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New XPS 15 Laptop

dell.com

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Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#311

Post by Const-me »

e2kp wrote: post #306
Const-me wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That high-end / low-end thing is mostly a marketing BS invented to maximize manufacturer’s profits. Works OK in the sense their profit is fine, but if you’re a consumer, you better rely on the specs only and ignore the marketing.

Specs dont matter much anymore. Any dual core laptop can do what most people need. What matters is the build quality, QA, battery life, screen, heat dissipation. All things you cant infer solely based on specs.

On modern laptops, build quality and QA are more or less OK (or “equally bad” if you’re a pessimist). Because warranty returns are expensive, and also because competition.

If you buy a laptop to watch youtube and read e-mails, sure, any dual core will do, but for a professional, performance matters. Speaking of performance, I wouldn’t buy this dell because the CPU has no L4 cache. Some tasks, like compiling C++, benefit a lot from that 64-128 MB on-chip DRAM found in some previous-generation CPUs.

Specs still matter. Battery life is measured in hours; screens are measured in pixels, inches and percentage of Adobe RGB.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#312

Post by rstuart4133 »

karlgrz wrote: post #266
trzeci wrote: 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.

I'm currently running the 9550 with ubuntu 16.04 and can confirm #2 on your list. It's pretty annoying. Bumping the brightness up helps a lot, but when on battery and/or late at night that's a terrible compromise.

It's a bug in the Intel drivers. Windows suffered from the same problem, for what it is worth.

"Suffered" because if you have updated your BIOS Intel has automagically updated their driver, so Windows is good now. Debian testing and Ubuntu 16.10 are also good now. Ubuntu 16.10 is a recent thing, but Debian testing was good well before Windows.

Your problems are therefore caused by:

a. Intel issuing shitty Skylake GPU drivers for something like 12 months. This obviously effected everyone, not just Dell. But Dell released Skylake CPU's before most so they were hit hardest. Apple worked around the problem by simply not updating their Mac Book pro line.

b. Ubuntu not updating 16.04 LTS. The 4.8 Kernel plus bug fixes, plus new Intel X drivers, plus new GPU firmware is what is required.

I've owned a 9550 for about a year now, and it's been a world of pain. There is plenty of blame to share around, but Dell is right down my list. The only thing I blame them for is the shitty Mac Book like keyboard.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#313

Post by karlgrz »

rstuart4133 wrote: post #312
karlgrz wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently running the 9550 with ubuntu 16.04 and can confirm #2 on your list. It's pretty annoying. Bumping the brightness up helps a lot, but when on battery and/or late at night that's a terrible compromise.

It's a bug in the Intel drivers. Windows suffered from the same problem, for what it is worth. "Suffered" because if you have updated your BIOS Intel has automagically updated their driver, so Windows is good now. Debian testing and Ubuntu 16.10 are also good now. Ubuntu 16.10 is a recent thing, but Debian testing was good well before Windows. Your problems are therefore caused by: a. Intel issuing shitty Skylake GPU…

Interesting, thanks for the insight there.

I'm not in a rush to upgrade to 16.10, but I'm also not opposed to it in the slightest. Maybe I'll give that a shot over the holidays here. Thanks again, cheers!

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#314

Post by rstuart4133 »

andrewvijay wrote: post #70

Looks nice but their customer service will fuck you over if you have a hardware problem serious enough to replace some vital part. There was a huge thread here only recently by some poor guy being harassed by them.

Not my experience either. In fact one of the deciding factors in my buying Dell is their warranty support.

I don't know about where you live, but where I live it's nothing short of amazing. It usually really is Next Business Day, there are no arguments, the man comes out with parts does the deed on my desk, and if it doesn't fix the issue lodges a new support call for it.

When the warranty expired I purchased a spare part. Granted finding the part number was a painful experience. But the measly $100 or whatever it was for the entire plastic back of the screen including the HV electronics, and the 2 day delivery more than made up for it.

I often look at other laptops, but then I remember HP had to be prosecuted by our government here before they would honour warranty claims, and the utter lack of response from ASUS for out of warranty parts.

For me Dell hardware seems to be much of a muchness - the manufacturers all use the same parts after all. It's Dell's support that sets them apart for me - in an opposite way to what you say.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#315

Post by lozf »

hussong wrote: post #130
easytiger wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ;-)

Just be sure that you're comfortable with the trackpoint on the 450... They swapped the buttons for a touch sensitive area at the top of the trackpad. The physical buttons have made a welcome return on the T460 range, but if that doesn't bother you, enjoy a great machine.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#316

Post by reacharavindh »

trzeci wrote: 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.

This just confirmed my belief of the state of choosing a non Apple computer for work. Even with all the shortcomings and all the fat profit margins, Apple sure does make dependable machines. Now, computers do fail. But, the fact that I can take my Mac into any Apple store and claim warranty easily to get it fixed/replaced without Waiting for weeks in despair makes Apple worthy of getting my money. Would be happy to be proven wrong by some company that provides such quality and after sales service.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#317

Post by rplst8 »

alkonaut wrote: post #174
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?

Whenever you look at a XPS you should always peek at the equivalent Precision machine (e.g. Precision 5510), there might be deals available. Also, although perhaps not applicable to your situation, the Precisions are usually more configurable than the XPS.

I did this exact thing two weeks ago. I think the Precision adds the Premier Color display too.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#318

Post by StavrosK »

WildUtah wrote: post #309
HCIdivision17 wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, I can't use the OSX interface. It makes me feel like a complete imbecile and I consistently do the wrong or useless thing. It's why I can't say good or bad things about Macs - haven't successfully used one since 2003 (thank goodness iOS apps can be compiled via Jenkins or the like!). People I respect seem to love their machines, but I turn into a cussing idiot when in front of one. Like can't-click-on-things stu…

I strongly prefer Gnome or XUbuntu myself and I still hate losing focus-follow-mouse, but Mac is at least less brain damage than Windows. I do everything I can on the command line and with Unix or X programs, of course, so I don't even know what the mouse-based interface is supposed to be like. And Mac does high resolution very well.

Why did you lose focus-follows-mouse? Both of those should have it, and I know for a fact Compiz does.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#319

Post by Roritharr »

hashhar wrote: post #305
Roritharr wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time i looked neither the 13 nor the 14 offered 32gb ram.

Check again. A refresh was launched recently and it even has Matte screen, upto 2TB of mSATA RAID0, 32GB of RAM, desktop GPU, i7-6x series (2.6Gto 3.5G Turbo).

Just did, it's only 16GB "on-board memory" for "The new Razer Blade".

The only configuration options for me are the size of the SSD and if I want the 4k Touch Screen or the matte 1080p screen.

I think you are referring to the 17 inch Razer Blade Pro. Which is nowhere near 13 or 14 inches.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#320

Post by voycey »

I had the XPS L502X and it was hands down the best laptop I have ever owned:

JBL Speakers that were genuinely excellent - I work at home and listen to music quite loudly so these were a huge selling point for me

Plenty of Ports

Easy to upgrade / repair - I think by the end of its life I had replaced or upgraded everything except the motherboard

All of the XPS systems since this one have paled in comparison, shitty speakers and an ultra book type.

The L502X was a chunky workhorse but it survived a years backpacking around Asia with me and then 4 years in Australia as my main work computer until it finally died enough that I couldn't be bothered to fix it (Would power on for half a second and die).

It also ran Linux like a dream - no incompatibilities!

On an Alienware 17 R3 now and it is a beast.... but it's speakers are no match for the L502X's :( Also absolutely cant get Linux to run on it so I am using Virtualbox with a dual head setup which has its share of issues

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