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Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

• bobowzki 8y ago
  Bought a Dell XPS 13 and then returned it because of the horrible coil whine.
  • tomswartz07 8y ago
    The new BIOS updates addressed the whine issues I had. Might have been worth checking out before just taking it back :) EDIT: To be clear, my issues were resolved after an update back in Dec 2017: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YFTT1 http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDet... "Optimize CPU loading to Improve EE noise" is specifically one of the issues that BIOS update addresses.
    • skrebbel 8y ago
      Wow, I'm impressed that a BIOS update can fix a coil whine. Got any background info on how they did it? Or did they just disable some core hardware feature for it?
      • tomswartz07 8y ago
        I have no idea on the implementation, but it seems that they resolved it with 'CPU loading' optimizations: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YFTT1 http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDet...
    • IloveHN84 8y ago
      Inpatient Apple user
    • meritt 8y ago
      Oh, that is great news. I have an XPS 13 (9350) and the whine is incredibly frustrating.
  • newhouseb 8y ago
    Make sure to install the Dell power management tools. Could be Placebo but I've noticed the whine significantly less with them installed.
  • kuon 8y ago
    Surprisingly, I found coil whine much harder for the ears than fans. I installed an APC UPS under my desk, and there is a slight coil whine that it driving me nuts, while my GPU fans going crazy when I play never bothered me.
  • geerlingguy 8y ago
    This is one thing I've seen mentioned a lot, but never really noticed. Though my office (where I mostly use the laptop) is near an HVAC system, which usually provides a few dB of background noise to drown out subtler sounds.
• goatherders 8y ago
  Had 5 various Macs and then switched to an XPS 13. I really like it. Your review is an excellent summary.
  • geerlingguy 8y ago
    Thanks!
• skrebbel 8y ago
  I like this writeup but I sort of expected it to contain a "Windows 10 Review from a lifelong macos user" embedded in it. I was surprised that this was just about the hardware. As a happy lifelong Windows user, surrounded by programmers who call me insane (or an idiot, even) for liking it, I was curious to learn more about what a developer who's used to Mac thinks about the Windows 10 dev experience. (notably for a more honest impression of what I might be missing)
  • yulaow 8y ago
    I always had very little sympathy for those who express very strong opinion _against_ other OSes and their users, professionals or not. In 2018 every one of the main OSes can be used efficiently for programming purposes, windows10 too especially now that it has the WLS
    • abrookins 8y ago
      I've been hearing this about WSL for a while now. However, I just spent a ton of time (like weeks) actually trying Windows 10 and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (for those who don't know what WSL is), coming from a Mac, and I gotta say, WSL isn't there yet for the code I work with. Specifically, it worked fine for some Python stuff, it built some Go code decently, I figured something out for Docker, but then it blew up on the Rails apps I use (a missing syscall implementation breaks unicorn). Aside from the potential to run into show-stopping problems like that, you may run into "big company" problems if you work for one, like I do. That is, VPN support within WSL only half-works, and because it's Windows you may be forced to follow domain policies that require Windows Defender to run, which slows down WSL, and blocks you from Insider builds that could fix WSL problems. You can run a Linux VM on Windows instead of WSL. Which has its own set of problems and is overall a worse experience than developing on macOS, in my opinion. So currently while, as a Mac user, I actually prefer the Windows 10 UI, the hardware competition, the keyboards, etc., I can't use WSL. Side-projects that you can adapt to WSL's limitations are one thing, but making it work as your development environment for a wide-range of professional projects is another. I saw all this with some actual sadness because I'm tired of investing in Apple when they've basically abandoned macOS and are making so many hardware choices I disagree with, that affect me (keyboard, touch bar).
• reacharavindh 8y ago
  I have a Dell XPS 13 as my personal machine. It runs Linux. Everything works. But, I still find myself using my MacBook Pro (provided by work) for almost everything even at home. Two things that keep me in the Mac land. 1. Retina Display and the 16:10 aspect ratio. 2. Smooth, and usable touchpad. XPS13's display is too rectangle and I'm not watching movies in it. It feels too cramped for looking at code. GNOME out of the box does not do fractional scaling (125%) hence everything looks either too big or too small to my taste. I dont have the patience or the know-how to tune the touchpad to be decent in Linux.
  • blitmap 8y ago
    1) LOVE 16:10/8:5. Currently I have a 3240x2160 panel in my HP Spectre x360. I WISH it were 3240x2400. I WANT 2400p PANELS. 2) I'm far from an expert on this: I don't know why it's taken more than a decade to figure out trackpad motion.
    • bitL 8y ago
      > taken more than a decade to figure out trackpad motion. Patents?
      • blitmap 8y ago
        But you don’t even see it in like an unofficial libinput patch done by someone who is hobby-passionate. I’ve never had a good trackpad experience outside of Apple and I refuse to believe it hasn’t been reversed.. It can’t be patents, can it? I legit used to no-scope people in Halo Combat Evolves on my PowerBook G4 back in the day - with the trackpad. I remember Microsoft put gpu makers through hell when they put out the driver framework thing a few years ago? I wish they took trackpads seriously (even for gaming) and forced that synaptics shit out. Maybe people laugh at the idea of gaming with a trackpad but I wish it were possible even if I’m a minority. I wish games could support trackpad gestures too. Also I meant 3840x* above.
    • markmark 8y ago
      Of all the things other copy from Apple, so few copy the 16:10 screen. At least the Surface display is what, 3:2 now? But everyone else is still bloody 16:9.
• dshep 8y ago
  As 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/ https://consumer.huawei.com/us/tablets/matebook-x-pro/
  • polpo 8y ago
    Look at that screen, indeed: it has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is practically unheard of in recent Windows laptops. It's good to see someone going for something taller than 16:9 (or even 16:10).
