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XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

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Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#291

Post by Paraesthetic »

crispinb wrote: post #285
barton808 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dan, I apologize for your experience. If you ever run into something like this again, besides contacting support directly, you can ping @dellcarespro on twitter and, if its related to the developer edition or project Sputnik you can loop me in @barton808. thanks!

So you're on the team? Here's a perspective from a potential buyer. Apple having truly jumped the shark on their MB Pros, I've been mulling on and off about what to do when it's time to replace my current 13" MBP. An XPS 13 or 15 w/Ubuntu is definitely on my radar. But I am a bit scared off by reliability & quality reports. They're only anecdotal & biased samples of course, but there's not much else for a poor consum…

Remember though, its mainly the people who have had big problems with their devices that will complain online. I had multiple issues with many MBP's but still havn't changed the review I did on the first day because they serviced it very quickly. Dell service is excellent, but I can't just take it into a shop, so I'm more likely to complain about that.

Having said that I love my 2017 XPS13

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#292

Post by windexh8er »

barton808 wrote: post #222
dangrossman wrote: post #199

I regret buying a maxed out XPS 13 a year and a half ago. My list of problems: * Coil whine * Noisy fans * Heat issues * USB-C port has a bad pin (only works in one orientation with pressure) * Charging port inconsistently charges * Bad cell in the battery, so it suddenly shuts off without warning when on battery The charging issues started just around the 12 month mark, so I quickly sent to a repair center under war…

Dan, I apologize for your experience. If you ever run into something like this again, besides contacting support directly, you can ping @dellcarespro on twitter and, if its related to the developer edition or project Sputnik you can loop me in @barton808. thanks!

I'll say that I wanted to like Dell because they seemed to be focused on delivering quality Linux laptops. However, I will never buy a Dell again. The support is absolutely abysmal. I had a 5510 that I ended up selling for a significant loss about 6 months after buying it because Dell kept "fixing" what I had, sending me back the wrong machine, etc. Total waste of time and money. Buyer beware on quality and support - what's represented in forum after forum is true. Here was my post from a while ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13943966

I now own a Lenovo T470 and it's been without a hitch since receipt and running Linux. Hopefully the new XPS 13 isn't the 7th generation Fiero that many of us assume it will be.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#293

Post by mekpro »

echlebek wrote: post #241
dangrossman wrote: post #199

I regret buying a maxed out XPS 13 a year and a half ago. My list of problems: * Coil whine * Noisy fans * Heat issues * USB-C port has a bad pin (only works in one orientation with pressure) * Charging port inconsistently charges * Bad cell in the battery, so it suddenly shuts off without warning when on battery The charging issues started just around the 12 month mark, so I quickly sent to a repair center under war…

I bought an XPS 15, also maxed out, years ago and regretted it also. I had all the power problems you mention, except the random shutoffs. The machine was not really usable for professional work. I now have a Thinkpad X1 Carbon 5th gen. It has no major issues and works reliably, even with Linux as the primary OS. Granted, it was more expensive, but well worth the purchase price.

I'm totally on the same boat! Failed XPS 15 9550 and migrated to ThinkPad X1 5th gen. Now perfectly happy with the latter.

The XPS had failed with ridiculous reason, I try to access the BIOS/UEFI with some key while boot up. After some tries, the machine never boot again. It founds that by pushing F8 in the wrong timing/combination while booting can cause the machine to brick forever. This is beyond the expectation of how any computer should work !

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/...

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#294

Post by dingo_bat »

andor wrote: post #90
dingo_bat wrote: post #52

Where's the fucking USB ports?!? I have literally used or observed zero USB C devices till now. I've seen newer phones but who plugs phones into computers anymore? The main issue is flash drives, external HDDs, mice, keyboards, LTE modems, Kindle, and so on. None of those are available in type C variants and I don't want to be inconvenienced by my new laptop. If I wanted to hurt myself I'd just buy from Apple!

