18 ms·

Dell releases powerful, well-supported Linux Ultrabook

520 points by iProject 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago
1366x768 , why oh why? I don't care about whatever "cloud" software BS they've tacked on but if you're making a laptop for developers you should have north of 1000 pixels of vertical space. Even 1280x1024 would be better.
klepra 14y ago
I didn't find any official information about battery life. Anyone know about that? Personally good power management is what I miss with linux, it seems that I can only get around 2/3 of battery life in Ubuntu comparing to Windows.
niels_olson 14y ago
Wouldn't a budget-conscious hacker get a Samsung 550 Chromebook and load Ubuntu for $450? Or slog through the local electronics recyclers and get the equivalent for potentially even less? If not on a budget, wouldn't you get a MacBook or a Lenovo? Also, are these in a store where I can touch the hardware before dropping $1500? I applaud Dell for making a go of it with Linux, targeting the right community, I just hope they get enough buyers to make better hardware for version 2.
CoffeeDregs 14y ago
On ultrabooks: This looks very nice, but I'm a TrackPoint guy, so, while I am excited to see the ultrabooks, I can't use these or MacBook Airs. I purchased a Lenovo X1 Carbon about 2 months ago. It has a TrackPoint and I can't recommend it highly enough. So if you're a Linux user looking for a great ultrabook, check out the X1 Carbon (but make sure to get the 8GB model...) EDIT: obviously, the X1 Carbon doesn't have the same level of Ubuntu support, but the out-of-the-box experience is perfect.
marknutter 14y ago
Looks like a fantastic laptop. It's great to see the effect that Apple has had on laptop design over the past 10 years.
ForFreedom 14y ago
Why would I buy something that cost USD 15XX. I'll just get myself a macbook.
lambda 14y ago
> 1366x768 display resolution Bleh. What's so "ultra" about such a lousy resolution?
drivebyacct2 14y ago
With a worthless screen resolution. I use a Galaxy Nexus, a Nexus 10 and a Korean 2560x1440 monitor. Using my 1440x900 13" MBA is already a slap in the eyeballs, and this is even worse. It's a shame, I'd buy it in a second to be able to replace OS X with Ubuntu.
droithomme 14y ago
Is it the same situation with all Linux laptops that the vast majority of hardware peripherals for video and audio work don't work, or has that been solved? I don't really need another terminal for accessing the web and email.
danboarder 14y ago
"... retains the pilot version's 1366x768 display resolution." Why would Dell use such a low-resolution screen? My phone is higher resolution than this laptop. Visual information density is very useful to "devops" Dell is said to be targeting and hi-dpi enables this. Linus Torvalds is right in saying we need a new standard (he is advocating for a new 2560x1600 laptop standard, see https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG ). (edit - fixed resolution typo)
- keidian 14y ago
  Yeah, i stopped reading as soon as I saw what the resolution is. I have a current 13" (ASUS u36sd with more ram & a ssd I put in) and really, the screen is the only thing I dislike on my laptop now, which I've had for over a year now. Give me more pixels :(
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- reustle 14y ago
  Although I also wish the resolution was higher, my current 13" macbook air is also 1366x768 so we can't necessarily knock them for a "low res".
winter_blue 14y ago
I just got a Dell Inspiron N5050 laptop (not from the US) that came pre-loaded with Ubuntu some time ago, and I have to say -- the Linux support is astounding. Absolutely everything works. The integrated webcam, closing the lid putting it to sleep, the various built-in keyboard keys (for changing brightness, volume, ..), et cetra. Can't say how happy I am with it. And it only cost $450. The specs are: Core i3-2570, 8GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, Intel HD 3000 Graphics (no discrete). The laptop looks and feels nice too.
znmeb 14y ago
Nice ... any chance of a 16 GB RAM model?
lvillani 14y ago
For those using other distributions than Ubuntu on their XPS13s, I am collecting the necessary kernel patches to get both the trackpad and backlight keys working here: http://lorenzo.villani.me/dell-xps13/ http://lorenzo.villani.me/dell-xps13/ (Unfortunately, information to get this hardware working on other distributions is spread out across several web sites, git repositories and bug reports, that's why I created the page).
wissler 14y ago
There's no way I'd buy this given the "ultra" low screen resolution, but maybe that doesn't matter to some developers. They need to target a somewhat higher screen resolution than the MBA if they want to grab my attention.
JanezStupar 14y ago
This machine seems lame to me at best (1366x768? Really?). I did a lot of shopping around about a month or two ago. There were only three serious contenders. Asus UX32VD, Sony Vaio Z 15 and Thinkpad X1 Carbon. Out of this bunch, Thinkpad was out because of insane price in EU and because Asus had a better screen and massivelly better value. Sony didn't qualify because it felt cheap and I really dislike Sony as a company. So I the only real worthy computer was Asus UX32VD. Running Ubuntu 12.10 I am super happy with it (although shame on Nvidia for not supporting Optimus on Linux). If I were buying a computer now, I would probably buy Asus U500 (15.4" and Quad Core CPU). But I am still in market for a new Thinkpad, when Lenovo comes to its senses and releases something 14" with 1080 or 1200 resolution and Quad core CPU. I have a feeling that next year the laptop market for developers will be awesome.
macco 14y ago
This is a great day for Ubuntu. The first Ubuntu is served on a top of the line product - not on cheap low end hardware. The Sputnik is even more expensive than the Win8 version It's saying: Ubuntu, because it's better, not cheaper.
vostrocity 14y ago
Dell emailed me a number of times about this, but it never made sense to me personally. I adore Dell as a company, and the Dell Vostro laptop I bought in 2007 performs splendidly to this day running the Ubuntu I installed on it. The thing is, installing Ubuntu didn't take me too much effort in 2007, and it shouldn't today. Seeing as how they are targeting this Sputnik as a developer machine, almost everyone should be able fix up any quirks in a zip. The pricing also doesn't make sense to me, but it may to some. I know some people, especially professionals who buy machines as part of their work expense, would willingly walk into an Apple store and buy a MacBook at its retail price. In that regard, this Ubuntu XPS 13 is not that out of line. However, in the Windows world, you'd have to be stupid to buy any computer at MSRP. In fact, it's pretty much not possible due to all the discounts thrown on. I've seen these XPS 13 Ultrabooks go down to $799 on the street, and that's with a nice Windows 8 license thrown in (and installed and configured nicely; you may not think this, but configuring up a clean Windows install onto a laptop can be easily as much of a pain as configuring a Linux install). You might not need Windows, but why not take it as a bonus even if you immediately throw Ubuntu onto the next partition? This option also means you're using the latest Ubuntu build instead of Dell's own channel based on LTS (could be a pro or con, but you could also opt for LTS yourself as well). Canonical has the image that Dell uses for the XPS on this page: http://hwe.ubuntu.com/uds-q/dellxps/ http://hwe.ubuntu.com/uds-q/dellxps/ All that said, however, I understand and applaud the idea of making a complete hardware/software package as seamless as a MacBook. I don't doubt this would make for a great option for consumers who want a smooth experience with Linux.
geekbri 14y ago
Has anybody tried using dual external monitors? That is a deal breaker for me.
grannyg00se 14y ago
I'm missing the point of these laptops that focus on extreme weight reduction. Can someone chime in on the relative benefit of these more expensive yet compromised machines? They seem to compromise on cost and features for the sake of lower mass. But most of the time your laptop is sitting on a surface while you are working. You aren't working while holding it in your hands like you might be with a tablet. So why deal with a 12" or 13" screen when you can have a 15" or more and still carry it under your arm from your home to the coffee shop?
- oconnore 14y ago
  > You aren't working while holding it in your hands like you might be with a tablet. Why not? I do this all the time. I also bike with it in my backpack, pick it up with one hand, toss it on my bed, hold it sideways to read a paper while laying down. And it's also dual core with 4GB of ram and a long battery life, where is the compromise? I don't understand why you would put up with an unwieldy machine for such insignificant benefits in processing power and screen size.
  - grannyg00se 14y ago
    A regular laptop is fine in a backpack, holding with one hand, and tossing onto a bed. You could probably prop it up sideways and read a paper on it as well, although I'd probably use a tablet for that instead. I think your last sentence answers my question though.
- cmccabe 14y ago
  Small laptops are really valuable. You can take them on a plane in a carry-on bag and have more room in your bag. It doesn't hurt your back to carry them for a few blocks. You can even carry other things. If you don't move your laptop, you should get a desktop.
  - grannyg00se 14y ago
    I move my laptop, but I don't hike 30km with it so I'm not hyper sensitive to weight. I can carry it multiple blocks in a backpack with other things just fine. I suppose if screen size and cost were complete non-issues, then I'd preference the lighter, smaller ultrabooks since there is no downside left.
zmmmmm 14y ago
Just another chiming in here with nerd rage at low screen resolutions these days. Absolutely crazy to make a "developer" laptop that can't even display the full standard page size that web developers will target web pages to. The surface pro has more resolution. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 have nearly the same and the Nexus 10 is nearly double in each direction and all these Nexii are priced < $400.
lobo_tuerto 14y ago
I really liked what I read here: The Last PC Laptop (codinghorror.com) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4560423 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4560423 Here is the feature list for this laptop: * Retina-esque 1920x1080 resolution in an amazingly high quality 13.3" IPS display * Intel's latest 17 watt Ivy Bridge processor with (finally!) decent integrated graphics * 128 GB SSD with fast 6Gbps interface * Just under 3 pounds * Decent 6 hour runtime * Classy brushed metal case and cover
scott00 14y ago
Interesting thing I noticed on the tech specs (http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx and http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn) is the difference in battery life between Linux and Windows. IIRC Linux was 6:13, and Windows was 8:53. Thoughts anyone?
ttflee 14y ago
