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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

#161

Post by christophilus »

swalsh wrote: post #135

I recently bought an XPS 13 developers edition from the website after my macbook's screen randomly died (it was old, and ready for an upgrade anyways) looking at new macbooks, I was unhappy with the lack of a USB slot, thought the fancy bar on the top was unnecessary, and generally you just seemed to get less for the same money. I NEEDED the laptop right away. The website said it would take 4 days or so. So I waited,…

I've had this same experience on Windows laptops. In my case, it was that the touchpad was too sensitive, so it was sensing my (rather hot, generally) hands hovering just over it while I was typing, and misreading them as touch events.

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

#162

Post by discreditable »

rbanffy wrote: post #145
Kipters wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This is actually useful. Does it preserve user data?

IIRC you have three options: (1) wipe OS/programs, preserve user data, (2) wipe OS and data, and (3) securely wipe OS and data (for if you're selling the PC).

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

#163

Post by jmkni »

dm319 wrote: post #146
jmkni wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Once you do, it's rock solid, but it should be OOTB and it annoys me that it isn't. Really? Which version are you using? On a clean install of Win 10 Pro, I fell foul of several known issues. A failing update to Anniversary edition required reinstallation, and the Creator's update only made it through after initially crashing mid-update. The fast shutdown (which I wasn't aware of) caused me a problem with network c…

I’m using Enterprise on an XPS 15, and I’ve turned the advertising/crapware etc with group policy and it is solid.

I wouldn’t use any other version of Windows, Enterprise is the only usable version.

You shouldn’t have to do that, though, especially on Enterprise!

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

#164

Post by erikbye »

YSS_i3wm wrote: post #118

I'm using Linux with i3wm and one thing that Windows keep beating Linux over is font rendering. Font rendering just sucks on Linux, if you like it or not. Microsoft got a few patents end of the 90s and their fonts clearness are just the best. End of story.

Depending on the distro you use there are various hoops to jump through to improve font rendering. Check out FreeType.

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

#165

Post by erikbye »

bunderbunder wrote: post #160
gargravarr wrote: post #108

At my company, most of the developers use Ubuntu end-user machines, all from Dell. Not only does this avoid us having to pay for Windows licenses we never use, but we know the hardware is actually going to work fine with it. There's some quirks, of course - Ubuntu doesn't much like the 4k screens in our 13" XPSen so there's a lot of tweaking involved, but we're getting some very good hardware at a good price, and stu…

FWIW, Windows has problems with 4K screens, too. Most apps work fine, some display at the size of a postage stamp.

Not Windows' fault, though. It's up to developers to update their apps to handle DPI scaling.

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

#167

Post by AsyncAwait »

erikbye wrote: post #165
bunderbunder wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, Windows has problems with 4K screens, too. Most apps work fine, some display at the size of a postage stamp.

Not Windows' fault, though. It's up to developers to update their apps to handle DPI scaling.

Well, that's the same for Linux really, both GTK3 and Qt5 support 4K screens.

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

#168

Post by bunderbunder »

erikbye wrote: post #165
bunderbunder wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, Windows has problems with 4K screens, too. Most apps work fine, some display at the size of a postage stamp.

Not Windows' fault, though. It's up to developers to update their apps to handle DPI scaling.

True, and I'm pretty sure the reason's the same for Linux.

Doesn't affect my opinion on the usability of the platform, though. For my part, I got my work to do, so I ultimately ended up back on a Mac (yet again, ugh) because, for all Apple's recent problems, none of them bother me as much as things like, "I just flat-out can't use this app that I need without a microscope."

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

#169

Post by lmm »

gargravarr wrote: post #108

At my company, most of the developers use Ubuntu end-user machines, all from Dell. Not only does this avoid us having to pay for Windows licenses we never use, but we know the hardware is actually going to work fine with it. There's some quirks, of course - Ubuntu doesn't much like the 4k screens in our 13" XPSen so there's a lot of tweaking involved, but we're getting some very good hardware at a good price, and stu…

> Ubuntu doesn't much like the 4k screens in our 13" XPSen so there's a lot of tweaking involved

> stuff just works

I can't reconcile these two statements.

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

#170

Post by ordinaryperson »

Not a Dell shill but I bought a Dell Linux laptop 18 months ago, a Mobile Precision 5510, and I've never been happier.

When the machine arrived I had to disable UEFI Secure Boot to get it working, which seemed to fry the soundcard. I called Dell, was quickly escalated to "Level 3" support, and after a brief diagnostic they sent out a technician to my place of work to replace the motherboard on site the NEXT DAY. I've never had another problem since.

Honestly, what more could they have done, give me a back rub?

The only downsides are no support for Linux support for Apple iTunes and Adobe Photoshop (yes, there's GIMP, but it's not the same). Otherwise it's better in every way, IMHO.

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