New XPS 15 Laptop • Hacker News Board

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#321

Post by dreistdreist » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:03 AM UTC

karussell wrote: post #289

haspok wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did not fix that either. You might be lucky to receive a device that doesn't exhibit it, or you may not notice it, or you may not even bother about it. Dell doesn't really care - they still sell loads, and as long as the online reviewers don't complain loudly enough so that their sales are affected it is just not worth the cost.

Wow how lame of Dell. That was the reason I went with a Lenovo T460 (which I do not regret btw ;))

Lenovo is much worse than Dell though... They deserve to go bankrupt after superfish and all that other crap they did.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#322

Post by mSparks » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 8:14 AM UTC

reitanqild wrote: post #236

mSparks wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 k…

> even windows ussually has a seperate password to create user accounts Wrong, I'd say. Only if you or the IT department specifically set it up that way. Also, again IIRC but I think you have to type password the first time you use sudo un a session on desktop Ubuntu (or after 15 minutes).

yet the link i posted is ubuntu users asking how to make it do exactly that, because by default something added no password to their sudo configuration.

which is also my experience.

having plenty of experience getting red hat fedora and centos set up just the way i like, i decided very quickly even getting ubuntu "safe" was more learning curve than reward.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#323

Post by seabrookmx » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 9:09 AM UTC

webaholic wrote: post #183

creshal wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dell's XPS series has been around since 2013, they just didn't make it to HN. Lenovo also had more compact-ish 15" models with the T540p and later the T550/T560. Not sure about HP's Envy series, I'm not following them too closely.

what? I have a 2008 dell xps. XPS is Dell's premium laptop line that has been around since forever now.

Yup. Their XPS monicker is really old. My second PC was a Dell "Dimension XPS D266".

266 stood for the cutting edge 266mhz Pentium II that thing was rocking.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#324

Post by WildUtah » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 9:44 AM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #318

WildUtah wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

MacOS doesn't do ffm at all ever.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#325

Post by lmm » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 10:11 AM UTC

irontoby wrote: post #279

Yhippa wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'…

I don't know. Switching to Surface made me a lot more conscious how nice it is when everything comes from the same manufacturer and there's no way to pass the blame around. I would like standards-based USB-C docking to be sure, but I will definitely want my first USB-C dock to be a first-party one so that I have a single point of contact for issues like the one you describe (which would actually ruin my use case - my desk at home is across the room from the phone line and it wouldn't be easy to run a cable, so I need to use wifi when docked). After the technology has matured and the bugs are ironed out then I think we'll start reaping the benefits of competition and interoperability.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#326

Post by dijit » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 10:22 AM UTC

hajile wrote: post #117

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…

Look at the Dell Precision 5510, you can get it without the GPU and with a larger battery instead of a SATA drive.

Has M.2 and all the other things you mentioned.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#327

Post by IanCal » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 1:11 PM UTC

socksy wrote: post #308

IanCal wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very useful to know, thanks. I'm somewhat torn about whether to keep or replace mine, apart from the whine it's a lovely little machine.

From what I've read the coil whine is related to having the keyboard backlight on. Is that important enough to trade-off for the noise? I always turn off backlights when using a computer on battery anyway (it's not like I'll be looking at the keyboard much...).

I'd happily turn off the backlight, I'll try that. I've turned off the c6 processor states as apparently the switching there causes some of it. I can hear the changes as things visually change on screen, so scrolling and videos are quite bad.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#328

Post by creshal » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

kedean wrote: post #223

creshal wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dell's XPS series has been around since 2013, they just didn't make it to HN. Lenovo also had more compact-ish 15" models with the T540p and later the T550/T560. Not sure about HP's Envy series, I'm not following them too closely.

XPS has been heavily recommended for a long time, but dell does still have a stigma and I personally had a hard time finding a way to actually BUY one when I looked. Lenovo lost developers trust years ago when they started pulling stunt after stunt with security vulnerabilities, backdoors, and spyware.

Dell sells twice as many laptops as Apple does (making it the third largest vendor). They only carry a "stigma" in a very small echo chamber of Apple fanboys.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#329

Post by mercer » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 2:39 PM UTC

reacharavindh wrote: post #316

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 b…

Yeah, it kinda sucks, but after doing a bunch of research I still end up with a Macbook (Pro) for my next machine.

There are quite a few decent alternatives that are hundreds of euros cheaper for at least as much 'machine', but Time Machine and the ability to just go to the Apple store if something is wrong (especially with Apple Care) is probably worth that difference to me.

What seals the deal (again, probably, not 100% sure yet) is vendor lock-in, a great touchpad, iOS development, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous little things.

But I will say my next Mac upgrade will not be a happy one, which is a first for me. I hope it doesn't stay this way.

Re: New XPS 15 Laptop

#330

Post by mercer » Wed, Dec 21, 2016, 2:45 PM UTC

creshal wrote: post #328

kedean wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

XPS has been heavily recommended for a long time, but dell does still have a stigma and I personally had a hard time finding a way to actually BUY one when I looked. Lenovo lost developers trust years ago when they started pulling stunt after stunt with security vulnerabilities, backdoors, and spyware.

Dell sells twice as many laptops as Apple does (making it the third largest vendor). They only carry a "stigma" in a very small echo chamber of Apple fanboys.

Is there any way I can convince you to stop with the 'Apple fanboys' bullshit? It's not furthering whatever 'cause' you have and just comes across as presumptuous.

Based on what I've been reading here on HN, most Apple users are pissed off by the choices that Apple made for the new MBP's, and are honestly exploring their options (as am I). That doesn't sound like fanboy behavior.