According to my perl script, the count of word 'Mac'(including Macbook, macs, Macs, macbook, Macbooks) in this thread is 89 and that of 'linux'/'Linux' is 115, not including my own post.
chj 14y ago
If you're working with text a lot, developer or writer, retina display is a must.
jimrandomh 14y ago
Ctrl+F, type "resolution". See that it's 1366x768. Close tab. Sorry, Dell; I'd love to buy from you, but you're not even trying.
bad_user 14y ago
Awesome. I really want one. When will this be available?
ankitaggarwal 14y ago
Happy to see they came up with a beautiful, unique and slim design of laptop with a powerful configuration. Design is pretty different from macbooks, yet as elegant.
1tsmeagain 14y ago
* are the keyboard keys backlit? * Does clicking the trackpad make a loud noise? What about regular keyboard clicks?
fulafel 14y ago
US-only though (maybe the title could be revised).
cblicious 14y ago
completely unintersting , 8 GB of RAM only, for a developer machine soldered onto the mainboard ?!?!
JohnHaugeland 14y ago
I can't even get Dell to honor my warranty on my traditional Windows laptop, extended warranty purchased, which died in under six months. "Well supported."
cavilling_elite 14y ago
My biggest gripe about the ultrabook series is the dismal screen. I ended up purchasing an Asus Zenbook (1600x900) and lived with the quirky mouse issues (patches and such) until the newest kernel. Now Asus Zenbook Prime has upped the resolution to 1920x1080. Hopefully enough people purchase this laptop for a gen2 to come out and by then hopefully 1600x900 or 1920x1080 on a 13.3" is the standard.
manaskarekar 14y ago
The price is a little scary but I'm hoping the drivers from this will benefit other Dell laptops.
- johnward 14y ago
  They have to be building in a couple hundred dollars for especially driver support because I can't see how this is $1500 without the OS license costs. I think I would still rather go with a MacBook Air.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
wildranter 14y ago
Not too shabby. Keep working on it Dell and my next notebook might be a XPS instead a MBP. A few tips, just cram in a decent screen and glass trackpad.
jwcacces 14y ago
Nice, but that screen resolution is awful! How did 1366x768 ever become acceptable? I know it's a 13" screen but still...
- majorlazer 14y ago
  It's not. Anything lower than 1440x900 is a deal breaker for me. I rather take a hit in performance than go down to 1366x768. You know something is wrong when your 4.3" phone screen has the same resolution as your 13" laptop.
- tluyben2 14y ago
  I clicked the article to check that. How depressing :(
  - jebblue 14y ago
    Agreed, web sites today pretty much demand far more resolution than what we had in the 1990's. I imagine it's cheaper and that's why the trend has gone this way but this is a pitiful trend. I think it might be lower than new smart phones.
    - tluyben2 14y ago
      Yeah and especially tablets (with smaller form factors), so it's weird to hang on to this pitiful resolution.
- CitizenKane 14y ago
  I was with them right up until this. Even the very similarly speced Lenovo Yoga 13 has a higher resolution screen (1600x900). I've nearly given up on using my 2011 Mac Book Pro simply because the screen resolution is awful.
- mtgx 14y ago
  2560x1600 or bust. https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG
dkhenry 14y ago
Every time I read this I have to think to my self how silly it is to lead an article with Some things (particularly components like trackpads and Wi-Fi chips) take some fiddling to get working Thats total balony, trackpads and WiFi have been well supported in Linux for almost a decade. It is _rare_ to find a labtop that when you install la fresh modern distro on it , things don't work. Yes every now and then you get a vendor who insist on doing something different, but most of the time its a synaptic track pad ( well supported ) and a Broadcom or Intel WiFi card ( well supported ). I can remember back in 2004 taking my Government Issued Dell laptop and installing Fedora on it and everything working out of the box.
- knightni 14y ago
  This just isn't true. A couple of years ago an issue with the USB3 driver broke suspend on laptops with USB3 for quite some time, requiring workarounds. Multi-touch trackpads took some time to get full gesture support. Auto-switch between paired graphics cards still doesn't work. That's not to say things aren't pretty good now - but to imply that linux doesn't require some fiddling about under the hood hardware-wise is stretching a lot.
- fernly 14y ago
  "It is _rare_ to find a labtop that when you install la fresh modern distro on it , things don't work..." Nunh-unh. I recently tried to repurpose an original MBA to Ubuntu 12.10 because it isn't supported by current OSX. While I was very favorably impressed by the current state of the Ubuntu out of the box experience, it just didn't work smoothly on the MBA: * Sleep/wake wasn't smooth, often had to click the mouse or the power button to wake it; * "right click" is an unintuitive two-finger tap that is often falsely detected as you attempt a two-finger scroll gesture -- the Mac convention of control-click isn't recognized; * there is a persistent "serious problem" warning that pops up a couple of times every time it wakes up, related to a known bug with the graphics adapter -- it was harmless but would be dead scary to the novice I planned to give the machine to -- and it wasn't fixed after several weeks. * After I plugged headphones into the jack, the internal speaker went silent. Ubuntu still knew whether there was a headphone in the jack or not, but the speaker never sounded again. I finally put OSX Snow Leopard back on it and of course, everything "just worked" (including the internal speaker). The recipient will just have to live with end of life software.
edtechdev 14y ago
You can get very nice, lightweight laptops that run Linux perfectly for much less, even from Dell (such as the Dell 14z which was only $300 on black friday). The main tips are to look for laptops that don't have dual graphics cards (nvidia optimus - although it will still work with http://bumblebee-project.org/ http://bumblebee-project.org/ ), and google for the laptop model plus "linux" or "ubuntu" to see other folks' experiences with it. The main issue now though are the new Windows 8 tablets (the Pro ones that mostly are not out yet) - we'll have to see how well they run Linux distros.
- mtgx 14y ago
  I have a Lenovo Ideapad y570, and it does have dual graphics, but it doesn't need Optimus. It has a physical switch, so that means I can use either one whenever I want in Linux or Windows. I actually think it has more problems in Windows, as sometimes when I switch them, my USB 2.0 driver seems to die, and doesn't recognize the mouse anymore (USB 3.0 one still works), and I have to reboot to get it working again. Not sure why that happens.
rm999 14y ago
It's great to see Dell doing something that resembles innovation, and it's great to see laptops that can run Linux out of the box. But honestly I just don't trust Ubuntu after they built advertising ('online scope results') into their interface. How much more will they cripple their distro as they struggle to monetize? I understand Ubuntu is free, but this fact doesn't benefit the end-consumer much because Microsoft gives Windows to OEMs for practically free and the cost of OSX is irrelevant. Most people who should be using Linux know how to install it on a wintel machine. I'd rather see Dell put 100% of its open source effort into releasing Linux-compatible drivers for all its laptops instead of marketing niche products.
- pjmlp 14y ago
  As long as they don't start creating a Dell Linux distribution with their own set of "experience enhancers".
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
  >because Microsoft gives Windows to OEMs for practically free Practically free? I don't think so, except for Windows Starter Edition on Netbooks and those have strict guidelines on what qualifies as a netbook.
  - rm999 14y ago
    Thanks for the correction, my information is old. My friend in the XP days told me a company he worked with got licenses for something like 25 dollars each. I just did a google search and it looks like OEM prices have been rising and are much higher now.
irahul 14y ago
> Some things (particularly components like trackpads and Wi-Fi chips) take some fiddling to get working. Trackpads and wi-fi has been working for me for a long time(not implying this isn't a problem for many people), but what drives me completely insane is the video cards. If you are planning to run linux, seriously re-consider buying laptops with hybrid graphics. The graphic card might or might not run, the card switching will most likely not work, but you can ignore it since you can work with the intel card, right? Well, no. Most of the AGP, whether used or not, will eat up power, the fan will run at full speed and your laptop's behind will be hot enough to stir fry some veggies. If you have a laptop with hybrid graphics, and you can't make it work, just switch off your discrete card. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics Laptops in general, and linux laptops tend to run hot. However, don't mess with power settings a lot. Putting harddisks on powersaving mode(refer hdparm) so that they become idle puts unnecessary strain on the disk. You can try out experimenting with cpu frequency(cpufreq-set).
xradionut 14y ago
Nice try but, dang the hardware is limited. I have XPS 17 that's heavy, but several times more powerful. I'll continue to run Linux on my Dell in a vitual machine...
- dkhenry 14y ago
  You know you can install it right on the hardware and run windows out of the VM. You might even see a performance increase in your virtualization.
  - xradionut 14y ago
    I don't want to juggle all the driver issues, etc... Hence the vitual machine for Linux amongst all the other guest OSes. Best of all worlds. Plus Linux isn't my primary working OS, I use it for testing and hobby programming.
dedsm 14y ago
so my phone has the same resolution than this laptop
- berserkpi 14y ago
  LOL, I simply do not understand why they keep producing that low resolution... a bad joke perhaps... :P
PhrosTT 14y ago
Dell releases i5, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, 3 lb., 1366x768, $1500 laptop. (price includes cost of $0 OS). Wow what a deal. /s
- johnward 14y ago
  MacBook Air is only like $100 for the same specs.
- ZoFreX 14y ago
  (price includes costs of ensuring OS works flawlessly with hardware and delivering updates in the future to keep it that way)
- mcguire 14y ago
  Technically, it is an i7 ("3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3517U (4M Cache, up to 3.0 GHz)").
Lambdanaut 14y ago
With Linux on Steam coming out, whoever is the first to start building gaming Linux boxes is going to cash in big time. (PS, It's not quite Dell with this under-powered laptop, but they're close! )
Nursie 14y ago
Yeah, marvellous. Maybe they've released it in the US. Here in the UK I emailed them last week to enquire about whether they would sell me the exact same model with no OS (or anything but Windows), and he answer was just simply 'no way'. I find that intensely annoying.
