.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#129

anyone else here thinking dell designs are kinda boring? I bought macbook to run win10 because it had great design. I am thinking of buying surface book next. Why can't Dell focus on a creative design?

Out of curiosity, what makes a design interesting for you? To me a laptop is two rectangular bits, with a screen on one and a keyboard on another. My macbook has silver rectangular bits, that Dell has black rectangular bits. I don't really see any other significant difference between the two..

simply the design make it look like oozes class.

(im getting downvoted soon, but i can take it :) )

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#130
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I was surprised how light the T-Series models have become, hadn't looked at them in years and only remembered the heavy clunky units that made me go for the X-Series.

The current model T460s is also interesting, quite a bit more performance than its predecessor, albeit in a different price bracket.

I'm mostly going for the 450 because there's tons of decent refurb available and I'm frugal that way ;-)

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