Dell's official corporate blog, covering product launches, the Sputnik Linux laptop project, and company responses to issues like the eDellroot certificate.
HN links it for Dell product news, especially the XPS 13 Developer Edition with Ubuntu, which commenters describe as plagued by problems like slow boot and graphics glitches.
The XPS series is no pillar of Linux support. Turn to Thinkpads for this[0]. In case you can't be bothered with the upcoming wall of text: Dell seems to have entirely different definitions of "support" for the paid OS, vs. the free one.
I could pick my own hardware for work, and I went with an XPS 13 9333 "Ubuntu edition" + superspeed dock for over 1300 GBP ($2K USD). I shouldn't have sponged on the extra hundred or so bucks for the X1 Carbon (..."startup"...), but the "Linux readiness" sucked me in. I don't exactly feel like I got my money's worth:
- "Coil Whine"[1]. My expectations from a $2K SSD laptop is complete fucking silence unless the fans are going. There is still some serious coil whine happening when some arbitrary conditions are met - If you often work in a quiet environment (any AM workers here?), you will notice this eventually. This also changes pitch when <things>, so you won't be tuning it out. This was noted as fixed by Dell for the 9333[2], when in fact it hasn't been. Not exclusively a Linux issue, but unacceptable in a $2K machine.
- Driver support: wifi: Identity crisis. The stock wifi drivers don't quite register as wifi drivers, but at least NetworkManager still kinda works. "Huh?"
# iwconfig
[...]
wlan0 no wireless extensions.
Why do I care? Because maybe I wanted to switch out NetworkManager for wicd (not possible). Maybe I wanted monitor mode on my card (nope). Maybe I just wanted to run Kismet - or anything other than…
This. My 3 year-old MacBook is starting to show its age, so I took a look at what's out there. I was intrigued by the HP Envy 14--at long last, it seems somebody besides Apple figured out how to build a nice laptop. And you seem get a lot more for your money.
Of course, going back to Windows after 3+ years on OSX is no option, so I looked into Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu on a machine at work and have been very impressed--we've certainly come a long ways since the dark days of Slackware `96! I am enough of a "power user" that I could weather the switch just fine; really the only thing I would miss is iTunes since I have two iPods.
Anyways, I started Googling around on the topic of "hp envy 14 +ubuntu". And that's when I was instantly transported back fifteen years to the days, weeks, months I spent tinkering with past laptops in order to get everything working on them under Linux. I had all but forgotten about 30-page hardware HOWTOs on getting Linux to work with your specific laptop; the 20% battery penalty you pay because pm never quite works; the inability of some things, usually network and sound cards, to wake from sleep; the lack of hibernate; buggy graphics drivers; etc. etc. etc.
I am aware that the situation has improved considerably since then, but problems still remain. I just don't have the time like I did in my teens and early 20s. Or rather, my time is worth considerably more now--I'm happy to pay the Apple tax if it means I don't have to deal with this shit.
That…
Before anyone goes jumping on the "best ones" from Dell, take a read through this 35 page support discussion about their UP2414Q:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19536443?pi23185=35
Anecdotal, but a friend and I both have problems with ours, and he got lucky with the 1.1 firmware revision (Dell won't let you upgrade it, you have to go through support for a replacement, and they'll send you a refurb that might have the newer firmware because they decided it would cost too much to update their existing inventory). And even then it might not work. He's waiting on Dell Support for his 3rd unit.
Do yourself a favor and wait until DisplayPort 1.3 is widespread and can drive a 4k screen without using Multi-stream Transport. It's not worth the headache.
Right now my computer is convinced that the left and right halves of my screen are separate displays and nothing will convince it otherwise. Other times MST will fail to connect and it only picks up 1/2 the resolution in the middle, with 1/4 width black bars on the left and right. From what I remember reading, Dell botched the DisplayPort handshake, and the workarounds that AMD/Nvidia have put into their drivers to try and fix it aren't 100%.
I need to return mine for backlight flicker too. But I'll write that off an an excusable manufacturing flaw that's going to pop up occasionally on some number of any model.
EDIT: Just for perspective, this is a screen with an MSRP around $1100, though we…
Dell does this with their monitors [1], first by shipping certain models with IPS panels, then with cheaper PVA panels after good reviews are published.
That bit me w/their 2007wfp, which was a great monitor mostly for 1 reason: it was IPS at a great price point. Overwhelmingly positive reviews convinced me to purchase 2 of them.
Then buyers started noticing picture quality issues not described in previous positive reviews. After some research, it was found Dell had silently started shipping the 2007wfp with cheaper PVA panels, not IPS. After noticing similar issues with the 2 I purchased, I eventually confirmed they were PVA monitors. I was fairly upset.
There's a good thread on Hard Forum about all of this here.[2]
And despite very frustrated customers, Dell never acknowledged any problem. In fact, a Dell rep can be quoted: "... a 2007WFP is a 2007WFP ... It does not matter what panel is installed." [3]
I stopped buying Dell products after this experience.
[1] http://en.community.dell.com/f/3529/t/18107050.aspx
[2] http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1111100
[3] http://en.community.dell.com/f/3529/t/18286693.aspx
Hmm, your links imply that my old Inspiron 6400 might be able to take two 2 GB modules (the manual says it can handle a 2 GB module) and have access to something more than 2GB of addressable RAM. Anyone happen to try this with this or a similar model Dell? (The 6400 is equivalent to the 1505, IIRC. Its manual says it's limited to 2 GB of RAM.)
EDIT: Answering myself, it appears it can take 2 x 2 GB sticks. The following Dell forums thread describes this, although this particular post linked claims that the configuration will disable dual channel memory access (but then again, other posters are happy and view the expansion as an improvement).
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/18322272/18445258.aspx#19007577
EDIT2: I've seen some other comments that dual channel remains enabled (with matched 2 x 2GB sticks). I guess I'll give it a go.
I bought a Dell XPS-13 a couple of years ago with Ubuntu pre-installed. It seemed like a good idea to try out something new and give Dell the business to reward their support for desktop Linux.
Boy was that a mistake.
As I recall the laptop was only about $200 cheaper than an equivalent Macbook Air. In return I got a non-functioning trackpad [1], flaky Wifi NIC, and a lid that takes two hands to open. Oh, and the same non-replaceable hardware and limited port selection that people complain about on Macs. It would have been far better to get a Macbook and just install Ubuntu on it. Say what you will, but Apple hardware is really great.
p.s., The Dell laptop and I made our peace after I propitiated it with a USB Mouse. I still use it.
[1] http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19616659?pi239031352=1