- takluyver 14y ago
  The UK seems to be terrible for getting Linux pre-installed. I've noticed a few major OEMs release Linux laptops elsewhere, but never bring them to the UK. There's nothing like System76, while smaller countries like the Netherlands seem to have companies something like that. Do our laws let Microsoft get anti-competitive exclusivity deals? Or are we Brits so establishment-loving that the market isn't there?
  - Surio 14y ago
    http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-gaming-laptop http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extrem... You mean this is not available in the UK? (Genuine question.) So why is omg ubuntu covering it? (genuine Q)
    - takluyver 14y ago
      Sorry, I should have been clearer: system 76 will ship to the UK, and even now offer UK keyboards for some models. What we don't have is any UK based company like that, selling in GBP and without international shipping charges. OK, there is linuxemporium.co.uk - but it's mostly selling old stuff, and doesn't exactly look professional.
technomancy 14y ago
> ... retains the pilot version's 1366x768 display resolution. Close tab.
- marshray 14y ago
  I remember fondly the days when a 15" 1024x768 noninterlaced monitor was the highest resolution you could get for a PC (excepting exotic hardware that only supported AutoCAD), but that was 20 years ago! Hopefully this (and the Surface RT) mean vendors are experimenting with ways to get the last of the crap resolution panels out of inventory and this generation of hardware will be the last. Seriously, my 4.7" cell phone has 768 pixels in the short dimension. For a "developer laptop" this is unacceptable.
- ivany 14y ago
  :( But true. Good news is that more and more vendors get this.
acabal 14y ago
Great idea, but I wish they had worked with the 14 inch one instead. It's more or less the same stuff on the inside. Hopefully with more programs like this from companies like Dell, companies like AMD and Nvidia will take their Linux drivers more seriously. (As in, at least get them to work, let alone play a game or two.)
kibwen 14y ago
Is it too much to hope that the drivers from this effort are not just free, but also open-source? Other than that, props to Dell for even attempting something like this. The hardware ain't mind-blowing (as others have pointed out), but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.
- drcube 14y ago
  They've been stepping in this direction for about ten years now. Nothing has come of it yet.
brudgers 14y ago
The fact that this is news is shows why Linux is not a viable alternative to Windows or OSX outside a very narrow market niche. And if you think I'm wrong, what does this get you if your organization was standardized on Fedora?
- pekk 14y ago
  If it doesn't work - this is why Linux fails If the vendor doesn't support it - this is why Linux fails If it works and the vendor supports it - this is why Linux fails hmmm...
  - brudgers 14y ago
    That's Microsoft you're talking about... Linux is like Europe. Kissenger can't call it on the phone. The laptop isn't a win for Linux. It's a win for Ubuntu. It doesn't do squat for any other distro. Linux has success. It can continue to be successful on its own terms. But it will never be successful in the same way as Windows. Just as Windows will never be successful in the same way as the Mac ecosystem, and the Mac ecosystem will never be successful in the same way as Linux. Long live the Commodore Amiga.
politician 14y ago
Maybe this will help put some gravity around fixing Skype for Linux. Alternatively, does anyone know of a good video conferencing tool for Linux that also supports Windows as well?
- yungchin 14y ago
  How about Google Hangouts (comes as a Firefox plugin)?
- Random_Person 14y ago
  I'm going to throw myself out there on this one... but what's wrong with Skype on Linux? I rarely use it (so maybe that's why I'm not understanding), but I've done interviews for multiple podcasts on two different laptops (both with 12.04) and I've never had a problem.
  - politician 14y ago
    I seem to have a lot of trouble with how it manages the brightness of my camera. `luvcview` displays a working, normal image, but Skype really dims the lights. Also, people report that they receive the message, "requires Skype premium" when the attempt to begin a screen sharing session. These issues make Skype on Ubuntu a non-starter for me.
- aw3c2 14y ago
  not only good but also free and open-source http://www.jitsi.org http://www.jitsi.org
johnward 14y ago
The price is crazy. I know this one has less ram but it also includes a Windows license in the cost: http://store.vizio.com/ct15a5.html http://store.vizio.com/ct15a5.html *edit: plus the vizio TVs are really nice.
driverdan 14y ago
> The launch hardware costs $1,549 For the same price you can get a MacBook Air with a 1440x900 screen.
- graue 14y ago
  For a much lower price, actually. $1140: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD231LL-13-3-Inch-VERSION/dp/B005CWJB5G http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD231LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO... Or $1430 (still over a hundred dollars less) with twice as big of an SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD232LL-13-3-Inch-VERSION/dp/B00746YD24 http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD232LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO... This XPS does have 8GB RAM (versus 4), but that's the only big advantage that sticks out to me.
- jonhohle 14y ago
  Which also seems to have very good hardware support: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookAir4-2 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookAir4-2
  - JulianK 14y ago
    I think 4-2 is the 2011 Macbook Air. I've been thinking about getting the 2012 and putting Ubuntu on there, but there seem to be a number of semi-unsupported steps required to resolve kernel panics, you have to disable apic support and various other issues.
    - graue 14y ago
      I regret that there's no good documentation for installing on the 5-2 (2012 13" Air), something I have to take some responsibility for since I run Ubuntu on such a laptop and didn't share my experiences. In short, most things work fine on Ubuntu 12.10. I first tried using this guide[1] to install Ubuntu 12.04, but had lots of gnarly install issues. I then tried with the regular 'amd64+mac' graphical installer for Ubuntu 12.10 beta, and got it running easily. I was able to ignore most of [1] except for installing and configuring macfanctld, and making the touchpad perform decently using the advice in [2]. (Unlike the author of [2], I hate tap-to-click, so I turned the TapButton[1-3] settings off.) There are still a few nagging issues I haven't fixed. The Air boots with brightness at the max and won't let me turn it down until logged in, and it loses my touchpad settings on reboot, so I have a little bash script I run to fix them. [1]: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2039799 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2039799 [2]: http://uselessuseofcat.com/?p=74 http://uselessuseofcat.com/?p=74
weej 14y ago
I was excited when I heard about this initial project, and was holding out for the official release specs. The display is a big disappointment, and show stopper for me. I do agree this is a great first step and partnership for hardware manufacturers, specifically for device drivers. I really do hope this is successful enough that Dell sustains the product line and continues to iterate on improving it over the next couple years. I would love a Mac Airbook alternative ultrabook for development. Additionally, let's hope this spurs some competition in the market for other manufacturers. I've done ZERO market analysis, but it seems like quite a niche market that is rip for the picking (*NIX DEV Ulatrabook), and has the potential for decent profits w/ the right hardware specs and pricing. Kudos to Dell for taking the imitative in the right direction. Let's see how it pans out. > Edit spur competition
cllns 14y ago
The Windows version of the same laptop is $50 less. Uh, what? [1] http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd [2] http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx
- bryanlarsen 14y ago
  Dell has a bunch of engineers working on Linux support for this notebook, they have to pay them somehow. I don't mind paying an extra $50. The big problem is that the Linux version will probably never go on sale, yet the Windows version will be on sale more often then not so there will be a lot more than a $50 delta. I hope I'm wrong.
- phaemon 14y ago
  The Linux one comes with Pro Support, rather than the standard. I suspect that's the difference.
  - cllns 14y ago
    Ah, I see. That makes sense.
- oneandoneis2 14y ago
  The Windows version comes preloaded with crapware that Dell gets paid to put there. This subsidises the price. Until Linux comes with all the "free trial!" garbage as well, it's likely to cost more.
- makmanalp 14y ago
  Does the first link also create a javascript alert with the text "9" in it for you when you ctrl+shift+tab? What a crazy bug.
Surio 14y ago
Someone mentioned Steam/Linux and if some vendor has decided to become an early mover into that market: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-gaming-laptop http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extrem... And FWIW, I've had major problems with wifi and integrated graphics display as recently as Ubuntu 12.04! Virtual Linux on Win 7 works fine though. And I've been with Linux since Slackware 1.0/RHEL 5 (and several distros later....), still not given up on Linux.... continue to be hopeful.... I must be mad! (/joking to myself there)
niels_olson 14y ago
> Display: 13.3" HD 720p Erm, gotta go, bye.
jonpaul 14y ago
I'm not sure how they plan to compete with Macs? The price is definitely not competitive. I care about computing experience. When it comes down to it, I haven't found a better *nix workstation than my Macbook Pro. I love Ubuntu. I use it for all of my server deployments. I'd love an Ubuntu laptop that works well. But, it has to work better than my Macbook Pro for me to consider switching.
hdra 14y ago
this is rather unrelated, but just now I was reading another chromebook released by Acer on The Verge, and I was left wondering, why does it seems like the vendor adoption of the rather new and unproven Chrome OS seems to be much higher than that of Linux desktop that has been around for the same time (if not longer) as Windows...
memset 14y ago
Here is a question (sorry to try and hijack this thread): this is a great laptop, but while we're at it, have people had good experiences with other ultrabooks? My experience has been that things like EFI have made it impossible to boot linux on recent macbooks (I have tried!), and many ultrabook hardware just doesn't work on linux. Graphics won't show up, the thing won't boot, SATA hard drives not found, etc. Many of the websites I used to rely on (eg, linux-laptop.net) have very out of date information. Ubuntu has a list of certified machines (http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/ http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/) but still, it doesn't tell me much about ultrabooks released in the past year. Are there any new resources I'm missing? Or personal experiences people can share? As for myself, I'm successfully running Mint on a Toshiba Portege ultrabook. But that is the flimsiest computer I've ever used!
