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Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

zdnet.com

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Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#51

Post by deaddodo »

forinti wrote: post #35
csdvrx wrote: post #3

In theory, laptops from Dell should work with Linux. In practice, not so much, especially if you like to sleep and wake up from sleep everytime without a crash + a reasonable power consumption, both during use and during sleep. IMHO consumption during sleep far more important: if I didn't plug the computer, I expect it to wake up immediately (no S4/suspend to disk) and with less than 0.5% of battery lost per hour (so…

I recently got a Latitude for work. Linux works fine, but I could not get the wifi to work on FreeBSD.

Because all new wireless cards are AX, which FreeBSD has no support for.

You'll be relegated to using Linux in a VM for wireless, or downgrading to old hardware.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#52

Post by cryptoz »

petepete wrote: post #2

I bought an XPS13 in 2012 or so with Ubuntu preinstalled and it was rock solid for years (although I ran Fedora on it). I remember buying it was really difficult, it wasn't listed on the UK website and in the end I had to phone their sales number and was passed through several people who'd never heard of Ubuntu. A few days later I received an email with a link to an unlisted store item that had the same photos as the…

I also bought an XPS13 around 2012, and paid for the Ubuntu version. The receipt even said Ubuntu on it. But they shipped me the Windows one! Returned and refunded based on their phone support, they said installing Linux on it would void the warranty. Never tried again, too much hassle.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#53

Post by nextos »

juujian wrote: post #27
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #4

> The Dell XPS 13 is the best-known developer-focused, high-end Linux laptop. Not a good ol' ThinkPad T-series?

Also, having looked at their lineup recently, the number of Ubuntu laptops they offer really seems to have gone down

Aside from Dell, ThinkPad, Framework, and StarLabs are great premium laptops that can be bought with Linux and have good well-supported hardware. What is the best premium option?

I gravitate towards a AMD Ryzen ThinkPad, either a X13 or a T14s. X1C are only offered with Intel CPUs, which seem a bit inferior in terms of performance and heat / energy usage.

Macs with Asahi are an interesting option, but it is still missing support for fundamental items, e.g. sound.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#54

Post by heywire »

molly0 wrote: post #34

I’ve been running Ubuntu on a Dell Latitude for about two years. Works good and is cheaper.

I’ve been rocking a Latitude 7370 for around 5 years now. Picked it up used in 2018 for $475. It has been a great machine. Works great under Fedora. 3200x1800 touch screen, 16GB ram. Swapped the m.2 SATA SSD for an NVMe drive. It’s not a super powerful machine, and the battery life could be better, but overall I really like it.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#56

Post by Darmody »

smallerfish wrote: post #38

The camera doesn't work on the current XPS13 if you upgrade to a 6.X kernel (which, to be fair, means moving outside of Dell's packaging.) Technically this is Intel's fault, as they haven't released firmware for it yet. Still, hopefully the Dell team avoid similar issues in future configs by ensuring better driver support. It's a nice laptop otherwise.

My cam doesn't work on my 5 year old Inspiron either.

It's one of the reasons I'm not buying the Inspiron 16 plus in this moment.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#58

Post by jadbox »

smallerfish wrote: post #38

The camera doesn't work on the current XPS13 if you upgrade to a 6.X kernel (which, to be fair, means moving outside of Dell's packaging.) Technically this is Intel's fault, as they haven't released firmware for it yet. Still, hopefully the Dell team avoid similar issues in future configs by ensuring better driver support. It's a nice laptop otherwise.

Why did the new kernel break the drivers when every release is supposed to be (usually) non-backward's breaking?

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#59

Post by wmf »

jwells89 wrote: post #43
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #4

> The Dell XPS 13 is the best-known developer-focused, high-end Linux laptop. Not a good ol' ThinkPad T-series?

It seems like these days, the X1 series is considered the ThinkPad flagship. That's where I've seen the best chances of getting hardware that's compatible with Linux OOTB and performs well with it (e.g. Intel WiFi/BT).

If you order with Linux preinstalled the chance is close to 100%.

Re: Ubuntu Linux snuck into high-end Dell laptops

#60

Post by roblh »

_cenw wrote: post #49
wrd83 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately. Even a T490 beats an XPS13 easily. I own both and I'm happy I switched back to ThinkPads.

The T490 is the worst ThinkPad generation to buy right now. The generation they took out the removable battery, soldered half the RAM and generally made some other anti-improvements. So you get the oldest hardware without any of the pre-redesign benefits. I guess the T495 is worse. Those first gen Zen chips are just terrible.

Really liking my refurb t480 with Ubuntu, however the most annoying thing is that it’s seemingly impossible to get the 2 finger swipe back trackpad gesture working. Otherwise it’s been great.
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