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Dell XPS 13 Review

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#271

Post by Alupis »

gtaylor wrote: post #228
driverdan wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internal computer parts are not even close to comparable to a tire. A more reasonable comparison would be a clutch, which you'd expect to last more than a year if treated properly.

eh, I had a wheel bearing go bad on a brand new car after 8k miles. The model/make reviewed excellently, and is still considered a great choice. Two years later, it's been reliable and gets us from point A to point B affordably. Manufacturing is hard.

> Manufacturing is hard.

Especially when you are not the one who manufactured the item, but get the blame for it's failure (Hitachi hard drives in Dell computers... Takata airbags in Toyota cars...)

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#272

Post by Someone1234 »

ninkendo wrote: post #164
Someone1234 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a Pro or Enterprise edition of Windows, you can configure this: 1) Launch mmc (Win+R, "mmc") 2) File -> Add/Remove Snap-In 3) Group Policy Object Editor -> Add -> Local Computer -> Ok 4) Expand Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Search 5) Find "Prevent indexing when running on battery power to conserve energy" 6) Enable -> OK -> Close If yo…

You can change steps 1-3 to just "Win+R, gpmc.msc"... which will take you straight to the group policy editor.

You have to install Group Policy Tools for Windows in order to have gpmc.msc on Windows 7 work from the run box.

Going through MMC works even on virgin Windows 7 pro/ent without installing anything.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#273

Post by kod »

kod wrote: post #112
whitecat wrote: post #39

This turned out to be a longer first post than I though it would be. I don't know why people are comparing these "good" laptops to Apple laptops in specs. Apple laptops really have not been better than the best laptops. For every MBPr that has come out there has been a better laptop by one of the tops Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer. The reason is I buy Apple is I need a stable operating system. The last 4 Windows based…

There is nothing on the market competitive with a MBPr in terms of hardware (completely ignoring software). The XPS 15 is the closest, and it's apparently plagued by coil whine.

Hahaha @ haters downvoting without providing any counterexamples... because they can't

What else on the market is that size and weight with a quad core, 16gb ram, and pcie storage?

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#274

Post by MetaCosm »

ekianjo wrote: post #173
MetaCosm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was excited until I read 8GB max... that can't be right can it? What modern developer machine would have an 8GB cap?

I'm curious, but why do you need more than 8Gb for ? I can think of a few potential uses of more RAM (large video files edition, R on very, very big data sets) but 8Gb seems reasonable for most tasks. Are you really in a situation where you need 16Gb every single day ?

Indeed I am, my "minimum useful" amount is 16GB -- my desktops are 128GB, and my current "monster laptop" is 64GB. The in-flight state on the software I work on can get well over 8GB with our test dataset.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#275

Post by haarts »

dmm wrote: post #122
lhl wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those interested in following along on the process: https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2... With an updated BIOS and a bunch of patches, it looks like it's getting close...

From the link: you could replace the bluetooth/wireless card with a different one. Can you really? Many laptops have whitelists and if a device doesn't present the correct pci id it won't be enabled by the bios.

Yup: https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2...

iFixit gave the laptop quite a good score too: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Dell+XPS+13+Teardown/36157

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#276

Post by mdellabitta »

wldlyinaccurate wrote: post #204
tdicola wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any idea what battery life might look like on the Linux version? Really hoping it can get near the 10+ hours of the Windows version.

I have the 2014 XPS developer edition and can get 10 hours with modest screen brightness. I get even more if I use a minimal WM like i3. I find the two things that can really eat up the battery are screen brightness and having a poor Wi-Fi connection.

Try running Powertop and check out the tunables pane. You might even be able to reap some additional battery life.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#277

Post by tburns »

SwellJoe wrote: post #223
ekianjo wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, but why do you need more than 8Gb for ? I can think of a few potential uses of more RAM (large video files edition, R on very, very big data sets) but 8Gb seems reasonable for most tasks. Are you really in a situation where you need 16Gb every single day ?

I run into the 8GB limit on my laptop pretty regularly. Mostly due to VMs for testing and building for other systems. But I also recently found that running Android Studio, plus the emulator, plus my usual stuff pretty much shuts my machine down. I had to use a VT to kill my mail client, the VMs, and some other processes, in order to get the mouse and keyboard responding in X again. Java memory usage is kinda crazy.

This is my use case for having 16GB on my laptop as well. Being able to simulate the network architecture of our infrastructure with a bunch of little 512MB-1GB VMs is a nice thing to be able to do.

If I'm not doing development with a cluster of VMs though, I rarely go over 8GB.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#278

Post by QuantumRoar »

iak8god wrote: post #252
QuantumRoar wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you can really avoid it when trying to pack everything as densely as possible. A few years down the road, I believe, an SoC will probably contain not only the CPU, graphics, audio, etc., but also RAM. Probably stacked onto the CPU connected with through-silicon vias. All you'll see in an ifixit teardown is a single chip made entirely from nanoscale silicon structures. There'll be nothing a user can even…

I like the power and price advantage of paying only the retail price for storage and memory upgrades and installing them on my own. Size is a very distant third, and mostly a cosmetic issue at this point. You may be right about the long-term trend (but I hope not). In the short term my annoyance at this has me considering something other than a Macbook Pro as my next machine, which I never would have believed if you'…

Actually, the price (for the OEM) of buying completely integrated components is lower than buying separate ones. However, OEMs don't like to show that to customers. So each step in upgrading RAM or SSDs or whatever is worth $100 or more, which makes it way cheaper to just buy separate components...

I'm envious of your attitude for not really caring about your laptop's size. That makes it a lot easier :)

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#279

Post by Karunamon »

cies wrote: post #248
vetler wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One option that works 100%, is just to let it run Windows, and run Linux in VMWare or VirtualBox. I've done it before, and I'm doing it right now - never had any issues with it.

Then why windoze? Why not go with Apple?

Windows-specific apps, and getting Linux working on modern macbooks has been difficult at times (Apple's bootloader is always a source of fun issues to troubleshoot....)

Any way you slice it, you're having to do things you'd rather not do and that aren't at all necessary were we in a sane world.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#280

Post by joshuapants »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #258
Roritharr wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

16 GB is a must for my next machine, nothing I do is that CPU intensive anymore. I'd also like a Dockingport... its the main reason i love my Surface Pro 2 so much. Displayport, Dockingstation, 8GB Ram and 512GB SSD all below 1200g, that is to be beat. I hope for a 16GB Ram version for the next Surface Pro 4. I run daily into swap, having just one VM open, Photoshop and PHPStorm...

Hold off a bit then. USB 3.1 Type C is just around the corner. Once it's established, pretty much every laptop, tablet and phone will contain a USB 3.1 Type C docking port. (and most monitors will be docking stations).

Do you have a particular timeframe on that? I'm in the market for a new laptop, and considering just getting an XPS 13 tonight. However, the advent of skylake has me considering waiting (but who knows if that'll be out in the next 6 months), as does your comment.
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