- tikhonj 14y ago
  I have a Sony Z series, and it works reasonably well. The external dock/graphics card thing that connects via LightPeak is very cool but doesn't work at all on Linux. (To be fair, it doesn't work under Windows 8 either :P), but apart from that, it's been a great laptop.
- xuki 14y ago
  It's possible (and fairly easy) to boot linux (at least ubuntu) on my own macbook air 2011. I bet it's doable on any newer mac.
- reledi 14y ago
  My ThinkPad X201 is great for the most part. There are some issues with the wifi. The wifi icon will sometimes disappear so I have to manually restart nm-applet. I also have a tough time connecting to public wifi (or the connection is dead when I'm connected), which other computers connect to easily.
- tehwalrus 14y ago
  EFI / Macs / Linux - check out rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/ http://refit.sourceforge.net/ (however, I haven't used it in a while, and I notice that the latest news on the site is from 2010...)
emehrkay 14y ago
Is it too much to ask to go to dell.com and see pictures of their products? Steps I've taken, and since given up: 1. Type in dell.com 2. Decide that I am looking for "For Home > Ultrabooks" 3. Scroll long page of laptops 4. Decide to narrow page down to 12-15 inch screens 5. Find XPS-13 6. Get taken to a configuration page 7. Sees no "view pictures of computer" button/link The pics on ars makes the machine look good, the bottom kinda reminds of of the nexus 7's profile
chimeracoder 14y ago
I was one of the beta testers for this laptop, so I've been using it for the last few months. [If anybody has any questions about it, I'd be happy to answer them - I've used many different laptops over the years for comparison.] I couldn't be happier with it - I have a larger laptop that I use as my "main" computer at home (essentially as if it were a desktop), and the XPS13 is what I take with me everywhere and use for presentations, developing on the go, etc. I've used Linux as my main OS for some years now, and for me the main appeal of this computer was the size/weight/battery life when compared to my larger laptop. If you've been waiting for a Linux ultrabook for portable development (or even just ultra-portable general use), this is it. Compared to my work computer (a Macbook Air), the difference is enormous. Hardware-wise, the XPS13 just feels slimmer, even though the difference in size/weight is negligible. The biggest physical differences are the keys and trackpad - I'm typing this now on a mechanical keyboard, and I've gotten so used to the Das Keyboard that I can't stand the feel of chiclet-style keys. However, the shape of the XPS13 keys (slightly indented) alleviates some of the annoyances I have with most laptop keyboards (the Air included). The trackpad is highly sensitive, and I like the texture slightly more than that of the Macbook Air. Battery life is great, even with Bluetooth turned on (though I usually leave this off - I still haven't found a real use for Bluetooth on my computers!). I should mention the display - it's the perfect size for me. I actually dislike the Macbook Air on this one point - it absolutely kills my eyes by the end of the day (both the default size and default brightness/contrast). I have neither of these problems with the XPS13, but it's still crisp enough that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Overall, I'm incredibly happy that I got it, and I actually get slightly annoyed now when I have to use my Macbook Air for work - I wish I could be using the XPS13 instead. Aside from the fact that I'd rather be using Linux any day, hands-down, the computer just feels more physically appealing in itself. Even at its price[1], it's worth every penny. [1] I should note that I received my testing laptop at a 20% discount, though after using it, I would be willing to pay full price for it if I'd had to.
- cjdrake 14y ago
  Did you ever compare the Dell device with other ultrabook hardware, such as Asus Zenbook, HP, etc? How does the Dell hardware compare?
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sergiotapia 14y ago
I remember owning a small laptop from Sotec. (Yes, Sotec, Google it; it's a brand that no longer exists!) I bought it in late '99 early '00 and it had this resolution. I am not shitting you, I'll try to find an old CNET.com link for the review. What is a laptop in this day and age coming with such low resolution?
nicholassmith 14y ago
It's a good first attempt, but it's going to need some work. The screen is pretty bad, but the one thing that puts me off is pretty much any Dell I've used has had a terrible keyboard and trackpad, but I've not used one for a while now so I'm hoping they've fixed that for this.
meaty 14y ago
Overpriced and can't get in the UK by the looks. I think I'd just go Lenovo.
danso 14y ago
So what's the point of this, for Dell's bottom line? Even with the relatively steep price, a developer-focused laptop is not going to be a best-seller. And in a few years, how many of those driver developers are going to be fully-focused on updating software for a niche laptop? As much as I wish it were the case, what developers adopt is not always what will be profitable to the masses. And this ends up biting developers in the end. My Macbook Air is good enough that I don't think I need to go back to Linux...and I can be relatively confident that even if Apple continues to screw with the OS, the Apple OS X user base is so massive that niceties like homebrew will be supported as long, if not longer, than the niceties for a developer-focused laptop.
berserkpi 14y ago
Good. Linux driver support is a war almost won, yet, there are strange cases. So perhaps the emphasis the article does regarding this is... misleading. Beyond that, seeing manufacturers making specific delivers for Linux is a nice symptom.
cnlwsu 14y ago
Cell phones shouldn't have better resolution then a 1500$ laptop. Period.
happywolf 14y ago
If Dell shows solid support behind this ultrabook, I would consider to get one. My attention would be on upgrade and support. I am over the age where I would be happy just because the new version Linux happened to run on my laptop. Too many times the next version would bring some incompatibilities and I had to search for patches, and recompile the kernel and Fuck it, I just want to get work done and the last thing I concern should be the OS. Just for cars I damn care less for what OS is running under the hood, the same should apply to computers. Full operations is a must, not by chance. Sorry for the language, frustrated to see the current state of Linux still in a mess in PC/laptop after 10+ years (I ran Linux-only in college circa 1998). Yes I am using a Mac now. Not because it rocks, at least it doesn't suck that much.
jwblackwell 14y ago
This is awesome to see more "native" Linux hardware coming out. I'd love to be able to use Linux more, every time I've tried to make a switch though I've inevitably had to jump back to Windows because some bit of hardware just isn't compatible or working well enough.
hack_edu 14y ago
But does it provide multitouch comparable to OS X in execution and function? If so, I'd switch tomorrow.
sorges 14y ago
But you should still buy it with built-in Windows? naaahhh
lanna 14y ago
$1,549 for a 1366x768 display?!? And they say Macs are expensive?
makmanalp 14y ago
The laptop itself looks great, but what are the opinions on the profile tool? Doesn't something like http://vagrantup.com/ http://vagrantup.com/ with vubdle, pip, rubygems, apt make it obsolete? Also, linux dev environments are finnicky because every developer has their own miniscule variant that drives them crazy if it doesn't exist. Pre-made dev environments seem like the antithesis of this. Opinions? edit: It seems I have slightly misunderstood. It seems more like chef-solo for dev tool configs.
jrussbowman 14y ago
I bought one of these laptops shortly after the whole sputnik ppa was launched to replace a stolen macbook. I guess you can call me a beta tester, but I paid full price for the laptop at Best Buy so I could be up and running in a day after being robbed. First couple weeks were annoying as the fixes for the cypress touchpad were not available. Once Dell got the patches in their kernel it's been a great laptop. Physically I've found it easy to carry and handle. It looks great with the aluminum lid and carbon fiber bottom. I'm a sysadmin, I generally prefer Linux. My one foray into apply with a 13in MBP left me knowing that I wasn't going to go back to Apple any way. I'm not going to compare OS's, I'm just someone happier with Linux. I tried other Ubuntu variants with the laptop. Bodhi and Mint both installed fine, newer versions included the touchpad kernel updates from the main Ubuntu distribution so it worked out the box. I did end up installing the sputnik ppa and using that kernel to keep the brightness keys working. Over all I didn't have a lot of luck with e17 and volume/brightness at all. However, I'm not sure if that's the laptop or e17 as I haven't had luck with those on my workstation at work as well. The resolution sucks. I mean, it's fine for doing some general web programming in python with a full screen tmux terminal and browser(s) in another virtual desktop. You need to start remote desktop to Windows servers and such and you really begin to hate the vertical resolution limit. I solved this by hooking it up to a monitor when working and using the laptop display as a second screen for email and such. Now that laptops are coming up with higher resolution screens by default I'll not get something that low ever again. The specs on mine are 4GB RAM, core i5 (2 core + hyperthreading) and a 128GB SSD. Video on all of them in Intel HD3000 I believe. I don't do a lot of virtualization, I can see why they would increase the RAM and CPU for the developer edition if they expect developers to be spinning up VMs. I've never really taxed the memory on it with anything I do. Caveat I'm a sysadmin who plays around with developing websites with Python/Tornado on the side, I don't do a lot anyway. I believe I was able to soak the cpu pretty good playing with golang a few times. The only issues I've really had with the laptop are the resolution of the laptop display and the fact it runs really hot playing Team Fortress 2 in the Steam for Linux Beta. CPU core temps reach over 190F regularly while playing and if you block airflow out the back it will shut down on you (learned that the hard way). Really makes me miss my Alienware M11x for gaming purposes. Other issues I've had with laptops in the past have been hinges. I have yet to experience any issues with the hinges on this laptop. Over all the resolution is the one knock I'd give the system for a developer system, especially with the developer edition having more memory and cpu that the model I have. If you already have a monitor and plan to use it for extended sessions with the laptop I think you'll find it great.

