I have had the previous m3800, with 3.5K screen, and a 512GB SSD. I'm running dual-boot windows 8, but with Ubuntu 14.10 as my primary OS. The touchscreen and scaling of windows is great. On Ubuntu they are non-existant. I can't use my finger to scroll, but can launch apps with my finger. Using my fingers is something i'm really getting to like. Things like getting a putty connection to my server in 2 seconds works now with three quick touches.
The big problem has been that suspened doesn't work now - both on windows and ubuntu. I "upgraded" to 15.04, still no joy. I assume it's a motherboard problem, but I don't time to leave it back. Killer for my productivity, though. Pity, as it ruins an otherwise nice laptop.
Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
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Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#32looks like a good notebook. but I have lots of issues with nvidia gpu under linux. everytime the kernel gets updated, I get a black screen.
Unfortunately, that's really the result of the API/ABI choices that the Linux kernel developers have made. There are no stable interfaces for kernel modules, and they frequently break existing interfaces.
This means that any third-party driver that is not included in the mainline kernel source is effectively broken either via API or ABI almost every kernel update.
So it's not specifically a proprietary driver issue since even third-party open source drivers that are not in the mainline kernel break too.
Yes, nVidia could choose to open up their driver and contribute it in a way that it was included in the mainline kernel and therefore breakages would happen far less often. But ultimately, the real problem is the API/ABI instability on Linux.
With the above said, as others have mentioned, it shouldn't generally break every update if you have dkms, etc. setup properly.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#33How do these ones hold up over time? I haven't had a Dell PC of any kind, laptop or desktop, last longer than two years (and thanks to switching jobs a few times and being the family PC tech support, I've seen quite a few Dells). I had given up on the brand completely, but this is a very tempting piece of hardware.
I hate how hard it is to find the specs I want in a laptop computer. Some sites will let you filter by specs, but sometimes I'd be willing to compromise on some specs if other specs hit certain thresholds. And then, it seems like some products get selected by the filter that should be, and others get filtered out that do match the specs, so I'm just back to reading pretty much every product page until I find what I want.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#34I received mine a couple of weeks ago and have been pretty happy so far. Everything worked out of the box in ubuntu (camera, multimedia keys, trackpad, touchscreen, bluetooth, wifi, etc). My only complaints are: - The Glossy monitor is incredibly reflective. I wish there was a matte option. - I got the UHD screen option but there are still too many scaling issues in linux. Ubuntu looks fine with some minor tweaks but…
I've been using a Dell XPS 15 with the UHD touchscreen display since November and I love it! I also reduced to 1080p resolution, for the same annoying reasons (applications are just too hit/miss). For the touchpad, I tweaked the initial settings a bit using the following articles: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticsTouchpad http://askubuntu.com/questions/483707/14-04-touchpad-is-too-... I had a 2014 Retina Ma…
Awesome, I'll check it out. Thanks!
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#35[deleted]
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#36Sadly, the Sputnik version of the XPS 13, the one I was more interested in, still has issues/hasn't come out yet. This 3rd-party article/thread seems to be a good place for tracking those developments: https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2...
Issues w/ the XPS 13 include keyboard repeat issues (fixed w/ BIOS A01 update), trackpad issues (kernel patches, switching from I2C to PS2 mode), sound (switching from I2S to HDA, requires ACPI jigger-pokery including another kernel patch since the BIOS breaks sound init when ACPI is sent properly https://lkml.org/lkml/2015/3/12/149). Also the XPS 13 uses a somewhat flakey Broadcom wireless card as well. And people have reported some S3 sleep issues.
My main goal was to replace my MBA11 w/ something about the same size w/ better battery-life (my Yosemite battery-life is pathetic, about 4hrs even just web browsing). The FHD XPS13 claims 15 hours, but I couldn't wait anymore and ended up going w/ the new Lenovo X250 - slightly less sexy but more or less equivalent and only a tiny bit larger, largely works OOTB w/ Linux, and has 20 hours claimed battery life w/ the 6-cell battery option.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#37Why in god's name does a laptop that large not have independent home/end/pgup/pgdn keys. This trend drives me nuts.
I have an older xps 13, which has the same keyboard layout as the m3800. I actually really like stacking page up/down, home, and end on the arrow keys. I use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible and can hit these very quickly. The function key right next to the left control key in conjunction with these works very well for me. It took a few days to get used to, but I love it now. Certainly much better than some of…
I've spent plenty of time on keyboards without them (largely macs) and I still hate it. My old Toshiba laptop (z830 -- a 14" laptop, no less) just has them in a straight line along the right edge of the keyboard and that works just fine and doesn't require me to use two hands to do something that should be one finger. Again, it's not like there's some lack of space on this and other 15" laptops.
"It's not that hard to..." arguments are basically admitting defeat before the debate begins. I could probably get used to a 5 key chording keyboard if I tried, but I don't think it would enrich my life.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#38Dell has achieved feature parity with the Retina MacBook Pro, and has made huge improvements on their last 'MBP competitor', the XPS 15. However, looking at it objectively, the article pretty much sums it up: Thunderbolt port doesn't really work in Ubuntu Application-level 4k scaling issues are pretty much all over the place If all you're after is Linux on a laptop, you can do it for cheaper than the M3800's starting…
Note that the first two would also be issues running linux on a macbook. Thunderbolt support on linux is extremely weak.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have an older xps 13, which has the same keyboard layout as the m3800. I actually really like stacking page up/down, home, and end on the arrow keys. I use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible and can hit these very quickly. The function key right next to the left control key in conjunction with these works very well for me. It took a few days to get used to, but I love it now. Certainly much better than some of…
I've spent plenty of time on keyboards without them (largely macs) and I still hate it. My old Toshiba laptop (z830 -- a 14" laptop, no less) just has them in a straight line along the right edge of the keyboard and that works just fine and doesn't require me to use two hands to do something that should be one finger. Again, it's not like there's some lack of space on this and other 15" laptops. "It's not that hard t…
And I don't care for the independent keys on the top row. It's a stretch with how often I use them. My argument isn't "It's not that hard to...", it's "I prefer this." Different (key)strokes.
Re: Dell’s Linux PC sequel still just works, but adds 4K screen and rough edges
#40Why in god's name does a laptop that large not have independent home/end/pgup/pgdn keys. This trend drives me nuts.
Bizarre, I actually like the apple or hhk Fn-arrows way.