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XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

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Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#81

Post by examancer »

ascendantlogic wrote: post #11

Only 16 gigs of RAM? Why do companies still hold that limit in 2018? I was hoping for 32 gigs back in 2015.

Expected the new XPS to have a developer flavor soon, but also expected it to be limited to 16GB still. Was not surprised since the Windows version has the same limit.

Went ahead and purchased a 32GB System76 Galaga Pro last week with the same i7-8550U available on the XPS. It's a slightly larger 13", but feels a lot closer to my 5th gen XPS 13 than the MacBook Pro the Galaga replaces. Comes with a retina-like matte IPS 3200x1800 screen that is a joy to use. No touch, for better or worse. Keyboard layout is actually superior to the XPS for development with dedicated home/end/pgup/pgdn buttons. Pop!OS is nice and worth a spin, plus it has XPS levels of support under Ubuntu 16.04 which is available pre-loaded. Camera is in a much more useful place than on the XPS. It's also cheaper at most configurations.

Downsides are a smaller battery (probably to make room for both an M.2 SSD and a 7mm 2.5" drive bay) and a touchpad that while multitouch and decent isn't as good as the XPS touchpad. Also, while the screen hinge feels more solid than the XPS's, it doesn't go back as far as I would expect. XPS uses better materials in spots, like soft touch carbon fiber in palm.

So far I'm extremely happy with the Galaga Pro and would recommend to anyone who wants a small powerful laptop like the XPS 13, but is turned off by its 16GB limitation.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#82

Post by FBISurveillance »

chimeracoder wrote: post #57
FBISurveillance wrote: post #27

IMO, it does not make sense to buy any of those new models: whether it's Dell, HP, or else--before we see models with 32Gb of RAM. It's been told here over and over since 2016 when first Touchbar MacBook got released. It's 2018 and all of us, including manufacturers, are locked with 16GB of RAM and those upgrades look like a joke. Within last month I noticed myötähäpeä when someone asks me for laptop advice. Hopefull…

> IMO, it does not make sense to buy any of those new models: whether it's Dell, HP, or else--before we see models with 32Gb of RAM. It's been told here over and over since 2016 when first Touchbar MacBook got released. What are you doing on an Ultrabook that actually needs 32GB of RAM? Even on my work laptop (Macbook Pro, 16GB), I pretty much never have issues that would be addressed by having 32GB of RAM. (Note: Ju…

I my case it adds up: Slack, Docker CE (that spins up a VM on Mac) for tests, corporate Docker EE setup (runs alongside Docker CE), elasticsearch, kafka, and 9 more services inside that corporate Docker setup, two Chromes (Chrome Stable and Chrome Canary), multiple VSCode instances. And if you need to build something with boost or folly you can add 3GB ram just for that.

I realize that my setup is not common but I'd appreciate to have an option. (Mind you, I'm primarily talking in Mac perspective because work laptop has strict platform requirements.)

Edit: Disclaimer: currently using MacBook Pro 15".

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#84

Post by neslinesli93 »

Did they solve the not-so-well-known problem of Content Adaptive Brightness Controll (CABC) not being disableable for FHD models? People do not speak very much about this, but for me it's actually a game changer. I was so close to buy one of those new xps 13" during holiday sales, but when I read that they do not simply allow you to disable the CABC option on FHD models (whereas you can on QHD models by updating the BIOS), I completely changed my mind on Dell models - actually, CABC was just part of the reason, the others being coil whine, quality control issues, no sane ports...

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#86

Post by ReverseCold »

eropple wrote: post #58
sohooo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you look into the Razer Blade series? https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops

No. I find Razer as a company to appeal to the "x-treme gamer" set in ways I wouldn't want to support, but I also think their branding is childish and would not walk into a meeting with a client with that huge gross logo on it. It would look bad. I'd rather get a laptop with no branding at all, but the Alienware logo is at least really small. (And the keyboard on the Alienware 13 is good , my brother has one.)

You could just put a sticker on it, company logo or something. There's only one place where the logo is visible anyway.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#87

Post by ReverseCold »

dguaraglia wrote: post #65
sohooo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you look into the Razer Blade series? https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops

Razers are nice-looking machines but last time I checked the biggest processor you could get for the most portable one was dual core, and the next model up (the 14 inch model) had pretty bad battery life. I'm still looking for the perfect replacement for a MacBook Pro. Hopefully when the 2018 XPS 15 comes out...

The new thin/light one ("stealth") is quad core.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#88

Post by cryptoz »

I ordered a Dell XPS 13 Developer edition in 2013. I picked Ubuntu Linux and the email confirmation said Ubuntu on it. Wait a week, it arrives, it runs Windows. Ugh.

I was so confident that we had moved past it being this hard to buy a linux laptop, in 2013, but I guess not.

All of my friends made fun of me for trying to buy a linux laptop. I ended up failing as hard as possible, being out thousands of dollars while I waited for the refund. Eventually I gave in and got Mac from the store, which I'm still using today. I desperately wish I could have got an XPS 13, but they took my money and gave me the wrong product. It's too risky to try it again.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#89

Post by ReverseCold »

ythn wrote: post #3

I've had so many problems with my XPS 13 that I bought in 2016 that I will never buy another one. Killer WiFi card was utter crap, laptop has issues going to sleep and waking up when closing the lid (sometimes it would hang on the the dell screen when trying to wake up and never recover), etc. Purely anecdotal, but a hard pass for me. Lenovo is my new laptop brand of choice.

On most laptops you can swap the killer WiFi card for an Intel one using a screwdriver and 15 minutes. Drivers also "just work" on all three relevant desktop OS for the Intel chipset.

Re: XPS 13 developer edition 7th generation available

#90

Post by andor »

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 somebody needs to start.

USB-C is the superior connector: longer lasting, reversible, works for charging, alternate modes, etc.

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