520 points by iProject 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

1366x768 , why oh why? I don't care about whatever "cloud" software BS they've tacked on but if you're making a laptop for developers you should have north of 1000 pixels of vertical space. Even 1280x1024 would be better.

klepra 14y ago

I didn't find any official information about battery life. Anyone know about that? Personally good power management is what I miss with linux, it seems that I can only get around 2/3 of battery life in Ubuntu comparing to Windows.

niels_olson 14y ago

Wouldn't a budget-conscious hacker get a Samsung 550 Chromebook and load Ubuntu for $450? Or slog through the local electronics recyclers and get the equivalent for potentially even less? If not on a budget, wouldn't you get a MacBook or a Lenovo? Also, are these in a store where I can touch the hardware before dropping $1500? I applaud Dell for making a go of it with Linux, targeting the right community, I just hope they get enough buyers to make better hardware for version 2.

CoffeeDregs 14y ago

On ultrabooks: This looks very nice, but I'm a TrackPoint guy, so, while I am excited to see the ultrabooks, I can't use these or MacBook Airs. I purchased a Lenovo X1 Carbon about 2 months ago. It has a TrackPoint and I can't recommend it highly enough. So if you're a Linux user looking for a great ultrabook, check out the X1 Carbon (but make sure to get the 8GB model...) EDIT: obviously, the X1 Carbon doesn't have the same level of Ubuntu support, but the out-of-the-box experience is perfect.

marknutter 14y ago

Looks like a fantastic laptop. It's great to see the effect that Apple has had on laptop design over the past 10 years.

ForFreedom 14y ago

Why would I buy something that cost USD 15XX. I'll just get myself a macbook.

lambda 14y ago

> 1366x768 display resolution Bleh. What's so "ultra" about such a lousy resolution?

drivebyacct2 14y ago

With a worthless screen resolution. I use a Galaxy Nexus, a Nexus 10 and a Korean 2560x1440 monitor. Using my 1440x900 13" MBA is already a slap in the eyeballs, and this is even worse. It's a shame, I'd buy it in a second to be able to replace OS X with Ubuntu.

droithomme 14y ago

Is it the same situation with all Linux laptops that the vast majority of hardware peripherals for video and audio work don't work, or has that been solved? I don't really need another terminal for accessing the web and email.

danboarder 14y ago

"... retains the pilot version's 1366x768 display resolution." Why would Dell use such a low-resolution screen? My phone is higher resolution than this laptop. Visual information density is very useful to "devops" Dell is said to be targeting and hi-dpi enables this. Linus Torvalds is right in saying we need a new standard (he is advocating for a new 2560x1600 laptop standard, see https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG ). (edit - fixed resolution typo)

keidian 14y ago
Yeah, i stopped reading as soon as I saw what the resolution is. I have a current 13" (ASUS u36sd with more ram & a ssd I put in) and really, the screen is the only thing I dislike on my laptop now, which I've had for over a year now. Give me more pixels :(
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reustle 14y ago
Although I also wish the resolution was higher, my current 13" macbook air is also 1366x768 so we can't necessarily knock them for a "low res".

winter_blue 14y ago

I just got a Dell Inspiron N5050 laptop (not from the US) that came pre-loaded with Ubuntu some time ago, and I have to say -- the Linux support is astounding. Absolutely everything works. The integrated webcam, closing the lid putting it to sleep, the various built-in keyboard keys (for changing brightness, volume, ..), et cetra. Can't say how happy I am with it. And it only cost $450. The specs are: Core i3-2570, 8GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, Intel HD 3000 Graphics (no discrete). The laptop looks and feels nice too.

znmeb 14y ago

Nice ... any chance of a 16 GB RAM model?

lvillani 14y ago

For those using other distributions than Ubuntu on their XPS13s, I am collecting the necessary kernel patches to get both the trackpad and backlight keys working here: http://lorenzo.villani.me/dell-xps13/ http://lorenzo.villani.me/dell-xps13/ (Unfortunately, information to get this hardware working on other distributions is spread out across several web sites, git repositories and bug reports, that's why I created the page).

wissler 14y ago

There's no way I'd buy this given the "ultra" low screen resolution, but maybe that doesn't matter to some developers. They need to target a somewhat higher screen resolution than the MBA if they want to grab my attention.

JanezStupar 14y ago

This machine seems lame to me at best (1366x768? Really?). I did a lot of shopping around about a month or two ago. There were only three serious contenders. Asus UX32VD, Sony Vaio Z 15 and Thinkpad X1 Carbon. Out of this bunch, Thinkpad was out because of insane price in EU and because Asus had a better screen and massivelly better value. Sony didn't qualify because it felt cheap and I really dislike Sony as a company. So I the only real worthy computer was Asus UX32VD. Running Ubuntu 12.10 I am super happy with it (although shame on Nvidia for not supporting Optimus on Linux). If I were buying a computer now, I would probably buy Asus U500 (15.4" and Quad Core CPU). But I am still in market for a new Thinkpad, when Lenovo comes to its senses and releases something 14" with 1080 or 1200 resolution and Quad core CPU. I have a feeling that next year the laptop market for developers will be awesome.

macco 14y ago

This is a great day for Ubuntu. The first Ubuntu is served on a top of the line product - not on cheap low end hardware. The Sputnik is even more expensive than the Win8 version It's saying: Ubuntu, because it's better, not cheaper.

vostrocity 14y ago

Dell emailed me a number of times about this, but it never made sense to me personally. I adore Dell as a company, and the Dell Vostro laptop I bought in 2007 performs splendidly to this day running the Ubuntu I installed on it. The thing is, installing Ubuntu didn't take me too much effort in 2007, and it shouldn't today. Seeing as how they are targeting this Sputnik as a developer machine, almost everyone should be able fix up any quirks in a zip. The pricing also doesn't make sense to me, but it may to some. I know some people, especially professionals who buy machines as part of their work expense, would willingly walk into an Apple store and buy a MacBook at its retail price. In that regard, this Ubuntu XPS 13 is not that out of line. However, in the Windows world, you'd have to be stupid to buy any computer at MSRP. In fact, it's pretty much not possible due to all the discounts thrown on. I've seen these XPS 13 Ultrabooks go down to $799 on the street, and that's with a nice Windows 8 license thrown in (and installed and configured nicely; you may not think this, but configuring up a clean Windows install onto a laptop can be easily as much of a pain as configuring a Linux install). You might not need Windows, but why not take it as a bonus even if you immediately throw Ubuntu onto the next partition? This option also means you're using the latest Ubuntu build instead of Dell's own channel based on LTS (could be a pro or con, but you could also opt for LTS yourself as well). Canonical has the image that Dell uses for the XPS on this page: http://hwe.ubuntu.com/uds-q/dellxps/ http://hwe.ubuntu.com/uds-q/dellxps/ All that said, however, I understand and applaud the idea of making a complete hardware/software package as seamless as a MacBook. I don't doubt this would make for a great option for consumers who want a smooth experience with Linux.

geekbri 14y ago

Has anybody tried using dual external monitors? That is a deal breaker for me.

grannyg00se 14y ago

I'm missing the point of these laptops that focus on extreme weight reduction. Can someone chime in on the relative benefit of these more expensive yet compromised machines? They seem to compromise on cost and features for the sake of lower mass. But most of the time your laptop is sitting on a surface while you are working. You aren't working while holding it in your hands like you might be with a tablet. So why deal with a 12" or 13" screen when you can have a 15" or more and still carry it under your arm from your home to the coffee shop?

oconnore 14y ago
> You aren't working while holding it in your hands like you might be with a tablet. Why not? I do this all the time. I also bike with it in my backpack, pick it up with one hand, toss it on my bed, hold it sideways to read a paper while laying down. And it's also dual core with 4GB of ram and a long battery life, where is the compromise? I don't understand why you would put up with an unwieldy machine for such insignificant benefits in processing power and screen size.
- grannyg00se 14y ago
  A regular laptop is fine in a backpack, holding with one hand, and tossing onto a bed. You could probably prop it up sideways and read a paper on it as well, although I'd probably use a tablet for that instead. I think your last sentence answers my question though.
cmccabe 14y ago
Small laptops are really valuable. You can take them on a plane in a carry-on bag and have more room in your bag. It doesn't hurt your back to carry them for a few blocks. You can even carry other things. If you don't move your laptop, you should get a desktop.
- grannyg00se 14y ago
  I move my laptop, but I don't hike 30km with it so I'm not hyper sensitive to weight. I can carry it multiple blocks in a backpack with other things just fine. I suppose if screen size and cost were complete non-issues, then I'd preference the lighter, smaller ultrabooks since there is no downside left.

zmmmmm 14y ago

Just another chiming in here with nerd rage at low screen resolutions these days. Absolutely crazy to make a "developer" laptop that can't even display the full standard page size that web developers will target web pages to. The surface pro has more resolution. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 have nearly the same and the Nexus 10 is nearly double in each direction and all these Nexii are priced < $400.

lobo_tuerto 14y ago

I really liked what I read here: The Last PC Laptop (codinghorror.com) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4560423 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4560423 Here is the feature list for this laptop: * Retina-esque 1920x1080 resolution in an amazingly high quality 13.3" IPS display * Intel's latest 17 watt Ivy Bridge processor with (finally!) decent integrated graphics * 128 GB SSD with fast 6Gbps interface * Just under 3 pounds * Decent 6 hour runtime * Classy brushed metal case and cover

scott00 14y ago

Interesting thing I noticed on the tech specs (http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx and http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn) is the difference in battery life between Linux and Windows. IIRC Linux was 6:13, and Windows was 8:53. Thoughts anyone?

ttflee 14y ago

According to my perl script, the count of word 'Mac'(including Macbook, macs, Macs, macbook, Macbooks) in this thread is 89 and that of 'linux'/'Linux' is 115, not including my own post.

chj 14y ago

If you're working with text a lot, developer or writer, retina display is a must.

jimrandomh 14y ago

Ctrl+F, type "resolution". See that it's 1366x768. Close tab. Sorry, Dell; I'd love to buy from you, but you're not even trying.

bad_user 14y ago

Awesome. I really want one. When will this be available?

ankitaggarwal 14y ago

Happy to see they came up with a beautiful, unique and slim design of laptop with a powerful configuration. Design is pretty different from macbooks, yet as elegant.