  • MajorSauce 8y ago
    Wow, thanks for the tip, that thing looks gorgeous!
  • modzu 8y ago
    the photo of the lady on the laptop screen on the other end of the webcam is a lie. webcams dont work that low. you see a hand and up someones nose. these cams tick a marketing box and thats it.
  • eropple 8y ago
    I tried one before buying my Spectre and it was pretty nice (keyboard a little squishy), but the real problem is that they're backordered out pretty close to a month at minimum. If you can deal with that, it might be worth a look.
  • dest 8y ago
    Note they have put the webcam in the F6 key.
    • gls2ro 8y ago
      It is not on the F6 key but it is between F6 and F7 (a new key added with camera symbol on it) as far as I can see in the picture with focus on keyboard.
      • 8y ago
• kleiba 8y ago
  Which linux laptops would you recommend for an under 1000 Euro price point?
  • brians 8y ago
    Go for whatever's cheap and replace it regularly. There's nothing that can be made in small quantities, run off a lithium battery for hundreds of charge cycles, and be durable in a backpack, at that price point.
  • calebio 8y ago
    Willing to go used? Lots of good deals on eBay. I've used a Thinkpad with Linux (mainly Ubuntu) for the past 5 or so years. Almost everything has worked out of the box, and upgrades to Thinkpads are pretty easy (if you don't immediately spring for one with an SSD).
  • true_tuna 8y ago
    I got a dell chrome book for $400. Put a reasonable ssd in it for $70, installed John Lewis boot and installed Ubuntu on it. I’m quite pleased with it. Word of warning. Pick a machine with a good trackpad.
  • Jach 8y ago
    There are several laptops in the $300-$500 range that would work depending on your needs. (i.e. the cheaper ones have i3 cpus.) Asus, HP, Dell, Acer, etc. Make sure to select one (though many are) that you can upgrade -- for lots of them you can put in up to 32 GB of RAM (some 64), install an m.2 SSD... I've had my eye on https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-G... for a long time in the event I need to get a new laptop for personal light dev use -- looks like they just refreshed a newer model too, linked from that page, though maybe not worth it if you're going to upgrade it.
• blaisio 8y ago
  I'm pretty disappointed with the compromises I have to make to use a Mac these days. I'm planning on getting one of the new XPS 15s with an i-9 - so excited!
  • true_tuna 8y ago
    What you don’t like exchanging all your ports for dongles? And the crappy keyboard? Or my favorite “Remind me again later” Because who would ever want the ability to say “no”
    • vesrah 8y ago
      Better than your machine rebooting to update on its own.
      • true_tuna 8y ago
        Not defending windows, but do you remember when Mac OS allowed you to decline updates you didn’t need? Or better yet, a Linux variant where you can choose.
    • redial 8y ago
      > Or my favorite “Remind me again later” Because who would ever want the ability to say “no” Can't you just change your settings on preferences?
      • true_tuna 8y ago
        Can you? News to me. I ended up switching to Linux.
  • terminalcommand 8y ago
    As a person who has been burnt by overpowered processors in laptops, I'd like to advise you to search for thermal throttling issues and look at the out of the box temperatures. You might find this link useful: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Dell-XPS-15-9570-might-inherit-the-same-throttling-issues-as-its-predecessor.302960.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Dell-XPS-15-9570-might-inh... Even if the laptop works fine, the temperatures could get worse after a couple years of use. You might often need to change the thermal paste and clean the heatsinks and fan. I would suggest waiting a bit more for extensive tests. OTOH if money is no issue, I'd go for it. i9 in a laptop sounds really cool.
• eropple 8y ago
  I was going to get the XPS 13 today and I ended up with an HP Spectre x360 13" (newer one--i7-8550U, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD that'll probably eventually be replaced with a 2TB when the price comes down). Installing Fedora on it right now. I'm in on a chunkier trackpad click, and the HP has that over the rather light Dell click that's common across every Dell I tried. Also, I preferred the keyboard on the Spectre x360 and the overall look-and-feel of it, plus the pen (for when I am using Windows) feels a little nicer. I wish I could've found the newer ceramic white Spectre, which I was in on, but it was a two-week wait and the black-and-copper looks very sharp too. Ultrabooks seem to have basically converged. Everybody's running more or less the same hardware. This has been good for Linux; hopefully my install goes as well.
  • acomjean 8y ago
    Let us know how the install goes.. I'd be curious. Thanks
    • eropple 8y ago
      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 that the pen is a little finicky in Krita, but I haven't tested yet if that's a battery problem (it popped a battery warning right away) or a software problem. But this thing feels really good. I'll probably keep it.
      • acomjean 8y ago
        Thanks for the update!
• LeoPanthera 8y ago
  A good review of the hardware, but it seems like a lifelong Mac user would have something to say about switching to Windows 10, as well.
  • dest 8y ago
    ... or to Linux
• fpoling 8y ago
  The article mentioned various problems with 4K display. In addition to those it is just too reflective. I ended up with getting a filter for it. It helped, but still even in the office I have to avoid certain angles not to see overhead lamp reflections. The fact that the display opening angle is rather limited has not helped either.
• sigi45 8y ago
  You don't use the trackpad on a lenovo. You don't have to! Srsly while i do own now a macbook pro at work and really like the touchpad, i'm a touch quicker with the red knob in combination with AwesomeWM as a window manager. Main advantage: my hands rests on the device and don't have to move below.
