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"at this point I'm probably just going to buy a MacBook Pro and send the W540 back to the office because I'm tired of playing the Linux compatibility game on mo

"at this point I'm probably just going to buy a MacBook Pro and send the W540 back to the office because I'm tired of playing the Linux compatibility game on modern notebooks." Former ThinkPad fan, current MacBook user: I am likely to buy a Dell for my next laptop. Dell expanded the range of machines that they will preload with (Ubuntu) Linux last year, and were the first big vendor to sign on to the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, so that supported computers can get easily get firmware upgrades.

gambiting 9y ago
Former mac user, now Dell XPS user - my first impressions were great, second not so much. XPS laptops have a horrendous coil whine and a lot of model lines have an issue where the computer won't go to sleep(instead stays on with the fan off, resulting in the machine reaching burning temperatures if you just close the lid and put it in your bag). I've had the motherboard replaced 3 times now - both issues are still present. There's thread upon thread upon thread about both on Dell forums - and it seems Dell doesn't have an engineering solution, despite being on the 7th(?) generation of that laptop.
- sjellis 9y ago
  "Former mac user, now Dell XPS user - my first impressions were great, second not so much." Yeah, I definitely should have qualified that I probably would not get an XPS, because there seem to be consistent issues with that line. That's why I'm pleased to see that Dell have expanded the number of ranges that they offer Linux support on: hopefully there will be some good models at the time that I need to buy a new machine. Or I could buy an unsupported model: none of the ThinkPads that I used had Linux support from the vendor.
apetrovic 9y ago
Except Dell's QA is an utter shit. Around here we have eight XPS 13, two XPS 15, and only one XPS 15 and one XPS 13 didn't had any problems. From stuck fan to failed SSD or the computer that just won't wake up.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Yea my XPS 15 running Linux is falling apart. The compatibility was all there, but the touchpad already broke; speakers are blown (no hardware limiter and it was over 100% when I unplugged some USB speakers) and the battery is even starting to swell. I just use it as a desktop now. I use an HP Spectre as my Linux laptop now. Everything worked on a modern kernel out of the box and the quality seems way better.
  - denis1 9y ago
    FYI Dell issued a recall for XPS batteries. You should check their support pages and make sure to get it replaced (or have one shipped to you).
  - sjellis 9y ago
    "I use an HP Spectre as my Linux laptop now. Everything worked on a modern kernel out of the box and the quality seems way better." I know that Martin Wimpress, the Ubuntu MATE lead, sometimes uses a Spectre. They look to be quite a different thing to what we might expect from a HP laptop.
    - KozmoNau7 9y ago
      Probooks and Elitebooks have generally been quite good, we used them for many years at my current workplace, before switching to Thinkpads around the end of the T430/X230 generation. I certainly didn't have any complaints about them. Absolutely stay away from consumer models, obviously.

gambiting 9y ago

Former mac user, now Dell XPS user - my first impressions were great, second not so much. XPS laptops have a horrendous coil whine and a lot of model lines have an issue where the computer won't go to sleep(instead stays on with the fan off, resulting in the machine reaching burning temperatures if you just close the lid and put it in your bag). I've had the motherboard replaced 3 times now - both issues are still present. There's thread upon thread upon thread about both on Dell forums - and it seems Dell doesn't have an engineering solution, despite being on the 7th(?) generation of that laptop.

sjellis 9y ago
"Former mac user, now Dell XPS user - my first impressions were great, second not so much." Yeah, I definitely should have qualified that I probably would not get an XPS, because there seem to be consistent issues with that line. That's why I'm pleased to see that Dell have expanded the number of ranges that they offer Linux support on: hopefully there will be some good models at the time that I need to buy a new machine. Or I could buy an unsupported model: none of the ThinkPads that I used had Linux support from the vendor.

apetrovic 9y ago

Except Dell's QA is an utter shit. Around here we have eight XPS 13, two XPS 15, and only one XPS 15 and one XPS 13 didn't had any problems. From stuck fan to failed SSD or the computer that just won't wake up.

djsumdog 9y ago
Yea my XPS 15 running Linux is falling apart. The compatibility was all there, but the touchpad already broke; speakers are blown (no hardware limiter and it was over 100% when I unplugged some USB speakers) and the battery is even starting to swell. I just use it as a desktop now. I use an HP Spectre as my Linux laptop now. Everything worked on a modern kernel out of the box and the quality seems way better.
- denis1 9y ago
  FYI Dell issued a recall for XPS batteries. You should check their support pages and make sure to get it replaced (or have one shipped to you).
- sjellis 9y ago
  "I use an HP Spectre as my Linux laptop now. Everything worked on a modern kernel out of the box and the quality seems way better." I know that Martin Wimpress, the Ubuntu MATE lead, sometimes uses a Spectre. They look to be quite a different thing to what we might expect from a HP laptop.
  - KozmoNau7 9y ago
    Probooks and Elitebooks have generally been quite good, we used them for many years at my current workplace, before switching to Thinkpads around the end of the T430/X230 generation. I certainly didn't have any complaints about them. Absolutely stay away from consumer models, obviously.