1tsmeagain 14y ago

* are the keyboard keys backlit? * Does clicking the trackpad make a loud noise? What about regular keyboard clicks?

fulafel 14y ago

US-only though (maybe the title could be revised).

cblicious 14y ago

completely unintersting , 8 GB of RAM only, for a developer machine soldered onto the mainboard ?!?!

JohnHaugeland 14y ago

I can't even get Dell to honor my warranty on my traditional Windows laptop, extended warranty purchased, which died in under six months. "Well supported."

cavilling_elite 14y ago

My biggest gripe about the ultrabook series is the dismal screen. I ended up purchasing an Asus Zenbook (1600x900) and lived with the quirky mouse issues (patches and such) until the newest kernel. Now Asus Zenbook Prime has upped the resolution to 1920x1080. Hopefully enough people purchase this laptop for a gen2 to come out and by then hopefully 1600x900 or 1920x1080 on a 13.3" is the standard.

manaskarekar 14y ago

The price is a little scary but I'm hoping the drivers from this will benefit other Dell laptops.

johnward 14y ago
They have to be building in a couple hundred dollars for especially driver support because I can't see how this is $1500 without the OS license costs. I think I would still rather go with a MacBook Air.

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wildranter 14y ago

Not too shabby. Keep working on it Dell and my next notebook might be a XPS instead a MBP. A few tips, just cram in a decent screen and glass trackpad.

jwcacces 14y ago

Nice, but that screen resolution is awful! How did 1366x768 ever become acceptable? I know it's a 13" screen but still...

majorlazer 14y ago
It's not. Anything lower than 1440x900 is a deal breaker for me. I rather take a hit in performance than go down to 1366x768. You know something is wrong when your 4.3" phone screen has the same resolution as your 13" laptop.
tluyben2 14y ago
I clicked the article to check that. How depressing :(
- jebblue 14y ago
  Agreed, web sites today pretty much demand far more resolution than what we had in the 1990's. I imagine it's cheaper and that's why the trend has gone this way but this is a pitiful trend. I think it might be lower than new smart phones.
  - tluyben2 14y ago
    Yeah and especially tablets (with smaller form factors), so it's weird to hang on to this pitiful resolution.
CitizenKane 14y ago
I was with them right up until this. Even the very similarly speced Lenovo Yoga 13 has a higher resolution screen (1600x900). I've nearly given up on using my 2011 Mac Book Pro simply because the screen resolution is awful.
mtgx 14y ago
2560x1600 or bust. https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/ByVPmsSeSEG

dkhenry 14y ago

Every time I read this I have to think to my self how silly it is to lead an article with Some things (particularly components like trackpads and Wi-Fi chips) take some fiddling to get working Thats total balony, trackpads and WiFi have been well supported in Linux for almost a decade. It is _rare_ to find a labtop that when you install la fresh modern distro on it , things don't work. Yes every now and then you get a vendor who insist on doing something different, but most of the time its a synaptic track pad ( well supported ) and a Broadcom or Intel WiFi card ( well supported ). I can remember back in 2004 taking my Government Issued Dell laptop and installing Fedora on it and everything working out of the box.

knightni 14y ago
This just isn't true. A couple of years ago an issue with the USB3 driver broke suspend on laptops with USB3 for quite some time, requiring workarounds. Multi-touch trackpads took some time to get full gesture support. Auto-switch between paired graphics cards still doesn't work. That's not to say things aren't pretty good now - but to imply that linux doesn't require some fiddling about under the hood hardware-wise is stretching a lot.
fernly 14y ago
"It is _rare_ to find a labtop that when you install la fresh modern distro on it , things don't work..." Nunh-unh. I recently tried to repurpose an original MBA to Ubuntu 12.10 because it isn't supported by current OSX. While I was very favorably impressed by the current state of the Ubuntu out of the box experience, it just didn't work smoothly on the MBA: * Sleep/wake wasn't smooth, often had to click the mouse or the power button to wake it; * "right click" is an unintuitive two-finger tap that is often falsely detected as you attempt a two-finger scroll gesture -- the Mac convention of control-click isn't recognized; * there is a persistent "serious problem" warning that pops up a couple of times every time it wakes up, related to a known bug with the graphics adapter -- it was harmless but would be dead scary to the novice I planned to give the machine to -- and it wasn't fixed after several weeks. * After I plugged headphones into the jack, the internal speaker went silent. Ubuntu still knew whether there was a headphone in the jack or not, but the speaker never sounded again. I finally put OSX Snow Leopard back on it and of course, everything "just worked" (including the internal speaker). The recipient will just have to live with end of life software.

edtechdev 14y ago

You can get very nice, lightweight laptops that run Linux perfectly for much less, even from Dell (such as the Dell 14z which was only $300 on black friday). The main tips are to look for laptops that don't have dual graphics cards (nvidia optimus - although it will still work with http://bumblebee-project.org/ http://bumblebee-project.org/ ), and google for the laptop model plus "linux" or "ubuntu" to see other folks' experiences with it. The main issue now though are the new Windows 8 tablets (the Pro ones that mostly are not out yet) - we'll have to see how well they run Linux distros.

mtgx 14y ago
I have a Lenovo Ideapad y570, and it does have dual graphics, but it doesn't need Optimus. It has a physical switch, so that means I can use either one whenever I want in Linux or Windows. I actually think it has more problems in Windows, as sometimes when I switch them, my USB 2.0 driver seems to die, and doesn't recognize the mouse anymore (USB 3.0 one still works), and I have to reboot to get it working again. Not sure why that happens.

rm999 14y ago

It's great to see Dell doing something that resembles innovation, and it's great to see laptops that can run Linux out of the box. But honestly I just don't trust Ubuntu after they built advertising ('online scope results') into their interface. How much more will they cripple their distro as they struggle to monetize? I understand Ubuntu is free, but this fact doesn't benefit the end-consumer much because Microsoft gives Windows to OEMs for practically free and the cost of OSX is irrelevant. Most people who should be using Linux know how to install it on a wintel machine. I'd rather see Dell put 100% of its open source effort into releasing Linux-compatible drivers for all its laptops instead of marketing niche products.

pjmlp 14y ago
As long as they don't start creating a Dell Linux distribution with their own set of "experience enhancers".
recoiledsnake 14y ago
>because Microsoft gives Windows to OEMs for practically free Practically free? I don't think so, except for Windows Starter Edition on Netbooks and those have strict guidelines on what qualifies as a netbook.
- rm999 14y ago
  Thanks for the correction, my information is old. My friend in the XP days told me a company he worked with got licenses for something like 25 dollars each. I just did a google search and it looks like OEM prices have been rising and are much higher now.

irahul 14y ago

> Some things (particularly components like trackpads and Wi-Fi chips) take some fiddling to get working. Trackpads and wi-fi has been working for me for a long time(not implying this isn't a problem for many people), but what drives me completely insane is the video cards. If you are planning to run linux, seriously re-consider buying laptops with hybrid graphics. The graphic card might or might not run, the card switching will most likely not work, but you can ignore it since you can work with the intel card, right? Well, no. Most of the AGP, whether used or not, will eat up power, the fan will run at full speed and your laptop's behind will be hot enough to stir fry some veggies. If you have a laptop with hybrid graphics, and you can't make it work, just switch off your discrete card. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics Laptops in general, and linux laptops tend to run hot. However, don't mess with power settings a lot. Putting harddisks on powersaving mode(refer hdparm) so that they become idle puts unnecessary strain on the disk. You can try out experimenting with cpu frequency(cpufreq-set).

xradionut 14y ago

Nice try but, dang the hardware is limited. I have XPS 17 that's heavy, but several times more powerful. I'll continue to run Linux on my Dell in a vitual machine...

dkhenry 14y ago
You know you can install it right on the hardware and run windows out of the VM. You might even see a performance increase in your virtualization.
- xradionut 14y ago
  I don't want to juggle all the driver issues, etc... Hence the vitual machine for Linux amongst all the other guest OSes. Best of all worlds. Plus Linux isn't my primary working OS, I use it for testing and hobby programming.

dedsm 14y ago

so my phone has the same resolution than this laptop

berserkpi 14y ago
LOL, I simply do not understand why they keep producing that low resolution... a bad joke perhaps... :P

PhrosTT 14y ago

Dell releases i5, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, 3 lb., 1366x768, $1500 laptop. (price includes cost of $0 OS). Wow what a deal. /s

johnward 14y ago
MacBook Air is only like $100 for the same specs.
ZoFreX 14y ago
(price includes costs of ensuring OS works flawlessly with hardware and delivering updates in the future to keep it that way)
mcguire 14y ago
Technically, it is an i7 ("3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3517U (4M Cache, up to 3.0 GHz)").