  • confounded 8y ago
    I’m in the same boat; I’m fascinated by my colleagues’ ability to hurl their desktop around with macpad gestures, they’re fascinated by being all-keyboard with a tiling window manager (and occasional use of the nipple-thing when I have to click something). I disable trackpads, as I only ever use them accidentally. They both seem like great systems. All I know at this point is that I’m set in my ways :)
  • deathanatos 8y ago
    I've actually taken to using the trackpad more often on my Thinkpad T460p; it seems to me the TrackPoint has actually regressed in recent years; on Linux: * the default sensitivity is very low; you really have to haul on it to move the pointer significantly. Worse, the hardware starts trying to "correct", making the motion harder and harder to accomplish! (And you can see the correction when you let go completely and the pointer just starts drifting for a while until the correction re-corrects) * attempting to change the settings results in the kernel driver crashing or something; errors get emitted to dmesg and the device resets. So setting two settings is tricky: you have to loop on setting the first setting, and then once that succeeds w/o crashing, loop on setting the second setting. If that fails, it's back to square 1![1][2] That said, the Touchpad is not as accurate as the TrackPoint can be, or at least, used to be. I mostly use an external small wireless mouse now, but that removes a hand from the keyboard. sigh [1]: Here is another user with the same issue, though he doesn't fully realize it: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/58c0dn/t460s_trackpoint_slow_linux/d91tecl/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/58c0dn/t460s_trac... [2]: https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg51145.html https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg51145.html but alas, no response.
  • JadeNB 8y ago
    > i'm a touch quicker with the red knob I would expect a longtime Lenovo user to know that "the red knob" is not the official unofficial name for that object. :-)
• true_tuna 8y ago
  I run Ubuntu (actually Elementary now) on my XPS 13. Works pretty well. Track pad is not as good as my MacBook was. It also has the graphics card click which is super annoying.
  • azdle 8y ago
    Update your bios: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YFTT1 http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDet... That mostly fixed the chirping I had. Still get it for a few milliseconds here and there, but it's nothing like it was before.
• mherrmann 8y ago
  I made the switch last year and am pretty happy, especially with Ubuntu instead of macOS: https://fman.io/blog/home-and-hotel/ https://fman.io/blog/home-and-hotel/
  • LeftTurnSignal 8y ago
    Do you have experience with the XPS with linux and bluetooth? Also with external monitors? I love my mid-2012 MBP, I hope it lasts forever but like many I'm weighing my options.
    • vostok 8y ago
      I use the XPS13 with pre-installed Ubuntu. All of the above work great. I usually use it plugged into an external 4k monitor.
  • socksy 8y ago
    I have this in my startup scripts to get rid of the hissing sound with headphones: #this gets rid of the hissing on XPS 13 amixer -c PCH cset 'name=Headphone Mic Boost Volume' 1
    • mherrmann 8y ago
      I'll try it. Thanks!
• gzu 8y ago
  I had a Dell XPS 13 for about 2 months but ended up selling and getting a 2017 Macbook Pro 13 non-touchbar. For the premium you're already spending on an XPS machine, a Mac for slightly more has so much better hardware. The price differential ~300-500$ is more than justified by the FULL metal construction, non-clicky trackpad, and the glorious screen. I immediately regretted my XPS purchase after noticing the screen’s backlight problems and the quality/amount the trackpad depressed while clicking. Though I wish the macbook had more ports and better keyboard, it's not kept me from wanting the XPS back.
  • haikuginger 8y ago
    Also, the Mac has a webcam instead of a nose hair viewer.
    • sigzero 8y ago
      Ha. I've seen many a review that calls that out actually. The consequence of edge-to-edge screen. Gotta put that cam somewhere! I'd disable it and get a hi-qual external.
      • geerlingguy 8y ago
        Maybe the next version will adopt the 'notch' that's becoming popular on mobile phones!
  • eropple 8y ago
    I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a current-generation XPS 13 is going to have an IPS panel, whether it's 1080p or 4K.
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  • levesque 8y ago
    I love the hardware on Macs, but I do miss Linux. Homebrew does not qualify as a replacement for pacman or apt.
• post_break 8y ago
  I have an 8th gen i7 XPS 13. I have high sierra on it. I also have a 13" MacBook Pro non touch bar. Guess which one I like using the best.
  • mulletbum 8y ago
    Your iPhone in VR Goggles?
    • post_break 8y ago
      Windows phone and google chrome book.
• kayoone 8y ago
  For me it's the little things that keep me on mac. - Amazing touchpad, no need for a mouse at all - Light, yet powerful and great battery life - best in class display - being able to easily copy and paste between iphone <-> macbook - being able to easily send files between all osx/ios devices with zero hassle - being able to take calls on my macbook and transfer them to the phone if needed - bluetooth headphones working rock solid, switching between devices seamless etc OSX being somewhat more bearable than windows and slightly worse for my work than linux is not the most important thing to me.
  • maxxxxx 8y ago
    "- Amazing touchpad, no need for a mouse at all" that's the number one. I have not seen any other laptop where the touchpad is usable.
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  • markmark 8y ago
    I would say there is plenty of competition for best display these days (I say this typing on a current model mbp15).
    • kayoone 8y ago
      yes, but it's still up there with best, imo anyway
• shkkmo 8y ago
  I went with a precision 5520 when I switched from my MacBook Pro and I love it. 32 GB of RAM, centered keyboard/trackpad of a 15" and a tiny screen bezel all with full Linux support.
  • rhizome 8y ago
    Ah, good to see companies are finally noticing tenkeyless on larger laptops.
  • joombaga 8y ago
    What distro are you using with that?
• kuon 8y ago
  About the part "Windows 10 spends about 5 minutes (literally!) identifying a bunch of new devices and adding them to the system", to be fair, Windows can run on a gazillion different configuration, while macOS runs only on a few. I've been ranting against Windows for years, but it actually works well now, even if it takes a bit of time for the new device setup.
