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Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#111

Post by SwellJoe »

batmansbelt wrote: post #54
crazygringo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: aside from data-entry people and accountants, who uses numeric keypads anymore? As a developer, I don't exactly type a lot of numbers. And they're too far away from the home position of the hands to make the numpad efficient to use for numbers in mixed alphanumeric text. It really seems like they are rightly turning into a very niche input product, like Wacom tablets, instead of a general-purpose on…

True programmers do everything with alt-codes.

Get off my lawn. Alt codes didn't exist in the days when true programmers roamed the earth.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#113

Post by taeric »

just_bytecode wrote: post #95
fotcorn wrote: post #92

I bought a Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga a month ago and installed the alpha of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on it. The only thing that didn't work out of the box was the lock button and scrolling in Firefox using the touch screen (install the Grab and Drag Addon). Features: matte screen, TrackPoint, Pen Input.

Thanks for turning me on Grab and Drag. Firefox is one of the few things I want to touch scroll on Linux.

Seconded! Only used it for about 30 seconds and this is already one of my favorite add ons. :) I kind of wish it was only enabled for the touch or pen cursors, anyone know if that is possible?

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#114

Post by sigzero »

angersock wrote: post #59
thirdsight wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone who gets it! I'm doomed to stay with a 2010 vintage Lenovo T-series by the looks.

...using tools from the late 70s/early 80s no doubt (vim, emacs, etc.)

There isn't anything better than Vim or Emacs. Sorry.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#115

Post by astrodust »

nezza-_- wrote: post #38
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #36

A laptop targeted to developers should have a TrackPoint to move the cursor without taking the hands off the keyboard, a non-shortscreen monitor to see more lines of code, a matte screen to read the code better, and a numpad to, well, type numbers. OK, I guess I'm asking too much for today's standards, even if all these things were common ten years ago (sigh...), but when I saw "developer edition" I thought I would s…

I don't think a numpad is necessary, developers normally don't type that many numbers (except maybe 0 and 1).

If you do spreadsheet work based on numbers, a number pad comes in handy. Some developers have to do estimates or accounting where this applies.

I only have a full-sized keyboard to get the arrow keys. Being able to smack "Enter" in the corner is a nice bonus.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#116

Post by astrodust »

mwfunk wrote: post #76
rayiner wrote: post #24

6 hours isn't great, it's shitty for a 13" laptop with Haswell.

Very true, although seeing your comment made me realize how awesome it is that people consider 6 hours to be shitty for laptops nowadays. It doesn't seem that long ago that 90-150 minute battery life was pretty standard.

You mean ten years ago?

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#117

Post by angersock »

sigzero wrote: post #114
angersock wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...using tools from the late 70s/early 80s no doubt (vim, emacs, etc.)

There isn't anything better than Vim or Emacs. Sorry.

For text editing, sure.

For an IDE for, say, C/C++, Visual Studio beats it soundly. For Java, Eclipse.

All that said, these tools are quite useful despite being old--I don't mean anything pointing out their age other than that a somewhat old laptop is probably still quite sufficient.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#118

Post by astrodust »

mkhattab wrote: post #11

I'm conflicted about the price being in the range of MBPs and Dell competing with Apple, supposedly, based on quality and design. I think they would be much more competitive if they were to price this laptop significantly cheaper than MBPs without sacrificing too much quality. I think Dell has the resources to do this. It's difficult for me to ignore brand image and I guess this makes me a fan boy. Although, I really…

People consistently underestimate how much value an Apple notebook has. The reason they cost >$1000 is because of what's inside.

Dell doesn't have the resources to make a MacBook Air type computer in volume. Apple's bought the gear, invested heavily in the suppliers to get them up to speed, and starves competitors of the equipment and supplies needed to produce similar computers.

Secondly, Apple focuses on a handful of models and makes a lot of them. Dell tends to produce dozens if not hundreds of models and can't get the volume on any single one up to the level required to really slash costs on exotic manufacturing processes.

HP has tried on a few occasions to produce something close, but they never stick with it long enough to really gain the benefits of scale.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#119

Post by astrodust »

geminitojanus wrote: post #105
rsync wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This is just a standard high-end laptop. Disappointing." Well, a high end laptop with a low resolution screen...

It's a strange world where we're saying 1080p is "low res".

It is pretty garbage by today's standards, and is inferior to CRT screens I had ten years ago.

If this is for developers, pixels matter.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition review

#120

Post by josteink »

akbar501 wrote: post #74
crazygringo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: aside from data-entry people and accountants, who uses numeric keypads anymore? As a developer, I don't exactly type a lot of numbers. And they're too far away from the home position of the hands to make the numpad efficient to use for numbers in mixed alphanumeric text. It really seems like they are rightly turning into a very niche input product, like Wacom tablets, instead of a general-purpose on…

I dislike the trend of putting number pads on laptop keyboards. It moves the entire keyboard to the side.

For me it's a complete and utter deal-killer. Any laptop with a number-pad, regardless of any specs and price otherwise, is a laptop I will not buy.

Numpad = No deal.

I still curse the trend of putting them on laptops. May it soon pass.

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