Lambdanaut 14y ago

With Linux on Steam coming out, whoever is the first to start building gaming Linux boxes is going to cash in big time. (PS, It's not quite Dell with this under-powered laptop, but they're close! )

Nursie 14y ago

Yeah, marvellous. Maybe they've released it in the US. Here in the UK I emailed them last week to enquire about whether they would sell me the exact same model with no OS (or anything but Windows), and he answer was just simply 'no way'. I find that intensely annoying.

takluyver 14y ago
The UK seems to be terrible for getting Linux pre-installed. I've noticed a few major OEMs release Linux laptops elsewhere, but never bring them to the UK. There's nothing like System76, while smaller countries like the Netherlands seem to have companies something like that. Do our laws let Microsoft get anti-competitive exclusivity deals? Or are we Brits so establishment-loving that the market isn't there?
- Surio 14y ago
  http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-gaming-laptop http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extrem... You mean this is not available in the UK? (Genuine question.) So why is omg ubuntu covering it? (genuine Q)
  - takluyver 14y ago
    Sorry, I should have been clearer: system 76 will ship to the UK, and even now offer UK keyboards for some models. What we don't have is any UK based company like that, selling in GBP and without international shipping charges. OK, there is linuxemporium.co.uk - but it's mostly selling old stuff, and doesn't exactly look professional.

technomancy 14y ago

> ... retains the pilot version's 1366x768 display resolution. Close tab.

marshray 14y ago
I remember fondly the days when a 15" 1024x768 noninterlaced monitor was the highest resolution you could get for a PC (excepting exotic hardware that only supported AutoCAD), but that was 20 years ago! Hopefully this (and the Surface RT) mean vendors are experimenting with ways to get the last of the crap resolution panels out of inventory and this generation of hardware will be the last. Seriously, my 4.7" cell phone has 768 pixels in the short dimension. For a "developer laptop" this is unacceptable.
ivany 14y ago
:( But true. Good news is that more and more vendors get this.

acabal 14y ago

Great idea, but I wish they had worked with the 14 inch one instead. It's more or less the same stuff on the inside. Hopefully with more programs like this from companies like Dell, companies like AMD and Nvidia will take their Linux drivers more seriously. (As in, at least get them to work, let alone play a game or two.)

kibwen 14y ago

Is it too much to hope that the drivers from this effort are not just free, but also open-source? Other than that, props to Dell for even attempting something like this. The hardware ain't mind-blowing (as others have pointed out), but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

drcube 14y ago
They've been stepping in this direction for about ten years now. Nothing has come of it yet.

brudgers 14y ago

The fact that this is news is shows why Linux is not a viable alternative to Windows or OSX outside a very narrow market niche. And if you think I'm wrong, what does this get you if your organization was standardized on Fedora?

pekk 14y ago
If it doesn't work - this is why Linux fails If the vendor doesn't support it - this is why Linux fails If it works and the vendor supports it - this is why Linux fails hmmm...
- brudgers 14y ago
  That's Microsoft you're talking about... Linux is like Europe. Kissenger can't call it on the phone. The laptop isn't a win for Linux. It's a win for Ubuntu. It doesn't do squat for any other distro. Linux has success. It can continue to be successful on its own terms. But it will never be successful in the same way as Windows. Just as Windows will never be successful in the same way as the Mac ecosystem, and the Mac ecosystem will never be successful in the same way as Linux. Long live the Commodore Amiga.

politician 14y ago

Maybe this will help put some gravity around fixing Skype for Linux. Alternatively, does anyone know of a good video conferencing tool for Linux that also supports Windows as well?

yungchin 14y ago
How about Google Hangouts (comes as a Firefox plugin)?
Random_Person 14y ago
I'm going to throw myself out there on this one... but what's wrong with Skype on Linux? I rarely use it (so maybe that's why I'm not understanding), but I've done interviews for multiple podcasts on two different laptops (both with 12.04) and I've never had a problem.
- politician 14y ago
  I seem to have a lot of trouble with how it manages the brightness of my camera. `luvcview` displays a working, normal image, but Skype really dims the lights. Also, people report that they receive the message, "requires Skype premium" when the attempt to begin a screen sharing session. These issues make Skype on Ubuntu a non-starter for me.
aw3c2 14y ago
not only good but also free and open-source http://www.jitsi.org http://www.jitsi.org

johnward 14y ago

The price is crazy. I know this one has less ram but it also includes a Windows license in the cost: http://store.vizio.com/ct15a5.html http://store.vizio.com/ct15a5.html *edit: plus the vizio TVs are really nice.

driverdan 14y ago

> The launch hardware costs $1,549 For the same price you can get a MacBook Air with a 1440x900 screen.

graue 14y ago
For a much lower price, actually. $1140: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD231LL-13-3-Inch-VERSION/dp/B005CWJB5G http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD231LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO... Or $1430 (still over a hundred dollars less) with twice as big of an SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD232LL-13-3-Inch-VERSION/dp/B00746YD24 http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-MD232LL-13-3-Inch-VERSIO... This XPS does have 8GB RAM (versus 4), but that's the only big advantage that sticks out to me.
jonhohle 14y ago
Which also seems to have very good hardware support: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookAir4-2 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookAir4-2
- JulianK 14y ago
  I think 4-2 is the 2011 Macbook Air. I've been thinking about getting the 2012 and putting Ubuntu on there, but there seem to be a number of semi-unsupported steps required to resolve kernel panics, you have to disable apic support and various other issues.
  - graue 14y ago
    I regret that there's no good documentation for installing on the 5-2 (2012 13" Air), something I have to take some responsibility for since I run Ubuntu on such a laptop and didn't share my experiences. In short, most things work fine on Ubuntu 12.10. I first tried using this guide[1] to install Ubuntu 12.04, but had lots of gnarly install issues. I then tried with the regular 'amd64+mac' graphical installer for Ubuntu 12.10 beta, and got it running easily. I was able to ignore most of [1] except for installing and configuring macfanctld, and making the touchpad perform decently using the advice in [2]. (Unlike the author of [2], I hate tap-to-click, so I turned the TapButton[1-3] settings off.) There are still a few nagging issues I haven't fixed. The Air boots with brightness at the max and won't let me turn it down until logged in, and it loses my touchpad settings on reboot, so I have a little bash script I run to fix them. [1]: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2039799 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2039799 [2]: http://uselessuseofcat.com/?p=74 http://uselessuseofcat.com/?p=74

weej 14y ago

I was excited when I heard about this initial project, and was holding out for the official release specs. The display is a big disappointment, and show stopper for me. I do agree this is a great first step and partnership for hardware manufacturers, specifically for device drivers. I really do hope this is successful enough that Dell sustains the product line and continues to iterate on improving it over the next couple years. I would love a Mac Airbook alternative ultrabook for development. Additionally, let's hope this spurs some competition in the market for other manufacturers. I've done ZERO market analysis, but it seems like quite a niche market that is rip for the picking (*NIX DEV Ulatrabook), and has the potential for decent profits w/ the right hardware specs and pricing. Kudos to Dell for taking the imitative in the right direction. Let's see how it pans out. > Edit spur competition

cllns 14y ago

The Windows version of the same laptop is $50 less. Uh, what? [1] http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd [2] http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx

bryanlarsen 14y ago
Dell has a bunch of engineers working on Linux support for this notebook, they have to pay them somehow. I don't mind paying an extra $50. The big problem is that the Linux version will probably never go on sale, yet the Windows version will be on sale more often then not so there will be a lot more than a $50 delta. I hope I'm wrong.
phaemon 14y ago
The Linux one comes with Pro Support, rather than the standard. I suspect that's the difference.
- cllns 14y ago
  Ah, I see. That makes sense.
oneandoneis2 14y ago
The Windows version comes preloaded with crapware that Dell gets paid to put there. This subsidises the price. Until Linux comes with all the "free trial!" garbage as well, it's likely to cost more.
makmanalp 14y ago
Does the first link also create a javascript alert with the text "9" in it for you when you ctrl+shift+tab? What a crazy bug.