  • megablast 8y ago
    What? I can plug a 1000 different mice into my mac and they work in seconds. I can plug a 100 different external HDDs, and the same. I can plug in a 1000 different keyboard, and they work the same.
• HugoDaniel 8y ago
  - Can you reduce the monitor brightness to 0 ? (full black, off) - Can you reduce the keyboard light to 0 ?
  • dest 8y ago
    XPS 13 9343 owner here. Yes and yes
• eknkc 8y ago
  What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care about the hardware at that point. It's all about software. I tried doing that a couple months ago when my MBP went bad as Apple doesn't know how to build a keyboard anymore. Bought an XPS 13". I think it has great hardware. Couldn't switch away from macOS. I'd use XPS with macOS over the shitty Macbook Pro any day.
  • cup-of-tea 8y ago
    I use free software and that generally is available anywhere. Freedom is great.
  • AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    A whole lot of people do everything on the web. They don't even need a laptop at all really because they don't need real applications. Any web kiosk would do. If they're a web developer they might also want an SSH client.
  • Apocryphon 8y ago
    Perhaps there's a market for a PC OEM about making their laptop convenient to convert into a Hackintosh.
    • bdcravens 8y ago
      I don't think any hardware manufacturer will touch Hackintoshing; previous company in that space (Psystar) was sued out of existence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psystar_Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psystar_Corporation Obviously if a company isn't selling product with OSX installed it's different, but any marketing that suggests it would likely be problematic. Besides, the community has done a pretty good job of identifying compatible hardware http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
• krn 8y ago
  In terms of durability, Dell XPS is a consumer-grade product and should not be relied on for any serious work. The only real alternatives to Apple Macbook in terms of build quality, design and performance are ThinkPad X1 Carbon[1] and Dell Precision 5530[2], which is XPS business-grade counterpart. [1] https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/ThinkPad-X1-Carbon-6th-Gen/p/22TP2TXX16G https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/Th... [2] http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/new-precision-5530/spd/precision-15-5530-laptop/xctop5530hwus http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-noteboo...
  • gaius 8y ago
    Surface is what Macs should have been. The form factor, the build quality, everything. Jobs would never have allowed those keyboards out the door.
  • goatherders 8y ago
    Rather than say something snarky I would be interested to know what makes you say it is consumer-grade and should not be relied on for serious work. I use mine to run multiple businesses and my bank account suggests I do serious work.
    • krn 8y ago
      "Security & Durability Unlike its consumer counterpart, XPS, the Precision 5530 passed 14 tests for for MIL-SPEC durability, the standards that the U.S. Military equipment must pass for ruggedness. That means it can be operated in extremely hot and cold environments (as low as minus 20.2 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 140 degrees), survive the shocks of drops and gusts of dusts, among other things."
      • goatherders 8y ago
        So it's not approved for military use? Ok, point given.
        • 8y ago
• boomskats 8y ago
  I’m surprised at the lack of comparison to the X1C6 in the rest of the writeup. It is what I chose over the XPS, and couldn’t be happier with it (running f28).
  • xur17 8y ago
    I just got the same laptop for work a few days ago, and I've been very happy with it. Great keyboard + a trackpoint.
• towndrunk 8y ago
  Anyone have a razer? Wondering what it would be like as a replacement for a MacBook Pro. https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade
• dsego 8y ago
  This is last gen XPS, not the new one.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• tamatsyk 8y ago
  Good summary, I share most of the points provided in the post. Also, I think a few more things worth to mention. Pros: - XPS has a decent hardware (I got 16GB, i8Gen, 500GB SSD and forgot about having a few docker containers running on the background which was an issue with my MacBook Pro 15 (8GB, 2.5Gh) - It is really 1k$ cheaper than the same config MacBook model. Apple's Retina and Touchbar are really cool, however, they still do not have 16GB 13' mac which is a deal breaker. - Touchscreen. Take your touch bar and put it into your missing 3.5 jack plug, Tim's Team, why would I need a touch bar when I have a touchscreen; (no offense to Apple, I still own a few apples because they are nice) - the webcam is well described, but it is not that bad, it saves a few inches in size which makes its screen look like it takes all space and there are no borders at all; - while ubuntu became usable with Gnome desktop I almost did not notice all missing Apple's out of the box features; - it is very light (~1kg), my backpack can be heavier; Cons: - WiFi is super shitty in XPS series. If you have not had any issues yet - then you have not bought one yet. It is better to replace with 30$ adapter to not have issues with differently configured routers; - It has Windows on it and some features are not supported on Linux. For instance, I see no sense in having fingerprint scanner if it does not work under Linux; - Be aware that screen scaling might not work on some linux machines. For ubuntu 16.04 I got windows so small so I cannot read the text. Luckily 18.04 fixed it, but still; Overall, it is the best laptop for Linux I've used so far (Lenovo and Asus are good ones as well), having good hardware and being more or less cheap. I hope Apple will simplify ML and add a bit more RAM to Autumn's laptops, otherwise, there are no reasons to go back.
  • bogomipz 8y ago
    >"WiFi is super shitty in XPS series. If you have not had any issues yet - than you have not bought one yet. It is better to replace with 30$ adapter to not have issues with differently configured routers;" This is really surprising. Can you say what specific replacement worked for you on that laptop?
    • jonmb 8y ago
      I also have the XPS and have experienced my WiFi dropping. Usually a few times a week. I've heard you can contact Dell support and they will send you a wifi adapter but I haven't tried it yet myself. Curious to hear of specific replacement options too.
