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Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#141

Post by krn »

goatherders wrote: post #118
krn wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Security & Durability Unlike its consumer counterpart, XPS, the Precision 5530 passed 14 tests for for MIL-SPEC durability, the standards that the U.S. Military equipment must pass for ruggedness. That means it can be operated in extremely hot and cold environments (as low as minus 20.2 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 140 degrees), survive the shocks of drops and gusts of dusts, among other things."

So it's not approved for military use? Ok, point given.

That's what a consumer-grade product is: when you get a substantially lower build quality for what otherwise is exactly the same machine.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#143

Post by geerlingguy »

mnm1 wrote: post #59

> It's a paid extension, but it provides control over every aspect of the Magic Trackpad 2. No, it doesn't. While it's better than the most basic support provided in Linux, it still doesn't provide support for 3 and 4 finger gestures and the existing scrolling support is fairly weak. Yes, still better than Linux, an OS that hates touchpads apparantely, but not what I'd call good at all. Barely usable yes. Passable fo…

True; it's nowhere near as good as the out-of-the-box experience on macOS, but it makes for the best trackpad experience I'm able to have on Windows 10 so far.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#144

Post by slantyyz »

nkrisc wrote: post #119
jordache wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How hard is it for device makers to prefect the touchpad? It should be a no brainer like mouse devices by now huh?

Someone has. It's in MacBooks.

I get that I'm in the extreme minority here, but I pretty much hate all touchpads, including Apple's. I hate Apple's the least, so I will concede that Apple makes the best touch pads.

I wish all the PC makers would stop trying to copy the Apple model of "all touch surface, and the pad on a rocker for buttons". I'm probably being old and cranky (for context, my very first laptop was an Apple Powerbook 170 with a track ball, and it was AWESOME), but I prefer the days when you could get a consumer laptop that had a touchpad with two discrete buttons. These days, you're generally stuck choosing from some ugly business and gaming laptops if you want real touchpad buttons.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#145

Post by cannam »

curioussavage wrote: post #87
reacharavindh wrote: post #9

I have a Dell XPS 13 as my personal machine. It runs Linux. Everything works. But, I still find myself using my MacBook Pro (provided by work) for almost everything even at home. Two things that keep me in the Mac land. 1. Retina Display and the 16:10 aspect ratio. 2. Smooth, and usable touchpad. XPS13's display is too rectangle and I'm not watching movies in it. It feels too cramped for looking at code. GNOME out of…

I’m not picky about the screen, but I am super picky about trackpads from using macs. My dell chrombook feels every bit as good as the Mac. Fortunately for me the Gallium os distro for Chromebooks reuses the chrome os touchpad driver. I dell Precision model at work and that touch pad sucks!

I think Apple's touchpads are horrible. They're too grippy and too big.

(I have nothing constructive to add here, I just wanted there to be some opposition to the idea that Apple have the perfect touchpad)

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#146

Post by LeftTurnSignal »

mherrmann wrote: post #21

I made the switch last year and am pretty happy, especially with Ubuntu instead of macOS: https://fman.io/blog/home-and-hotel/

Do you have experience with the XPS with linux and bluetooth? Also with external monitors?

I love my mid-2012 MBP, I hope it lasts forever but like many I'm weighing my options.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#147

Post by foreigner »

fleebjuice wrote: post #133

I'd really like to buy an XPS, but I'm after a US keyboard layout, and I'm in the UK. You seemingly can't request a layout that is not your locale. This has been my experience with every laptop I've been interested. Damn shame; I have a Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro2, and it's the best keyboard I've ever used, I want as much of that experience as I can get on my laptop. Being a touch typist, its (not infuriating but sli…

I'm in exactly the same position, it didn't even occur to me that the layout might be different. What's the difference between the US and UK layouts?

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#148

Post by Schaulustiger »

fleebjuice wrote: post #133

I'd really like to buy an XPS, but I'm after a US keyboard layout, and I'm in the UK. You seemingly can't request a layout that is not your locale. This has been my experience with every laptop I've been interested. Damn shame; I have a Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro2, and it's the best keyboard I've ever used, I want as much of that experience as I can get on my laptop. Being a touch typist, its (not infuriating but sli…

I was looking at buying an ultrabook and had the same problem (but living in Germany). In the end I decided on a Lenovo X1 Carbon, though, but faced the decision to either get one from the Lenovo store (which allows you to get a US keyboard) or buy with an education discount from a retailer. Since the discount for the latter was really steep, I saved 500€ and settled on a DE keyboard, although its layout is a major pain for programming. But I couldn't justify shelling out 500 bucks more just for the different keyboard. It's a shame but I guess we're really a minority.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#149

Post by slantyyz »

morley wrote: post #86
eknkc wrote: post #36

What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care…

I'm surprised no one has mentioned keyboard portability. I find it incredibly hard to switch from ctrl on Windows to cmd on Mac. In college I had to switch frequently between Windows and Mac, and it was a nightmare. Since then, I've committed to only use MacOS on a Macbook and Windows on a real keyboard. That seems to preserve my muscle memory the best. But things can be rough when I use a Windows laptop or a standal…

When I was using an MBP and a Windows desktop, I got a gaming keyboard that let you remap the keys. I swapped the keycaps on the keyboard so that the Control key was where the Command key would be. Of course, this doesn't help if you're using a laptop, but my desktop keyboard remained that way for a while, even after I left OSX on the laptop side.

With respect to Windows on the Macbook Pro, when I used Windows VMs, I would go to the VM preferences and swap the command key mappings so that I could continue using my muscle memory.

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