Dell XPS 13 Review • Hacker News Board

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#21

Post by commandar » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 8:50 PM UTC

jbk wrote: post #19

commandar wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone's making machines in this class with that much RAM. They practically have to be built with on-board RAM to get this thin and there's just not enough demand to justify the logistics of building 16GB motherboards for them.

The MacBook Pro 13 has an option to get 512+16GB. It's a bit heavier, but not that much. The Asus Zenbook UX303LN has 12GB (it's better), but only 256GB of SSD. I don't mind the price, I need a powerful tool.

The MBP is a different class of machine. This thing is roughly the size of an 11 inch MBA.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#22

Post by mrjatx » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 8:52 PM UTC

siegecraft wrote: post #12

I'm surprised that Dell managed to get back to this point, but I think Apple is no longer a no-brainer if you want a "nicer" build quality, and you can start differentiating based on support. I never thought I would buy a non-Apple laptop again, but I've actually been eyeing the Dell XPS and a friend's recent experiences w/ AppleCare makes me want to take every effort to find an alternative hardware vendor, assuming…

Man, I finally a few years ago got completely comfortable with OSX and scripted so much stuff that I can set myself up basically anywhere in 5-10 minutes. Now I'm stuck on a MBPr and get to watch all of these amazing new PC laptops come out that are so innovative. All of the hybrids, convertibles, detachable convertibles, rotatable convertibles. I'm so envious.

Come on Apple, seriously.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#23

Post by jdonaldson » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 8:58 PM UTC

I had been trying to find a decent developer's laptop for some time, and it led me to the xps 13 "developer edition" (the predecessor to this one). Keep in mind that I really wanted to like that laptop.

However, in the end, I went back to my macbook air. There were just too many small headaches to deal with. I'll list them here. I'd like to know if there are any improvements this time around. I'd be curious to know if they're going to do another "developer edition" for this new model.

1) The touchpad sensitivity was way off in ubuntu, and I couldn't use normal configs to tune it properly. Sounds like they fixed it.

2) The wifi range was very poor compared to mba.

3) Battery life was not as good as mba.

4) Ubuntu wasn't very good at scaling high dpi resolutions on smaller displays. The mba I have doesn't have a high dpi, and I don't need it for my work. FWIW, the retina class displays in the mbp all are perfect.

5) The mba are better balanced. The xps13 was a little wobbly since the weight was not well distributed. It was also slightly harder to open and close.

Honestly, all of these things add up. Darwin isn't a "true" *nix, but it's close enough for me. If I'm off the mark on these issues these days, let me know.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#24

Post by zanny » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 8:59 PM UTC

listic wrote: post #15

jkot wrote: post #3

This laptop will most likely get official support for Ubuntu 14.04.

How does 'official support' for Ubuntu look like?

http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#25

Post by 01Michael10 » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 8:59 PM UTC

jbk wrote: post #13

It seems great, but I really need a 16GB RAM option. (At least they have the 512GB SSD) With a couple of VMs, and a webbrowser, 8 GB can get tiny, and those machines don't evolve, so I'd like to plan for a couple of years...

I see ultrabooks more as secondary devices. You really run VMs on a 13.3" display? I can't see any portable PC totally replacing my desktop PC.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#26

Post by Shivetya » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 9:00 PM UTC

siegecraft wrote: post #12

I'm surprised that Dell managed to get back to this point, but I think Apple is no longer a no-brainer if you want a "nicer" build quality, and you can start differentiating based on support. I never thought I would buy a non-Apple laptop again, but I've actually been eyeing the Dell XPS and a friend's recent experiences w/ AppleCare makes me want to take every effort to find an alternative hardware vendor, assuming…

I have an apple desktop, however laptops are not viable for many because they are not business friendly nor is OS X. Between large phones, tablets, and great desktops, I find the need for a laptop is far less than before. Work issues laptops (all Dells / Windows) because we have to have remote ability in case of disaster as well as a guaranteed safe system to connect from (no non company connections, laptops are encrypted too)

What did drive me off Apple laptops was more wallet oriented, keeping the best features for only the top configurations priced them beyond what I was willing to give.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#27

Post by zanny » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 9:01 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #8

As much as I love SSD's, is 256GB actually enough for power users? Or are they assuming the OS will be on the SSD and you can hook up an external HD for more space? Just curious.

I got an 840 Pro two years ago, and its pretty close to full now (~20GB left). And I only put Arch and program binaries and data on it, ie, my documents, movies music, source code, my pacman database, etc are all on my mechanical drive.

At that, like 125GB is steam games.

I would definitely need a terabyte SSD to try to consolidate a system all on one disk. My notebook right now is a 256GB SSD + 1TB mechanical that works well.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#28

Post by rayiner » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 9:06 PM UTC

mrjatx wrote: post #22

siegecraft wrote: post #12

I'm surprised that Dell managed to get back to this point, but I think Apple is no longer a no-brainer if you want a "nicer" build quality, and you can start differentiating based on support. I never thought I would buy a non-Apple laptop again, but I've actually been eyeing the Dell XPS and a friend's recent experiences w/ AppleCare makes me want to take every effort to find an alternative hardware vendor, assuming…

Man, I finally a few years ago got completely comfortable with OSX and scripted so much stuff that I can set myself up basically anywhere in 5-10 minutes. Now I'm stuck on a MBPr and get to watch all of these amazing new PC laptops come out that are so innovative. All of the hybrids, convertibles, detachable convertibles, rotatable convertibles. I'm so envious. Come on Apple, seriously.

I've played around with a few of those devices, had a Surface for awhile, etc. Ended up moving back to a big-ass laptop (15" rMBP) and a big-ass phone (iPhone 6+). It's really hard to beat the combination of quad-core power, tons of RAM, giant battery, and lots of screen real estate.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#29

Post by robotic » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 9:06 PM UTC

jdonaldson wrote: post #23

I had been trying to find a decent developer's laptop for some time, and it led me to the xps 13 "developer edition" (the predecessor to this one). Keep in mind that I really wanted to like that laptop. However, in the end, I went back to my macbook air. There were just too many small headaches to deal with. I'll list them here. I'd like to know if there are any improvements this time around. I'd be curious to know i…

> Darwin isn't a "true" *nix, but it's close enough for me.

Yosemite is a registered UNIX 03 product.

http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#30

Post by wvenable » Thu, Feb 19, 2015, 9:07 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #8

As much as I love SSD's, is 256GB actually enough for power users? Or are they assuming the OS will be on the SSD and you can hook up an external HD for more space? Just curious.

I actually sit pretty comfortably with 128GB on my laptop. The power user stuff doesn't tend to be large (except maybe VM's and even they aren't that big).

The biggest stuff on my desktop are games.