• mnm1 8y ago
  > It's a paid extension, but it provides control over every aspect of the Magic Trackpad 2. No, it doesn't. While it's better than the most basic support provided in Linux, it still doesn't provide support for 3 and 4 finger gestures and the existing scrolling support is fairly weak. Yes, still better than Linux, an OS that hates touchpads apparantely, but not what I'd call good at all. Barely usable yes. Passable for a $120 touchpad. Not at all.
  • geerlingguy 8y ago
    True; it's nowhere near as good as the out-of-the-box experience on macOS, but it makes for the best trackpad experience I'm able to have on Windows 10 so far.
• bogomipz 8y ago
  For added perspective here's another recent review of another engineer who made the switch: https://www.kartar.net/2018/03/dell-xps-13-aka-2018-is-the-year-of-linux-on-the-desktop/ https://www.kartar.net/2018/03/dell-xps-13-aka-2018-is-the-y...
• jagger27 8y ago
  If Dell made one in 16:10 or better yet 3:2 I'd sell my MacBook tomorrow.
• bitL 8y ago
  If you are looking for a Linux laptop, get one with a HiDPI display. Linux finally looks great and if you ever use it on HiDPI, you wouldn't want to go back to FHD. I went from 13" FHD to 13" 3200x1800 and the quality improvement on Linux Mint/Cinnamon was striking. Hackintosh also (subjectively) looks better than on original retina MacBook. Touchpad however is massively better on MacBook.
  • TACIXAT 8y ago
    The only bummer for me with HiDPI are the Linux apps that don't support it yet. If I launch Aseprite or Processing3D the windows are comically zoomed out. Small price to pay for using the (IMO) best OS for developers.
    • bitL 8y ago
      Yeah that still happens :( Some (Blender, Wine) however allow adjusting DPI, so all you need it is to set it to 2x value.
• modzu 8y ago
  i duno who dell has to pay off at apple to rip off the patents but they NEED to address the touchpad. Apple absolutely nails it and for such a fundamental device its mindboggling how broken and deficient it is in any other laptop.
• fuzzy2 8y ago
  I have a Precision 5520 (basically an XPS 15) at work. At home, I have a Retina MacBook Pro Late 2013. I still prefer the MacBook, even though it’s a lot less powerful. First off, the killer with anything Dell: The firmware is just incredibly terrible. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds for the initial Dell logo to show. Others have similar issues, too, but no firmware setting seems to help. The Latitude I had before also took its sweet time during startup. The MacBook has a keyboard that is actually usable. The Precision does not. They keys just don’t feel right and make weird noises. The MacBook touchpad is better, too. The Precision touchpad tends to make the cursor jump while clicking. And last but not least: Windows. Microsoft is trying very hard, but it’s not there yet. Especially mixed DPI support is still terrible, even in Windows itself. However, if given a choice, I’ll take the 4K screen again any time. Once you go “Retina”, you don’t go back.
  • jdhawk 8y ago
    5510 Work Computer - the keyboard is complete trash. The XPS 13's we have laying around have a slightly better feel to them, but they're still trash compared to my 2011 Macbook Air. Its really frustrating, and has basically turned my "laptop" into a desktop
  • BenoitP 8y ago
    Same sentiment here with XPS 15. The firmware is confusing the integrated Intel HD Graphics card with the nVidia GeForce; leading to a hugely yanky windows UI, while the CUDA cores are sitting idle. Independently of wether the laptop is running on battery. The issue runs around the Desktop Windows Manager not wanting to be executed on the proper GPU. I don't know who to blame here, Microsoft, Dell or nVidia. Probably all of them as this seems like a common support issue no one wants to engage into.
• bhasi 8y ago
  As another user below commented, this is the old generation of XPS 13, which I also have. I believe the new version has a more conventional placement of camera. I run Ubuntu exclusively on my XPS 13 and have taped shut the camera. The battery life, display, touchpad, and overall feel of the laptop are all very satisfactory and up to my standards. I couldn't be happier with it.
  • geerlingguy 8y ago
    They moved it from under the screen on the left side, to under the screen in the middle. Everyone who reviews the new model still agrees the placement is ridiculous: > Despite an all-around makeover of the physical design of the system, the camera remains stubbornly anchored to the blank expanse below the screen. That means any attempt to use it results in a less-than-flattering view, emphasising one's neck, chin and nostrils. Source: https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-xps-13-2018/review/ https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-xps-13-2018/review/
• 7ewis 8y ago
  Also a lifelong Mac user, was given an XPS 13 when I started at my company a few years ago. My thoughts were exactly the same as Jeff's. I thought it would be a good device, it looks good, has a nice form factor, screen etc. but just doesn't work as well as macOS and a MacBook. I soon after changed to a MacBook and now have the touchbar Mac, which I love!
  • zdragnar 8y ago
    Honest question: what do you love about the touch bar? I tried used one for almost a year, and never used the touch bar once. I was forced to use an external keyboard because I needed a tactile physical escape key (caps was already taken by Ctrl or cmd, I forget which).
    • fermienrico 8y ago
      I don't think the GP said he/she loves the touchbar. They said, they love the touchbar Mac. I agree with you though, I have a touchbar Mac and I would be more happy with out the touchbar part.
      • 7ewis 8y ago
        Correct, wasn't specifically referring to the touchbar, however I do use BetterTouchTool and have a few custom buttons on there. They aren't too useful to be honest, but it's cool. I show things like my companies stock price on the TouchBar.
• TACIXAT 8y ago
  I was just looking at XPSs for a new laptop. My SO has the XPS 15. I ended up getting a 13" System 76 instead. My main reasons were that I didn't need a touch screen and the webcam is only good if you're a hand model. I just had an MBP for work and while they are really well polished I struggle with Apple's restrictions and ecosystem. That laptop and my previous System 76 were pretty decked out, and besides running VMs, I didn't really utilize the hardware. I'm trying something more standard (8GB of ram and an i5) on my new laptop. I think it will be a good development machine.
