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Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

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Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#101

Post by Underphil »

hughrr wrote: post #46

No. I have a 5550 which is I assume what the author is referring to. It’s garbage. Overheats constantly, the touchpad is dire, the screen has bad vignette around the edges, it’s noisy, the thing hard freezes when you plug it into a dock, the webcam only works 50% of the time you power it up and if you pick it up by the base it flexes so badly the touchpad clicks. The keyboard is also soggy as hell and the battery las…

I have a Precision 7510 running Linux and don't have any of these issues so I wonder how different those two series actually are.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#102

Post by Ologn »

vbezhenar wrote: post #41
Shadonototra wrote: post #29

i find it very hard to suggest an intel/amd laptop nowadays now that M1 macbooks exist.. M1 is a league on its own, everything else is just tech junk at this point

M1 is overrated. I own MacBook Pro with M1 Max. It’s fast, but it’s not something that helps in day to day use. And ARM compatibility issues not really helping. Battery is not that amazing either. I spent 30 minutes in discord and battery was at 91%, 5 hours is not something unique. It’s good, fast and expensive laptop. But not something that I could call mind breaking.

> And ARM compatibility issues not really helping

There were two things I wanted to try on my MBP w/ M1 - compiling an Android app that has some C code, and also to run Fidelity's Active Trader Pro program (not that I would use it that actively). I also installed the Rosetta stuff it prompted for.

The Active Trader Pro program would not run.

In Android Studio, the production version can not compile with CMake as it can on Intel-based Macs yet ( https://github.com/android/ndk/issues/1299 ). They say there is stuff in the beta/alpha/canary branches where it is working, but I am not in a rush and will wait for that to make its way into production.

> It’s good, fast

Yes, I did see the speed, especially with a normal Kotlin/Java Android Studio compile, on 16GB RAM.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#103

Post by hereforphone »

Around 15 years ago I made Linux work well on various laptops. This included X and KDE. More recently I've tried the "great Linux laptops": Thinkpad and Dell. I had so many issues that I had to stop using these laptops altogether.

Some issues I remember off the top of my head are driver support (sometimes bluetooth, sometimes wifi, sometimes other), and video. Getting the video on high dpi displays to look reasonable with Linux on these laptops seemed impossible.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#104

Post by gshulegaard »

hughrr wrote: post #46

No. I have a 5550 which is I assume what the author is referring to. It’s garbage. Overheats constantly, the touchpad is dire, the screen has bad vignette around the edges, it’s noisy, the thing hard freezes when you plug it into a dock, the webcam only works 50% of the time you power it up and if you pick it up by the base it flexes so badly the touchpad clicks. The keyboard is also soggy as hell and the battery las…

Hmmm, I have a 5540 currently and don't have the problems you had (and I actually replaced the factory Ubuntu with PopOS after a year or two).

Although battery life is not great, but I am not sure that is as much a hardware issue as it is a software one. Although I am waiting on baited breath for AMD based hardware.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#105

Post by kitsunesoba »

ok_dad wrote: post #7

Maybe if you're considering the "major laptop manufacturers", but I prefer my System76 laptop any day, since it comes with Linux and they support it from the get-go. Also, they write a lot of nice software that makes the Linux ecosystem better; I love Pop_OS! and how I basically don't have to futz around with getting things to work but have the power of a Debian/Ubuntu variant so I can install other things easily. I…

Prior to buying my Thinkpad X1 Nano I considered a System76 laptop, but decided against it mainly for a few reasons:

- Many reports of spotty QC in their machines

- Display panel being 16:9 instead of 16:10 or something taller

- Uninspiring design

- Mediocre specs for price

- Barrel power connector instead of USB-PD

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#106

Post by Underphil »

qumpis wrote: post #88
Shadonototra wrote: post #29

i find it very hard to suggest an intel/amd laptop nowadays now that M1 macbooks exist.. M1 is a league on its own, everything else is just tech junk at this point

I'm very curious about counterpoint to this from a causal unix user perspective

The counterpoint would be that huge swathes of the public (myself included) despise using Mac OS for anything more serious than browsing, so that entire line of laptops would be dead to us.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#107

Post by stagger87 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #10

I recently checked and only 3 models of the entire Dell line-up offer Linux OS (1 model is XPS Developer edition). Basically it seems that Dell abandoned Linux compatibility with new models.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystem...

This link shows their Linux lineup. Seems they cover all 3 laptop sizes 13/15/17 both in an ultra book form factor and a bulkier port rich model. What more were you hoping for? I personally think it's a good thing they limit the pre-installed Linux models to their professional/business line of laptops. Supporting Linux on every model is probably a waste of time.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#108

Post by Theodores »

stingraycharles wrote: post #5

Missing [2019] in the title. I’m in the market for buying a laptop this year. What is the currently reigning developer laptop?

If you are okay with 16Gb RAM the Huawei Matebook Pro will not disappoint. The quality is top notch and the price is true value for money. For me the light weight, 3000*2000 display and how nice the keyboard and touchpad is makes it nice to use. Ubuntu works perfectly.

I also have a small armada of XPS efforts and very nice Lenovo laptops but the Huawei just feels better engineered.

You also get goodies with it, like fancy speakers and other accessories, depending on the promotions available at the time.

Huawei are a tech leader, not a race to the bottom clone. But after the Trump ban on Huawei you would never know.

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#109

Post by Lio »

synergy20 wrote: post #66

I was assigned a Macbook Pro at work and I asked for a non-Mac laptop, reason being I'm a Linux developer and Macbook did not work well for me(keyboard,etc). I ended up with a XPS 15 that has 64GB DDR and 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD around $2750, comparing to 32GB+1TB of MacBook Pro it is about $800 less expensive. I did not realize Precision 55xx series is even better built than XPS15 otherwise I will probably go that route.…

Only the XPS 13 from te XPS range is "Linux compatible". The rest are a crapshoot.

I had a little look at the Precision 7760. With Ubuntu there's only 1 version available in the UK and it's a beast with 64GB RAM and 4TB SSD. It cost £6,091.39[1].

Looking at Apple for a rough equivalent[2] I spec'd a 16" up with 64GB and 4TB and it's £4,599.00

I'm an XPS 13 Dev Ed owner myself. It's OK for the most part, I don't have many problems with it.

I'm not in the market for a 16"/17" laptop right now but when it's time to replace this it's going to be hard to look past what Apple are offering.

1. https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-computers-2-in-1...

2. https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch-sp...

Re: Linux Developer Laptops: Dell's Precision 5500 series reigns supreme (2019)

#110

Post by leephillips »

adolph wrote: post #89
francislavoie wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Are others time travellers?

Technologically, it can be cheaper to live a couple years back. Look at all these first gen iPhone SE's for about $100. https://buy.gazelle.com/collections/iphone-se

That’s what I do with everything possible. Tech becomes quite cheap, and if something breaks (which it does less often than with new stuff), there is no getting upset when the company refuses to honor the warranty, because there is no warranty. Just buy another one.
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