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Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

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Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#41

Post by dkersten »

pjmlp wrote: post #16
luka-birsa wrote: post #6

As a 20 year Linux user I really appreciate Dells support in proving the market exists. This improved support across all manufacturers. I've recently acquired a HP Envy 13 2017 laptop with Windows preinstalled. I've really wanted to try Windows out, but after installing Google Chrome and Docker (1hr after starting it up) it stopped working - windows boot up into a blank black screen. In a hurry I've downloaded Ubuntu…

> If you're a developer there's no UX reason to go Windows anymore. I am a developer serving Windows customers, that rely on native UI/UX for their workflows.

Obviously if you're developing primarily for Windows, you're going to need to run Windows. I don't think that's what the person you're replying to meant by that at all, but rather that the Windows UX doesn't buy you, as the user of the OS, anything that Linux doesn't.

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#42

Post by dkersten »

babuskov wrote: post #22
maccard wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve a dual boot set up on one of my machines with Ubuntu 17.04. I’m consistently having Ethernet issues related to having two network cards, and the multi monitor support is lacking. I can’t use my triple monitor setup, and if I forget to disconnect my third monitor I have to reboot with only one monitor attached to get it work. Meanwhile, on the same machine, windows handles it in its stride. There’s still some imp…

> windows handles it in its stride Windows has serious bugs with multiple monitors as well. I switch the second monitor often (usually once or twice a day) and often it would have problems like blank screen on one (or sometimes two) monitors, whole system locking up, HDMI sound device not showing up so I have to play sound over laptop speakers instead of monitor/TV speakers, etc. It doesn't happen often, but it does…

In my personal anecdotal experience, Mac's multi-monitor support is the worst of the three (and I say that as a currently full-time and otherwise happy Mac user).

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#43

Post by pjmlp »

dkersten wrote: post #41
pjmlp wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're a developer there's no UX reason to go Windows anymore. I am a developer serving Windows customers, that rely on native UI/UX for their workflows.

Obviously if you're developing primarily for Windows, you're going to need to run Windows. I don't think that's what the person you're replying to meant by that at all, but rather that the Windows UX doesn't buy you , as the user of the OS, anything that Linux doesn't.

Sure it does, proper GPU acceleration, hybrid graphics support and hibernation that actually works, and UI/UX tooling resembling Xerox PARC way of computing, only beaten by macOS.

Not everyone wants to replicate a PDP-11.

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#44

Post by Kipters »

jmkni wrote: post #31
luka-birsa wrote: post #6

As a 20 year Linux user I really appreciate Dells support in proving the market exists. This improved support across all manufacturers. I've recently acquired a HP Envy 13 2017 laptop with Windows preinstalled. I've really wanted to try Windows out, but after installing Google Chrome and Docker (1hr after starting it up) it stopped working - windows boot up into a blank black screen. In a hurry I've downloaded Ubuntu…

Windows has gotten a lot better, but the rules regarding new computers hasn't changed in the past 30 years, you still need to wipe the hard drive and install it yourself from scratch, and then spend a little time disabling the ads, bing crap, telemetry, etc. Once you do, it's rock solid, but it should be OOTB and it annoys me that it isn't. It leaves those not familiar with Windows with a bad first impression, and th…

There's an option in Windows Defender settings that automatically wipes the hard drive and reinstalls from scratch, without the manufacturer's bloatware

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#45

Post by dkersten »

mschuster91 wrote: post #24
NiklasMort wrote: post #4

meanwhile in Thinkpad land... honestly I never understand why people go for Macbooks or XPS. X/T model user since 7 generations. I did look at the XPS but there are so many disadvantages with those modern one-body-all-closed-no-mods laptops. Before you down vote me, I still applaud Dells decision to get Ubuntu Laptops out there. But I don't really see what the big game changer is whether a laptop comes preinstalled w…

> honestly I never understand why people go for Macbooks or XPS Touchpad. No Windows laptop I know even comes close to both size and functionality of the touchpad of a Macbook - although I have to admit I won't get a recent Macbook, because the keyboard is crap, the touchpad is too big for my opinion and no USB-A = no Macbook for me.