• Maybestring 8y ago
  No review of the XPS-13 is complete without mentioning that plugging/unplugging the power cord turns on audio distortion effects.
• mhb_eng 8y ago
  I have an XPS 15 and have been quite happy with the it overall, but echo similar comments about the atrocity of the killer wireless cards and drivers. It’s mind boggling that those issues could exist in a 2017-2018 laptop.
• paulie_a 8y ago
  If I were given a Mac book for free I would sell it immediately and get an xps 13. I currently have one already but it is what a modern Mac should be. It has Ubuntu, a better display and more accurate track pad.
• bcheung 8y ago
  Solid hardware review but I'm more interested in the software user experience. I'm wanting to transition away for Mac for Node / React development and professional photography. Unfortunately the lack of Unix and weird things like backslash in folder paths is holding me back. I'd be curious to hear stories of any React / Node developers making the switch and their recommendations. Do you just run an Ubuntu image in a VM for running all your Node stuff?
  • broletariat 8y ago
    I have had limited success using the Windows Subsystem for Linux on my current project which is mostly FaaS on AWS with ES6/Typescript. It's not perfect but I would recommend giving it a shot, it's pretty darn close.
  • mnkypete 8y ago
    Why would you run Ubuntu for that, Node runs pretty well on Windows, I work with it daily. Combined with VS Code I'm not sure what there should be missing...
• vzaliva 8y ago
  I also just switched to XPS 13 but with a 4K display. My main problem is the touchpad. I could not type without accidentally touching touchpad which causes random actions like deleting chunks of text, sending unfinished emails or just jumping around the document. I never had such problem on ThinkPad I had before. Perhaps it is Dell touchpad calibration issue under Linux.
• fleebjuice 8y ago
  I'd really like to buy an XPS, but I'm after a US keyboard layout, and I'm in the UK. You seemingly can't request a layout that is not your locale. This has been my experience with every laptop I've been interested. Damn shame; I have a Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro2, and it's the best keyboard I've ever used, I want as much of that experience as I can get on my laptop. Being a touch typist, its (not infuriating but slightly) annoying context switching between work keyboards (UK, caps is caps), my laptop (US mapping on a UK layout), and PC (HHKP, all US - the most superior layout). I'm pretty good at switching out my muscle memory, but I do get caught out every now and then. Is anybody in the same boat as me? Or does anybody know how I could get around this issue (not including going over to the US to buy locally - that has problems of its own, ie. travel and money)? Admittedly, I know I'm in a very niche minority but dammit I want to give them my money and I can't find a way..
  • foreigner 8y ago
    I'm in exactly the same position, it didn't even occur to me that the layout might be different. What's the difference between the US and UK layouts?
    • cannam 8y ago
      A few things. The " and @ are swapped, I think, and some stuff about backslash. I can see that would be annoying for American users. But the main pro for UK users is that the UK layout has a double-height Return key. It's fab.
    • fleebjuice 8y ago
      On the US keyboard, the enter key is only one key height and longer, and the left shift key is longer. This moves a couple of keys around (`\). The most notable (especially from a programming point of view) is that the " and @ keys are switched. I use strings way more than I do anything else, so the US way is preferable here as its on the home row. The pound sign disappears, but I don't think I've ever actually needed it, while I need $ all the time. Perhaps minor, but as I say, noticeable when I switch keyboards that its an annoyance. Edit: added some text
• cannam 8y ago
  I 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 machine was slower than its specs would suggest, and the 16:9 ratio and thicker/heavier than expected construction meant there wasn't much to be gained from the narrow bezels on the screen. I replaced it with a high-spec MS Surface Laptop, which is a risky gambit because the Surface is effectively completely unrepairable. But it has a better keyboard, screen (3:2 ratio), and touchpad, it's faster, and the wrist rest has a nice carpet on it. It's a pleasure to use so far, in contrast to the Dell. It's funny how much of this still comes down to personal ergonomic factors.
  • zdragnar 8y ago
    I got a Dell XPS 13 from work and it's got nothing on my surface book. Even Linux support is better, though the difference largely comes down to multi monitor over DP vs USB-C.
  • dawnerd 8y ago
    Tried a 2016 model too and the cpu was thermal throttling like crazy. Managed to get Ubuntu installed but there were tons of issues so I ended up returning it. I’d love to get a surface but they’re a bit spendy and if I’m spending that much I’d rather go MacBook Pro. But damn they do look good
  • vvanders 8y ago
    +1 on Surface. Have a Surface Book with discrete GPU and been really happy with it overall. Really a fan of the 3:2 aspect ratio.
    • xamarinthrw 8y ago
      I've heard this very often. I am interested in knowing more about it. Is it just a matter of feeling or are there things you can pinpoint which work better for you? Compared to 4:3 (narrower) and 16:9 (wider)
• rbanffy 8y ago
  I like the camera placement on these laptops. My hair is getting thin on the top of my head and this gives me a couple years before I need to adopt the clean look. ;-)
• cajuclc 8y ago
  Great review!
• perfectstorm 8y ago
  I never understood the logic of putting a webcam at the bottom of the screen. why are these laptop manufacturers doing it ? is it just to shave off couple of inches from the top bezel ?
  • KSS42 8y ago
    Yes, to shave a couple of mm off the bezel. It may also help to reduce the screen thickness because there wont be cable going from the bottom to the top for the camera.
• pmontra 8y ago
  > Windows 10 spends about 5 minutes (literally!) identifying a bunch of new devices and adding them to the system, with a notification popping up for each thing Really, does anybody knows why Windows needs all this time to identify USB devices? The same PC does it instantaneously when running Linux.