I'm really happy about USB-C. Since I got a new Macbook I only carry a single power adapter when traveling, plus an adapter dongle for legacy devices (Headphones, Kindle, Shaver, ...). Same for use in the office: a single cable connects you to power, an external display, Ethernet, etc. It's true that most external devices are still USB-A, but that's not Dell's or Apple's problem. It's a chicken-and-egg situation and…

> I'm really happy about USB-C. Since I got a new Macbook I only carry a single power adapter when traveling, plus an adapter dongle for legacy devices

I only carry a power adaptor when traveling. No dongle at all.

> Same for use in the office

I have a dock on my desk. I place my laptop on it and press a button. No dongles, no wires, instantly transforms my laptop into a desktop with two screens, Ethernet, keyboard and mouse.

> USB-C is the superior connector

Agreed. But keeping one or two legacy ports around for convenience is good. Specially when all common peripherals still use it.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#295

Post by dingo_bat »

Tepix wrote: post #185
andor wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really happy about USB-C. Since I got a new Macbook I only carry a single power adapter when traveling, plus an adapter dongle for legacy devices (Headphones, Kindle, Shaver, ...). Same for use in the office: a single cable connects you to power, an external display, Ethernet, etc. It's true that most external devices are still USB-A, but that's not Dell's or Apple's problem. It's a chicken-and-egg situation and…

One of the best things about the Dell XPS 9350 is that it has both USB C and USB A connectors. I still need to carry some dongles to get HDMI and LAN ports... but i don't need those all the time.

Yes, I don't see why you can't include a couple of legacy USB ports.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#296

Post by collyw »

torgard wrote: post #98

Max 8gb for regular display... I mean, who uses touch screens for development? I can't really imagine a scenario where it would be helpful for me. Maybe when doing work in Illustrator and Photoshop, but I usually use a different machine for that anyhow, because of Adobe's lack of Linux support. I don't want to pay for something I won't use. I am otherwise actively looking for a laptop. System76 does not have European…

I agree, I bought a laptop a few years back and it came with a touchscreen display. The only time it was of any use was when the Linux touch-pad drivers started playing up.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#297

Post by dingo_bat »

dsego wrote: post #169
andor wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really happy about USB-C. Since I got a new Macbook I only carry a single power adapter when traveling, plus an adapter dongle for legacy devices (Headphones, Kindle, Shaver, ...). Same for use in the office: a single cable connects you to power, an external display, Ethernet, etc. It's true that most external devices are still USB-A, but that's not Dell's or Apple's problem. It's a chicken-and-egg situation and…

My macbook's usb-c charger constantly loses connection, a slight tug and it falls out.

Magsafe is such a great connector. Incredibly stupid to get rid of it.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#298

Post by dingo_bat »

aceoflala wrote: post #204
dingo_bat wrote: post #52

Where's the fucking USB ports?!? I have literally used or observed zero USB C devices till now. I've seen newer phones but who plugs phones into computers anymore? The main issue is flash drives, external HDDs, mice, keyboards, LTE modems, Kindle, and so on. None of those are available in type C variants and I don't want to be inconvenienced by my new laptop. If I wanted to hurt myself I'd just buy from Apple!

>who plugs phones into computers anymore? Eh? How do I transfer my music to my phone?

There's this app called Google play music. It will stream your entire music library to your phone.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#300

Post by ethbro »

dangrossman wrote: post #199

I regret buying a maxed out XPS 13 a year and a half ago. My list of problems: * Coil whine * Noisy fans * Heat issues * USB-C port has a bad pin (only works in one orientation with pressure) * Charging port inconsistently charges * Bad cell in the battery, so it suddenly shuts off without warning when on battery The charging issues started just around the 12 month mark, so I quickly sent to a repair center under war…

Counterpoint, I have an older 9343, FHD, Broadwell-gen XPS 13.

I bought it used, from the outlet, on a lark. This was the consumer version, not even dev.

The damn thing's been the laptop equivalent of a Kabar knife. Deleted the Windows install and tossed Ubuntu on there. Then drops, generally rough treatment, and it's still running happily. No coil whine at all.

The only complaints I have were that the SSD was the Samsung model with serious degradation issues (solved via replacement), and the mouse was finicky until some patched drivers made it upstream.

I feel like quality control issues are a fact of life nowadays. (Aside from LG, because seriously, #&@$ that company for the 5x bootloop handling)

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