> the touchpad is too big for my opinion

You won't notice it though and will be glad of the size when you do. I LOVE the bigger touchpad on the newer Macbooks (but its about the only thing about it I love. Keyboard is absolute dirt, as you said, no USB-A is ridiculous given that all of my devices are USB-A, the touch bar is useless and virtual function keys on touch bar are a very poor substitute for real function keys... but the touchpad size really isn't an issue, you can use how much or little as you like and the palm rejection works perfectly)

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#46

Post by alphadevx »

haspok wrote: post #40
chx wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As another 20+ (24 actually, 0.99pl15) Linux user let me counter: with the Linux subsystem for Windows there's no reason to wrestle with Linux any more. While Linux certainly works on laptops it doesn't work well. Wifi and battery life are absymal and for me seemingly every other update either breaks the printer half or the scanner half of the MFC device (and if not, then it's time for another bluetooth breakage, you…

Do you have a Dell XPS 13 (any version)? Because I do (a 9343), and I don't have any of the problems you listed above - in fact, I spend far less time managing my laptop since I switched to Ubuntu. I started off with 14.04 then switched to 16.04 and I upgraded to an 4.9 LTS kernel in January. That's about it. I have no issues with battery life, wifi, or BT or anything else. The first ~6 months of 2014 was a rough rid…

Same for me: Dell XPS 13 user, Fedora user, it all "just works" including after a recent Fedora 27 upgrade, although in fairness I did have to replace the Broadcom wi-fi card with an Intel one, due to Intel having far superior Linux drivers: http://www.alphadevx.com/a/510-Replacing-a-Broadcom-wireless...

Once I done that, I now have the perfect developer laptop (in my opinion of course :-) )

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#47

Post by CaptainDecisive »

lowry wrote: post #18

They should have taken the Latitude 6 or 7 series for Linux laptops. XPS is a toy, the other two are mid-range and high-end workhorses, exactly the kind professional developers and corporate buyers acquire.

I have a Macbook Pro (2015 15") at work and a Dell XPS 15 (9550) at home, and personally feel that I'm a very lucky lad to have the two best laptops in the world. My previous job I had a couple of high-end Dell Precision laptops and while they were nice enough machines they were bricks compared to my current laptops, which look far better, feel much nicer, slip unnoticeably into my backpack for my bike commute, and yet have all the heavy hitting hardware I need for my GIS development work. For me, the "toys" win hands down.

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#48

Post by sofaofthedamned »

kupiakos wrote: post #12
deadprogram wrote: post #5

I had the first version, currently on am on my second version of the Dell XPS 13 developer edition, and about to order a brand new one to replace it. It is a really great package. Not to mention having HW from a major company like Dell with all the drivers already in the Linux kernel means you can pretty much run any distro you want and it "just works".

I'm currently waiting on the 8th gen CPU version (9370) of the Developer Edition to come out.

Yeah, love my 9360 but the CPU has a serious lack of grunt sometimes. I'd prefer a Ryzen version with AMD GPU though, and HP have just announced one.

Re: Dell’s gamble on Linux laptops has paid off

#49

Post by m45t3r »

NiklasMort wrote: post #4

meanwhile in Thinkpad land... honestly I never understand why people go for Macbooks or XPS. X/T model user since 7 generations. I did look at the XPS but there are so many disadvantages with those modern one-body-all-closed-no-mods laptops. Before you down vote me, I still applaud Dells decision to get Ubuntu Laptops out there. But I don't really see what the big game changer is whether a laptop comes preinstalled w…

Support, and in this case is not the kind "I can't install Linux on this laptop", but more likely we will fix your hardware issues without trying to question that you installed a non-supported OS.

Our company recently bought Dell laptops with Linux pre-installed, I had a hardware issue with sound (basically, neither Windows or Linux recognized the sound board, showing that this was a hardware problem). I entered in contact with Dell support, and even after saying that I was using an unsupported OS (Arch Linux, instead of original Ubuntu) they happily RMA'd the whole thing and nowadays the notebook is working without issues.

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