  • pxeboot 8y ago
    Here is a partial explanation that was posted on HN in the past: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20041110-00/?p=37343/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20041110-00/?p=...
    • restalis 8y ago
      That looks to me like an apology for a lousy job on the requirements engineering side. Of all possible use-cases the port-tethering behavior stroked them as the most logical? The question that should have been considered is how often can it happen for users to plug the same device on different port vs. to plug two identical devices? Microsoft here gave more thought to the case with a leaser likelihood, in my opinion. How about remembering my device regardless of the port I choose to plug it in and give me the new-device treatment only when I'll actually deserve it by actually plug a(n additional) new device?
• H1Supreme 8y ago
  Not an XPS 13, but in a very similar vein, I recently picked up a 13" Dell Inspiron 7000. It's my first non-Apple laptop in over 10 years. It's very Mac like in feel. Aluminum enclosure, black keyboard, and for lack of a better term, feels sturdy. The keyboard feels miles better than the current keyboards on the MBP, imo. I installed Ubuntu (Mate) on it, and everything worked out of the box. Trackpad feels great, screen looks crisp, and I don't find myself missing my mac at all. Compared to the cheap, plastic Dell's that I've experienced in years past, this is a massive step up in every way.
• procinct 8y ago
  I 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. This meant I was entitled to on premises repair. They sent a guy out to my place and he repaired it in front of me in about an hour. I very quickly went from a very poor impression of Dell (due to my laptop failing so soon) to a very good one. I still prefer my MBP but that was likely the best support experience I’ve ever had.
  • subway 8y ago
    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.
    • mseebach 8y ago
      My wife had a refurbished X40 for the longest time. One time, the fan gave in, I tried to clean it, but couldn't get it to move. I figured it couldn't hurt to Google the part-number, and quickly ended up on IBMs country-local website with a local phone number. I dialed, and braced, half for an infinite IVR tree, half for being quoted a number in the range of the GDP of a small country. But neither happened, a few minutes later, a very helpful woman had quoted me something like $9.46 including postage and taking payment by card. The new fan arrived a few days later, and the X40 went on to live for a few more years. That thing was a tank.
    • ants_a 8y ago
      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.
  • 8y ago
• nailk 8y ago
  Be wary, latest Dell XPS 9370 has noisy fans. Google for "dell xps 9370 fan noise" to find a lengthy thread on official dell forum about this issue. Dell is experimenting with bios, issuing new updates, but on my dell xps 9370 the noise is there. I had to return my laptop, hoping the shop will refund. Now bought MS Surface Laptop it is silent (mostly) and I'm happy with it. Looks like most of the core i7 8* models are noisy.
• bamboozled 8y ago
  Running NixOS on the latest XPS 13 model. I would never go back to a Mac for a work laptop. It’s the best configuration I’ve ever had, a joy to use. I love everything about the XPS 13 and having my entire machine configured from a single configuration file is bliss.
• rsync 8y ago
  "I like a solid but light laptop, and the laptop against which I'll measure all others is still the 11" MacBook Air—if Apple would update it with a retina display ..." That is all anyone wants. A macbook air with a "retina" screen. Imagine if all you had to do to make millions of customers extra happy was also the easiest thing. No research, no additional R&D, no innovation required ... just give us a 11" MBA with a higher resolution screen.
  • xapata 8y ago
    With what battery life? Is there a minimum requirement? Would you accept a dramatically lower CPU speed to increase battery life?
• wooptoo 8y ago
  The low color gamut is the whole reason I modded my Inspiron 7570. The laptops are good but the panels Dell puts in most of them are very poor. Article here if anyone is interested https://wooptoo.com/blog/inspiron-7570-plus-plus/ https://wooptoo.com/blog/inspiron-7570-plus-plus/
• radicaldreamer 8y ago
  The best laptop I've ever used (I mostly use Mac's at home and at work) is the Panasonic Let's Note S line of PCs. The closest you can get to a MacBook Pro 15" performance (minus discrete graphics) in a 12" form factor, with plenty of full sized ports and even a DVD writer. Lighter than a 13" MacBook.
• dboreham 8y ago
  Costco are selling the 2018 model XPS13 (4K, 16G, 500G) in stores at present so you can head down there to take a look. I've been using one for a few months. The article is reviewing (I think) the old 2017 model. It seems odd to complain about the low resolution of the 1080p display, then also say that the available 4k panel isn't going to solve that problem. Mine works just great. According to Lisa on Mobiletechreview the 4K panel has a very wide gamut. My only beef with my XPS13 (had the same problem with previous Dells) is the audio drivers are horribly buggy, and you have to fight it to not apply unpleasant frequency-domain distortion to the signal. The user experience had to have been designed by someone who never listens to music. It magically detects when you plug in an external audio sink via the 3.5mm jack. Sometimes that detection doesn't work, so the sound keeps coming out the internal speakers. Then, assuming the jack works, you now have the equivalent of a 1970's graphic equalizer turned up "to 11" in the signal path. Guess what? The application that allows you to control that signal degredation process IS NOT INSTALLED. You need to spend several hours pull hair before you discover the forum post where someone explains how to install the right version. Then cross your fingers it will stay working through the next Win10 or BIOS update cycle..
  • bootloop 8y ago
    Do you have the 2015 XPS13 and are you using it in dualboot Win/Linux? I love this thing but the audio problems are killing me as now I need it a lot for video calls. It bothers me that the only reason I would have to update is because of the audio.
    • dboreham 8y ago
      No, I only have the 2018 XPS13. I have other older Dell's that are similarly afflicted audio blight, but they're not XPS. I haven't dual-booted in 10 years so can't help with that.
