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Dell XPS 13 Review

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#291

Post by virtue3 »

72deluxe wrote: post #264
virtue3 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly (and really, hear me out here). Alot of those crashes were device drivers for graphics cards. Windows 8 (I know... 8.1 isn't bad) actually moved the display drivers out of kernal space (at the chagrin of every game dev ever) and now at least the system/applications recover from a graphic driver dump. Although I will say I'm having issues with 8.1 that I can't really peg down. Sigh. We've had a string of issu…

What problems have you had with Mavericks and Yosemite?

Honestly there's been a few issues here with some apache configs and just general web development brew snafus. Most likely from upgrading the OS. The clean installs we recently got have been pretty good so far.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#292

Post by vidoc »

MetaCosm wrote: post #78
cies wrote: post #72

A Developer Edition (with Linux preloaded) will come at some point. Currently there are driver issues of which the non-working audio is most persistent. Most elaborate info on it here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1413446 In this Reddit thread... http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/2u0jjd/linux_support_... ...you find comment from barton808, who identifies himself as the Team Lead of Sputni…

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 had the same impression, 8G max is a regrettable decision. The price is also a little too much and Dell seems to be one of those coupon bullshit companies.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#293

Post by jdonaldson »

e12e wrote: post #290
jdonaldson wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point, OSX will jump the shark. It just doesn't fully take part in the nix ecosystem. Different projects like homebrew address some of these issues, but still, Darwin feels more like a nephew, rather than a son of nix. I don't think OSX has done anything really stupid yet. On the other had, the nix ecosystem has really flubbed a lot of key opportunities for progress. You mentioned liking X11. Personally, I ha…

> So, to answer your question, I want to move off OSX for the typical philosophical reasons, but I'm not willing to do it at the expense of basic ergonomics and fit and finish. It's good that we have diversity; I wouldn't move to OS X at the expense of basic ergonomics either (even though I do admire the finish :-). I'm a bit curious about the frustration with X11. Sure, it's a cludge and has issues and so on -- but…

My frustrations with X11 are more specific to my line of work. I do a lot of front end work. X11 is just a mess. It's tough to call out dealbreakers with X11, since there's always some obscure workaround. It's tough to find careful explanations of X11 shortcomings without the discussion devolving into ranting.

Wikipedia probably gives the best overview of problems:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System

Keep in mind X11 came out in the late 80s, and many of the current criticisms were expressed in the early 90s. We're full on 25 years beyond that now, with no de facto replacement.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#294

Post by abrowne »

72deluxe wrote: post #261
nonuby wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a three year old, out of warranty, used, old laptop thats pretty impressive

I forget that 2012 is now 3 years old. My MacBook is a mid2012 non-retina MBP (with all the ports on it) and it's still absolutely fine but I know in the fashionable computer world, it's ancient. Still fetches a good resale value though.

That one is a weird case because it's still the latest model of "classic"/non-retina MBPs. And, probably, the last.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#295

Post by sk5t »

thanksgiving wrote: post #246
sk5t wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I got nothing but grief from the Lenovo Windows 8 / 8.1 installation on my Thinkstation--Windows booting into repair mode for no apparent reason, janky addon software, etc. A clean, fresh install made it all better, although finding the right storage drivers was a chore.

I'm thinking of doing the same for my y510p. Will the reset windows option keep the recovery partition so I can go back to factory state if I need to do so?

AFAIK the recovery partition is actually somewhat difficult to destroy even during a fresh, non-OEM install (I tried and gave up) but I would never choose to recover to the Lenovo build.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#297

Post by kasabali »

pjmlp wrote: post #208
virtue3 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly (and really, hear me out here). Alot of those crashes were device drivers for graphics cards. Windows 8 (I know... 8.1 isn't bad) actually moved the display drivers out of kernal space (at the chagrin of every game dev ever) and now at least the system/applications recover from a graphic driver dump. Although I will say I'm having issues with 8.1 that I can't really peg down. Sigh. We've had a string of issu…

Windows 7 already enjoys user space drivers.

As does Vista.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#298

Post by jbk »

MichaelGG wrote: post #85
jbk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope the MB supports 16GB and Dell does not solder the RAM to the motherboard. On 13", all the RAMs are soldered on the boards.

12" ThinkPads like the X201 are not soldered on. Dunno about later models since the X201 was already part way down the lack of good engineering.

As far as I know, all x220 and later are.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#299

Post by thanksgiving »

sk5t wrote: post #295
thanksgiving wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm thinking of doing the same for my y510p. Will the reset windows option keep the recovery partition so I can go back to factory state if I need to do so?

AFAIK the recovery partition is actually somewhat difficult to destroy even during a fresh, non-OEM install (I tried and gave up) but I would never choose to recover to the Lenovo build.

I created a bootable Windows image on a flash drive and sure enough it does give you a choice to keep the other partitions intact. YMMV.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#300

Post by zanny »

CalRobert wrote: post #231
zanny wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://system76.com/laptops I have a Galago Ultrapro personally, but if the XPS 13 2016 is any good (and they don't jump the shark like Lenovo is, what with the Intel bootguard DRM bullshit - hell if they put coreboot on any model XPS notebook I'd be all over it instantly like butter on toast).

What do you think about it? I had an UltraPro for one day and returned it because the keyboard was so bad as to be essentially broken. The case was also about as solid as a warm stick of butter. Their support also tried to convince me I was typing improperly which broke any trust I had with them; it's a well-documented issue they eventually confessed to knowing about and ignoring.

I did a lot of research in advance, I think I have a third gen keyboard on it. They must have added a backplate or something because its pretty solid.

I won't lie that the display is flimsy as cardboard, though. I was torn between the Sputnik and it, either I get performance or I get build quality, and I figure whats a warranty good for if not to subsidize a better CPU inside.

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