Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

wesmckinney.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 188 posts

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#141

Post by secondcoming »

Lio wrote: post #109
synergy20 wrote: post #66

I was assigned a Macbook Pro at work and I asked for a non-Mac laptop, reason being I'm a Linux developer and Macbook did not work well for me(keyboard,etc). I ended up with a XPS 15 that has 64GB DDR and 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD around $2750, comparing to 32GB+1TB of MacBook Pro it is about $800 less expensive. I did not realize Precision 55xx series is even better built than XPS15 otherwise I will probably go that route.…

Only the XPS 13 from te XPS range is "Linux compatible". The rest are a crapshoot. I had a little look at the Precision 7760. With Ubuntu there's only 1 version available in the UK and it's a beast with 64GB RAM and 4TB SSD. It cost £6,091.39[1]. Looking at Apple for a rough equivalent[2] I spec'd a 16" up with 64GB and 4TB and it's £4,599.00 I'm an XPS 13 Dev Ed owner myself. It's OK for the most part, I don't have…

Change the RAM and SSD to the minimum and buy upgrades elsewhere.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#142

Post by sgadimbayli »

Yeah, had a friend who always complained about this machine.

I personally finally found Thinkpad T14 to work properly with no issues with 4 hours of battery life on Ubuntu(Regolith) out ot the box.

Only issues with this model for me is that the speakers are very weak, you can barely hear anythint most of the time.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#143

Post by mathematicaster »

hughrr wrote: post #46

No. I have a 5550 which is I assume what the author is referring to. It’s garbage. Overheats constantly, the touchpad is dire, the screen has bad vignette around the edges, it’s noisy, the thing hard freezes when you plug it into a dock, the webcam only works 50% of the time you power it up and if you pick it up by the base it flexes so badly the touchpad clicks. The keyboard is also soggy as hell and the battery las…

> No.

Completely OT. Is the rhetoric of authority on the internet being fined tuned for superficial social media interaction? Vaguely reminds me by analogy the thumbnail engineering on youtube.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#144

Post by crateless »

jiffygist wrote: post #123

I have latitude 5500 (idk if it's different laptop). I am generally happy with it, except for a few minor issues: - It came with a broken charger, the service replaced it. - Sometimes when I plug in the charger when the lid is closed, it doesn't start charging (the front light turns on and off after a second), so I have to open the lid and re-plug the charger. Only happens on Linux. - My touchpad is recognized as "PS…

> - My touchpad is recognized as "PS/2 Generic Mouse" by libinput, so I can't have touchpad scrolling.

I have the same issue. Different Dell laptop though. It's been an issue for a looong time. Scrolling reliably fails at least once a week forcing a reboot.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#146

Post by aidenn0 »

thecrumb wrote: post #64

I'm tired of the 'thinner is better' progress of laptops. As a developer I want ports, I want more cooling so the fans don't run all the time. I want a laptop I can actually place on my lap without getting burned LOL. I love my old T420. Currently have P15 from work. Horrible layout because they crammed in a numpad so now the trackpad is offset to the left. If I had to buy a laptop myself I'd lean either to System76…

Perhaps look at HP zBooks; I have one that is almost 6 years old and still kicking; plenty of ports definitely not thin.

I just looked at the current offering and the only negative compared to mine is that it seems to no longer have any USB-A ports on the left; just on the Left.

Now they can come with Ubuntu pre-installed; at the time I had to install it myself.

Only downside is the price; they start around $2k; the one I purchased was $3k, and I justified it by hoping it would last me a while. Given that this was in 2016, I think I made out alright.

Only thing I would change is I'd like a 1440p display. At 15" I think a 4k is wated, but 1080p is a bit confining.

Also, if you do get one, do spend the extra $60 for the better IPS screen; all the reviews I checked said the base screen is garbage.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#147

Post by tga »

seqizz wrote: post #131

For heaven's sake. Is there a laptop which works OK with docking on Linux? I have an XPS 13 now, used Thinkpad t460p before. Both of them has roughly 1/3 chance I didn't see anything on the screen after docking/undocking.

I am still running Debian stable on a T460p and all I can tell you is that there is hope.

I used to have major issues with suspend and dock on this machine, with Ubuntu and then Debian. I lost many work mornings to getting the machine to show anything on the screen after docking. I tried various drivers, tweaks, everything -- sometimes it would work for a while and then trouble would be back with the next reboot or kernel upgrade.

Then one day I hit the right tweak -- or Debian flipped the right bit -- and at least for the last ~year I've had zero problems with it. Dock, undock, suspend, resume, it's 100% there and I don't even think about it anymore.

I believe it's because I finally managed to turn off the Nvidia card and use the Intel one instead, but I can't be sure. To be honest, I'm afraid to touch the video setup or reinstall Linux because I might land right back in driver hell.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#148

Post by sireat »

My maximum spec Lenovo P1 Gen 1 that I have been using for the last 3 years has been really underwhelming. It feels just very average. No premium feel whatsoever. XPS13 by comparison feels a bit more premium.

Most damning, out of the two M2 SSD drives in Lenovo P1, the main one was some no name Chinese make that failed without a warning after a year. For a premium model that is just unacceptable. Secondary drive is a WD that is still alive.

By comparision 10 year old Dell Precision M6700 and M4700 are built like tanks have ports and upgradability to the max. Same goes for Lenovo T440p that I bought for 200 Euros for my kid's schoolwork. Same goes for older HP ProBooks. Another kid has a Macbook Air M1 and that is just alright.

The laptops from early 2010s just feel sturdier and better built.

The question is which will be the well built professional Alder Lake laptop to get? Will it be Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus maybe MSI or maybe even Framework?

Intel 12th gen offers some impressive gains over AMD and 11th gen Intel so it makes sense to wait.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#149

Post by alkonaut »

What’s a good high perf laptop in 2022 that manages high load for hours (with power cable) without being noisy or overheating/throttling

The Dell precisions I have had have been crappy with swelling batteries after a year or so of hard use. The current one has had two battery replacements with touchpad and keyboard replacement, within the warranty period. I just recently swapped the CPU fan. The last precision before that had to get a screen and motherboard replaced.

Anything that has proper cooling and latest gen CPU seems to be plasticky gaming models (Alienware, Legion, ..). No one makes a good developer workstation for 99% stationary use it seems. Yet almost all developers I know use external power, keyboards and screens almost all the time and just occasionally move between e.g home and office. The niche of “movable workstation” seems underserviced despite a huge market, right?

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#150

Post by pjerem »

csdvrx wrote: post #93
pjerem wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to write exactly this. I don’t know about Linux support since I have to use Windows on it but oh boy it is crap. The fans are always on whatever you do, the left part of the keyboard is frequently burning hot. Touchpad is mostly really good … when it works, because as soon as I wash my hands, it stops detecting anything. The audio part, at least on Windows, is pure random. USB docks randomly works and onc…

> I was going to write exactly this. Same. I made the mistake of getting a Dell 2-in-1 without trying it first. Whether on Windows or on Linux, it's a pain to use. I found serious ACPI bugs (not just the kind that can be easily fixed with iasl) which made me conclude power management could not work reliably, whether on Windows or on Linux. It's was usable at all on Windows 10 only thanks to Microsoft extremely carefu…

> No wonder why Dells risk catching fire if put in a backpack...

omg I also had this and forgot to add it to my rant ! One night I was going down to the kitchen to drink a glass of water and I heard a loud fan noise coming from somewhere. Sure enough it came from my backpack. I opened it and it was extremely hot inside. I wonder what could have happened if I had a good sleep that night.

Post reply on HN