• heisnotanalien 8y ago
  It might be great but it's still ugly.
• cmurf 8y ago
  Also lifelong Mac user, and now my primary is an HP Spectre running Fedora. The only big painpoint is a Bluetooth mouse which comes and goes for no reason I can discern super flakey, where on Windows 10 it's OK; and a distant second is the trackpad picks up stray palm touches too easily but this also happens with Windows 10 although maybe not quite as annoying. The main technical issue driving the switch is VM usage. macOS is not a friendly VM host, it's a huge memory and CPU pig on its own which soaks up resources from the guest. And as a guest, macOS is an even worse pig, and also has an unfriendly license for guesting it on non-Mac hardware. So I'm kinda over macOS, all of the proprietary stuff I need will run on Windows 10, which is something of a regression compared to macOS, in particular privacy. But I only use Windows 10 for certain kinds of work, so it's tolerable. I do like the system reset and refresh options in Windows 10 though. I've cobbled together the functional equivalent of this with Btrfs snapshots for / and /home so I can do either complete resets or just rollback to previous states, while keeping /home moving forward.
• saagarjha 8y ago
  > However, the XPS 13's fans do kick in quite often, even when just doing light tasks like browsing the web or typing. I was hoping it would be more like the MacBooks, which usually won't need to ramp the fans up to an audible level unless you're doing heavier work, like encoding a video or loading a news site web page without an ad blocker... but alas the fans often kick in and are audible during normal usage. I have a friend that returned their XPS and bought a Mac because the fan noise was driving him up the wall. I don't know how, but somehow Macs just don't have audible fans most of the time, while most other computers will turn them for even trivial tasks.
  • spatular 8y ago
    Hmm, on my XPS 13 (9360) fan kicks in only after about 5 minutes with one core fully loaded, and it's not that loud. It usually happens only during Hangouts videocalls or heavy dev work. Browsing / playing 1080p videos / text editing / gimp is not enough to trigger active cooling. But I use linux. Maybe he had windows install with antivirus or whatever hogging CPU...
• kendallpark 8y ago
  The XPS 13 was my first laptop! I've had a 2008 XPS 13, 2012 MBA, 2013 MBP (work), 2015 MBP, and 2016 MBP (work). I don't particularly like MacOS but I prefer anything Unix to Windows. I ran Linux on the XPS and the 2012 MBA. When Retina wasn't well supported on Linux, I made the switch to MacOS for development. I miss tinkering with Linux, but grew accustomed to a dev workflow with Mac apps (Tower, nvALT, etc). The reason I stick with Macbooks: they can take a beating. My XPS 13 was falling apart after a few years, and had gone through three (!!!) motherboard replacements (fortunately, under warranty). I've had minimal issues with my Macbooks. I don't know what the state of the current XPS 13's is, but all I care about is "how often is it going to break in the next four years." The touchbar and the ever so fussy butterfly keyboard on the newest MBPs have reopened the possibility of me moving back to a Linux XPS 13. I just wish I could get some kind of update on the durability of that machine.
• outworlder 8y ago
  As nice as that Dell is, it still comes with the commoditizing Intel sticker.
• psyclobe 8y ago
  Been running the xps as my daily since november, best laptop I've ever owned. Totally got alienated from mac due to the terrible keyboard. That said, macos is still a pretty amazing thing, especially coming back to it after running linux on a laptop for so long. But hey, windows on this thing is also pretty awesome, I mean with bash and wsl running I can test my cross platform apps all on the same machine, while also having access to the worlds finest debugger, visual studio 2017. Now if only I could include macos in that mix once in a while... The only solution is to simply have multiple laptops, depending on your mood, grab one haah.
• timonv 8y ago
  I've had the XPS13 for 1,5 years now, came from 10 years Mac, running Linux for the past 4 years or so. Generally I'm very happy with the laptop, build quality is great, linux support is spot on, even slack works decently on Linux these days. I did get the 4k screen, which is amazing with the touch disabled. Lots of room if you have great eyes. Couple downsides however: * They must have been drunk when they decided where the camera should go * Huge screen wobble after 6 months, maybe the hinges are just loose and need to be tightened. * Regular charging port doesn't work anymore. USB-C everywhere however. I'm happy about the laptop, there's faults but I like it a lot more than my previous three MBPs. The X1 carbon looks like an amazing follow up, closely following that. Also, the new XPS has a virtual longer key travel by using magnets, as a mech keyboard fan, how cool is that?
• bambataa 8y ago
  The only thing keeping me on Mac is audio software like Ableton and Traktor. I’m aware that there are Linux alternatives but I have an Ableton licence and so want to keep using it. If they ever release a Linux version of Live I might jump ship.
• stevewillows 8y ago
  I jump between OSX, Windows, and Linux (using i3) several times per day. The main struggle for me is hitting HYPER + enter in OSX and not getting a new term. I should just map it in alfred. Nevertheless, outside of creating the hyper key in OSX, all other keys have remained stock. I use sharemouse to jump between systems. With regards to the article, I'm surprised they didn't mention a really annoying Magic Trackpad 2 glitch where the cursor slows to about 20% until its been pressed. It annoys the crap out of me when it happens (not through sharemouse, but when the trackpad is paired directly with the windows box.)
• jaimex2 8y ago
  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.
• crisscross 8y ago
  My biggest challenge in switching back to Windows would have to be the trackpad. I haven't used a mouse since switching to MBP
• SZJX 8y ago
  The 9360 might have been more decent but Dell fucked up the keyboard on the newest 9370. You can't type with a normal WPM or characters start getting jumbled up. Just get Carbon X1 or something similar (T480) in that lineup.