If you want a solid Linux experience you can't go past the XPS 13. First brand new laptop I've had where the first night wasn't spend compiling latest kernel to get X new hardware going.
Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
361–370 of 396 posts
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#362I have a 2015 MBP and a Dell XPS 13 (I forget the year) and the thing that blew me away the most with Dell is the support. One day I went to turn my XPS on and it wouldn’t start. After some research it seemed like a dead motherboard. I was concerned I was going to have to send my laptop away for months to have it fixed but surprisingly because the XPS is an enterprise grade machine it qualifies for their pro support.…
The onsite and accidental damage options on ThinkPads was (is?) absolutely amazing. I think I paid an extra $100, but when I knocked my machine off the desk, Lenovo dispatched an IBMer to my office with a replacement panel in under 24 hours.
My experience with older ThinkPads was that they were about as likely to damage whatever they landed on. The most damage I have done to one is to drop it onto pavement from 4ft because I forgot to properly zip up my backup. Only cosmetic damage, broke off a small piece of plastic from the battery.
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned keyboard portability. I find it incredibly hard to switch from ctrl on Windows to cmd on Mac. In college I had to switch frequently between Windows and Mac, and it was a nightmare. Since then, I've committed to only use MacOS on a Macbook and Windows on a real keyboard. That seems to preserve my muscle memory the best. But things can be rough when I use a Windows laptop or a standal…
Karabiner is a great app.
And AutoHotKey to go the other way on Windows
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#364I recently sold an XPS 13, an i7 9543 model from 2015, which was the first laptop in a long time that I regretted buying. I got it as a Windows machine and never ran anything else on it. Technically it was broadly fine. The specs were OK, it was reasonably repairable, I had a hi-dpi screen, the case was solid. But the keyboard felt really dead, the wrist rest was smeary, the screen had a grainy impression, the machin…
My job got me a newer XPS 13 i7 8550U model. I also dislike it: conspicuous coil whine, heat issues wherein you get to select between "high-perf/hair dryer", "ok-perf/annoying", "slow/silent" modes. A Dell tech looked at it and claimed that it's performing as intended. My colleagues all have the same model but with dual-core i5s, and they're much happier. I guess whoever decided to offer these machines with the quad i7s failed to check with the engineering department.
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#365As far as non-apple laptops go, XPS13 seems a solid choice but I think this Huawei would be my first choice now (look at that screen!) https://consumer.huawei.com/us/tablets/matebook-x-pro/
Where the XPS 13 wins (if I were to buy a new laptop) is Linux compatible hardware. The Huawei looks nice, but I'd need to hear how well it had worked for people.
In practice though I just bought a second hand thinkpad. Mediocre screen but otherwise excellent value and great Linux compatibility.
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#366My biggest challenge in switching back to Windows would have to be the trackpad. I haven't used a mouse since switching to MBP
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#367Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let us know how the install goes.. I'd be curious. Thanks
At a first approximation, everything in the actual machine works. The touchscreen was picked up immediately, the machine stays pretty cool, it's reading about 7h40m in battery life (this is the 4K model with the i7 and 16GB of RAM; I expect more like 4h to 5h). I really like the keyboard, and the keyboard correctly turns off when it's folded back. This seems at least as good as the XPS 13. Only downside so far is tha…
Thanks for the update!
Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user
#368Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have both Mac and Windows 10 running simultaneously in my office at home and I keep getting Ctrl-W and Cmd-W confused when I try to close a browser tab. Maybe I'll get used to it eventually. I hope so.
Why does Mac os even have Ctrl? Why not do everything with Cmd? The Ctrl key is really unused on Mac.
I'm guessing you don't use the command line much.