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New XPS 15 Laptop

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Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#271

Post by asciimo »

easytiger wrote: post #111
hussong wrote: 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…

Same here, except I have a different experience. Maybe it's because I upgraded from a 2010 Macbook Air, but I like the screen a lot. The speakers suck, I agree, but I rarely use external speakers when I'm in laptop mode. I really like that it runs Ubuntu almost perfectly, and that it has 16GB or RAM. I do wish the video card was more powerful, but it drives a 4k monitor (as well as its own display) quite well. It's stupid lightweight, too. Makes my 2010 Air feel like cast iron.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#272

Post by hashhar »

slantyyz wrote: post #179
Roritharr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wish they'd give me this in a 13inch package. (like the Alienware 13, just with a more mature chassis)

The problem with the Alienware 13R3 is that it's a great professional machine with the most incredibly stupid looking adornments. I absolutely hate how the best machines are Gaming machines, which means you're stuck with all sorts of LED bling-crap. The 13R3 looks like an absolutely killer machine for everyday work. OLED touch, quad core CPU (HQ series), fast GPU, physical touchpad buttons, ports out the wazoo, user…

Try the Razer Blade or the Razer Blade Pro. Except for the green logo on the top nothing makes it look like a gaming machine. And the Pro even has mechanical switches.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#273

Post by criddell »

nhumrich wrote: post #115
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.

I use two ThinkPads and one thing that I dislike about both of them is the Lenovo software. It's buggy and uses a lot of memory. I've gone through and uninstalled as much of it as I can and both machines have been much more stable. If I were buying a new machine today, I would probably reformat and reinstall Windows.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#275

Post by slantyyz »

hashhar wrote: post #272
slantyyz wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with the Alienware 13R3 is that it's a great professional machine with the most incredibly stupid looking adornments. I absolutely hate how the best machines are Gaming machines, which means you're stuck with all sorts of LED bling-crap. The 13R3 looks like an absolutely killer machine for everyday work. OLED touch, quad core CPU (HQ series), fast GPU, physical touchpad buttons, ports out the wazoo, user…

Try the Razer Blade or the Razer Blade Pro. Except for the green logo on the top nothing makes it look like a gaming machine. And the Pro even has mechanical switches.

Those are nice machines, but for any laptop I buy for work reasons, I like to invest in a 3 year extended warranty.

With brands like Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo, I know I'll get at least OK support.

Because Razer is more of a niche brand without a mature support infrastructure like the aforementioned companies, I do have some concerns.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#276

Post by micaksica »

bitwize wrote: post #247
bronz wrote: post #139

i feel like a new trend is emerging with these nice, 15 inch non-apple laptops. i say non-apple because they are attracting the pro crowd that used to buy apple exclusively. my personal fantasy is a laptop that isnt shy about being thick, affording it a huge battery, tons of ports, OLED screen and solid state trackpad like the macbook. with very reliable linux drivers for all the hardware. a very utilitarian machine.

Look into the Dell Precision 7xxx series. Expensive, and bulky and heavy enough to kill a man with one nice hard swing. But they are meant as serious portable workstations, and come with the fastest processors and GPUs, up to 32 GiB of memory, and bulky hard drives. They're not trendy terminals for hipsters' cloud dev environments. They can be purchased equipped with Ubuntu off Dell's site (in the USA, I dunno about…

I am Precision 7 owner. With Skylake you still have 4 SODIMM slots and the new ones are a little lighter than the older ones, so you can have 64 GB RAM, a proper quad-core i7 (or Xeon), and discrete, removable graphics - the video card is on a daughter card that can be swapped out.

Mine has an M.2 SSD and a big hard disk in it, a real GTX 960 eGPU via Thunderbolt 3, and only 32 GB RAM for now. Running Linux it has tons of overhead for multiple VMs (my Win10 VM has 8GB RAM), and lots of processing power. Unlike most laptops the Precision 7x series also is built to run flat out without throttling under load.

Yes, it weighs like 8 lbs, and I don't think the new "carbon fiber" ones feel as durable as the older tan aluminum ones, but it's definitely a worthy replacement for a desktop. I just take a netbook with me most of the time when I need portability, but it's great when I know I need horsepower somewhere other than my own office.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#277

Post by jessechahal »

lorenzhs wrote: post #114
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...

thanks, worked like a charm!

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#278

Post by jessechahal »

pmlamotte wrote: post #225
lazarus101 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I just switched to the XPS 13 as well and picked up the WD15 which is the same price on Amazon. The WD15 officially supports linux and from what I read is better than the 3100 as long as you're on a more recent kernel. Hopefully I won't have to return it.

WD15 has 1 mDP, 1 HDMI, and 1 VGA. I'm hoping to get something that supports linux + 3 DP or HDMI based monitors.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#279

Post by irontoby »

Yhippa wrote: post #200
lmm wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think that was what I wanted. But I think at this point a thin laptop can be good enough, and being able to get away from having a dev laptop and a travel netbook is a huge win. Moving all the ports onto a dock - provided it's a first-party fully-supported dock - is also a win, since it enables me to leave everything plugged in at home and take my computer travelling without having to unplug and replug ever…

First-party docks are very underrated. I like having one connection from the laptop that gives you access to KVM or whatever. I love my MBP (early 2015) but the thing looks like Medusa and I think twice about having to remove all the cables from it to use it on the couch.

But that's part of the promise of USB-C / Thunderbolt 3... interchangeable, standards-based docks that work with a single connection. I'm currently using my Dell XPS 15 (9550) with the Plugable USB-C Docking Station which uses a single cable to power the laptop, drive two monitors (one DisplayPort alt mode, the other over USB), gig ethernet, and a few USB devices.

Granted, it's not as seamless as it could be, but it's still new technology. There are issues with the USB-C connection cutting out when wifi is also on, so I've gotten in the habit of just turning off wifi when I'm docked. We're currently in the "first generation" of consumer USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 devices, so I expect those issues to get ironed out pretty quickly.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#280

Post by deeth_starr »

deong wrote: post #171
bronz wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

out of all the laptops that are around right now, the xps series seems to be the closest to my fantasy -- this is due largely to their developer models which come with linux and linux supported hardware. when you say w do you mean Wh? ive heard murmurs of the legal limit for battery capacity in a laptop being 100Wh so that is very disappointing that the new xps would not even approach that anemic cap. i was in a mall…

The whole 100W thing was, as far as I can tell, an almost completely unsupported theory advanced by a Mac blogger about why Apple doesn't put bigger batteries in their laptops. There is apparently some FAA document saying something to that effect, but of course there are lots of regulations on various books that are unenforced or unenforceable, and there have been dozens, maybe hundreds, of laptops made over the year…

"Lithium ion batteries (a.k.a.: rechargeable lithium, lithium polymer, LIPO, secondary lithium). Passengers may carry all consumer-sized lithium ion batteries (up to 100 watt hours per battery)"

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/as...

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