Surio 14y ago

Someone mentioned Steam/Linux and if some vendor has decided to become an early mover into that market: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-gaming-laptop http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extrem... And FWIW, I've had major problems with wifi and integrated graphics display as recently as Ubuntu 12.04! Virtual Linux on Win 7 works fine though. And I've been with Linux since Slackware 1.0/RHEL 5 (and several distros later....), still not given up on Linux.... continue to be hopeful.... I must be mad! (/joking to myself there)

niels_olson 14y ago

> Display: 13.3" HD 720p Erm, gotta go, bye.

jonpaul 14y ago

I'm not sure how they plan to compete with Macs? The price is definitely not competitive. I care about computing experience. When it comes down to it, I haven't found a better *nix workstation than my Macbook Pro. I love Ubuntu. I use it for all of my server deployments. I'd love an Ubuntu laptop that works well. But, it has to work better than my Macbook Pro for me to consider switching.

hdra 14y ago

this is rather unrelated, but just now I was reading another chromebook released by Acer on The Verge, and I was left wondering, why does it seems like the vendor adoption of the rather new and unproven Chrome OS seems to be much higher than that of Linux desktop that has been around for the same time (if not longer) as Windows...

memset 14y ago

Here is a question (sorry to try and hijack this thread): this is a great laptop, but while we're at it, have people had good experiences with other ultrabooks? My experience has been that things like EFI have made it impossible to boot linux on recent macbooks (I have tried!), and many ultrabook hardware just doesn't work on linux. Graphics won't show up, the thing won't boot, SATA hard drives not found, etc. Many of the websites I used to rely on (eg, linux-laptop.net) have very out of date information. Ubuntu has a list of certified machines (http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/ http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/) but still, it doesn't tell me much about ultrabooks released in the past year. Are there any new resources I'm missing? Or personal experiences people can share? As for myself, I'm successfully running Mint on a Toshiba Portege ultrabook. But that is the flimsiest computer I've ever used!

tikhonj 14y ago
I have a Sony Z series, and it works reasonably well. The external dock/graphics card thing that connects via LightPeak is very cool but doesn't work at all on Linux. (To be fair, it doesn't work under Windows 8 either :P), but apart from that, it's been a great laptop.
xuki 14y ago
It's possible (and fairly easy) to boot linux (at least ubuntu) on my own macbook air 2011. I bet it's doable on any newer mac.
reledi 14y ago
My ThinkPad X201 is great for the most part. There are some issues with the wifi. The wifi icon will sometimes disappear so I have to manually restart nm-applet. I also have a tough time connecting to public wifi (or the connection is dead when I'm connected), which other computers connect to easily.
tehwalrus 14y ago
EFI / Macs / Linux - check out rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/ http://refit.sourceforge.net/ (however, I haven't used it in a while, and I notice that the latest news on the site is from 2010...)

emehrkay 14y ago

Is it too much to ask to go to dell.com and see pictures of their products? Steps I've taken, and since given up: 1. Type in dell.com 2. Decide that I am looking for "For Home > Ultrabooks" 3. Scroll long page of laptops 4. Decide to narrow page down to 12-15 inch screens 5. Find XPS-13 6. Get taken to a configuration page 7. Sees no "view pictures of computer" button/link The pics on ars makes the machine look good, the bottom kinda reminds of of the nexus 7's profile

chimeracoder 14y ago

I was one of the beta testers for this laptop, so I've been using it for the last few months. [If anybody has any questions about it, I'd be happy to answer them - I've used many different laptops over the years for comparison.] I couldn't be happier with it - I have a larger laptop that I use as my "main" computer at home (essentially as if it were a desktop), and the XPS13 is what I take with me everywhere and use for presentations, developing on the go, etc. I've used Linux as my main OS for some years now, and for me the main appeal of this computer was the size/weight/battery life when compared to my larger laptop. If you've been waiting for a Linux ultrabook for portable development (or even just ultra-portable general use), this is it. Compared to my work computer (a Macbook Air), the difference is enormous. Hardware-wise, the XPS13 just feels slimmer, even though the difference in size/weight is negligible. The biggest physical differences are the keys and trackpad - I'm typing this now on a mechanical keyboard, and I've gotten so used to the Das Keyboard that I can't stand the feel of chiclet-style keys. However, the shape of the XPS13 keys (slightly indented) alleviates some of the annoyances I have with most laptop keyboards (the Air included). The trackpad is highly sensitive, and I like the texture slightly more than that of the Macbook Air. Battery life is great, even with Bluetooth turned on (though I usually leave this off - I still haven't found a real use for Bluetooth on my computers!). I should mention the display - it's the perfect size for me. I actually dislike the Macbook Air on this one point - it absolutely kills my eyes by the end of the day (both the default size and default brightness/contrast). I have neither of these problems with the XPS13, but it's still crisp enough that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Overall, I'm incredibly happy that I got it, and I actually get slightly annoyed now when I have to use my Macbook Air for work - I wish I could be using the XPS13 instead. Aside from the fact that I'd rather be using Linux any day, hands-down, the computer just feels more physically appealing in itself. Even at its price[1], it's worth every penny. [1] I should note that I received my testing laptop at a 20% discount, though after using it, I would be willing to pay full price for it if I'd had to.

cjdrake 14y ago
Did you ever compare the Dell device with other ultrabook hardware, such as Asus Zenbook, HP, etc? How does the Dell hardware compare?

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sergiotapia 14y ago

I remember owning a small laptop from Sotec. (Yes, Sotec, Google it; it's a brand that no longer exists!) I bought it in late '99 early '00 and it had this resolution. I am not shitting you, I'll try to find an old CNET.com link for the review. What is a laptop in this day and age coming with such low resolution?

nicholassmith 14y ago

It's a good first attempt, but it's going to need some work. The screen is pretty bad, but the one thing that puts me off is pretty much any Dell I've used has had a terrible keyboard and trackpad, but I've not used one for a while now so I'm hoping they've fixed that for this.

meaty 14y ago

Overpriced and can't get in the UK by the looks. I think I'd just go Lenovo.

danso 14y ago

So what's the point of this, for Dell's bottom line? Even with the relatively steep price, a developer-focused laptop is not going to be a best-seller. And in a few years, how many of those driver developers are going to be fully-focused on updating software for a niche laptop? As much as I wish it were the case, what developers adopt is not always what will be profitable to the masses. And this ends up biting developers in the end. My Macbook Air is good enough that I don't think I need to go back to Linux...and I can be relatively confident that even if Apple continues to screw with the OS, the Apple OS X user base is so massive that niceties like homebrew will be supported as long, if not longer, than the niceties for a developer-focused laptop.

berserkpi 14y ago

Good. Linux driver support is a war almost won, yet, there are strange cases. So perhaps the emphasis the article does regarding this is... misleading. Beyond that, seeing manufacturers making specific delivers for Linux is a nice symptom.

cnlwsu 14y ago

Cell phones shouldn't have better resolution then a 1500$ laptop. Period.

happywolf 14y ago

If Dell shows solid support behind this ultrabook, I would consider to get one. My attention would be on upgrade and support. I am over the age where I would be happy just because the new version Linux happened to run on my laptop. Too many times the next version would bring some incompatibilities and I had to search for patches, and recompile the kernel and Fuck it, I just want to get work done and the last thing I concern should be the OS. Just for cars I damn care less for what OS is running under the hood, the same should apply to computers. Full operations is a must, not by chance. Sorry for the language, frustrated to see the current state of Linux still in a mess in PC/laptop after 10+ years (I ran Linux-only in college circa 1998). Yes I am using a Mac now. Not because it rocks, at least it doesn't suck that much.

jwblackwell 14y ago

This is awesome to see more "native" Linux hardware coming out. I'd love to be able to use Linux more, every time I've tried to make a switch though I've inevitably had to jump back to Windows because some bit of hardware just isn't compatible or working well enough.

hack_edu 14y ago

But does it provide multitouch comparable to OS X in execution and function? If so, I'd switch tomorrow.

sorges 14y ago

But you should still buy it with built-in Windows? naaahhh

lanna 14y ago

$1,549 for a 1366x768 display?!? And they say Macs are expensive?

makmanalp 14y ago

The laptop itself looks great, but what are the opinions on the profile tool? Doesn't something like http://vagrantup.com/ http://vagrantup.com/ with vubdle, pip, rubygems, apt make it obsolete? Also, linux dev environments are finnicky because every developer has their own miniscule variant that drives them crazy if it doesn't exist. Pre-made dev environments seem like the antithesis of this. Opinions? edit: It seems I have slightly misunderstood. It seems more like chef-solo for dev tool configs.

jrussbowman 14y ago

I bought one of these laptops shortly after the whole sputnik ppa was launched to replace a stolen macbook. I guess you can call me a beta tester, but I paid full price for the laptop at Best Buy so I could be up and running in a day after being robbed. First couple weeks were annoying as the fixes for the cypress touchpad were not available. Once Dell got the patches in their kernel it's been a great laptop. Physically I've found it easy to carry and handle. It looks great with the aluminum lid and carbon fiber bottom. I'm a sysadmin, I generally prefer Linux. My one foray into apply with a 13in MBP left me knowing that I wasn't going to go back to Apple any way. I'm not going to compare OS's, I'm just someone happier with Linux. I tried other Ubuntu variants with the laptop. Bodhi and Mint both installed fine, newer versions included the touchpad kernel updates from the main Ubuntu distribution so it worked out the box. I did end up installing the sputnik ppa and using that kernel to keep the brightness keys working. Over all I didn't have a lot of luck with e17 and volume/brightness at all. However, I'm not sure if that's the laptop or e17 as I haven't had luck with those on my workstation at work as well. The resolution sucks. I mean, it's fine for doing some general web programming in python with a full screen tmux terminal and browser(s) in another virtual desktop. You need to start remote desktop to Windows servers and such and you really begin to hate the vertical resolution limit. I solved this by hooking it up to a monitor when working and using the laptop display as a second screen for email and such. Now that laptops are coming up with higher resolution screens by default I'll not get something that low ever again. The specs on mine are 4GB RAM, core i5 (2 core + hyperthreading) and a 128GB SSD. Video on all of them in Intel HD3000 I believe. I don't do a lot of virtualization, I can see why they would increase the RAM and CPU for the developer edition if they expect developers to be spinning up VMs. I've never really taxed the memory on it with anything I do. Caveat I'm a sysadmin who plays around with developing websites with Python/Tornado on the side, I don't do a lot anyway. I believe I was able to soak the cpu pretty good playing with golang a few times. The only issues I've really had with the laptop are the resolution of the laptop display and the fact it runs really hot playing Team Fortress 2 in the Steam for Linux Beta. CPU core temps reach over 190F regularly while playing and if you block airflow out the back it will shut down on you (learned that the hard way). Really makes me miss my Alienware M11x for gaming purposes. Other issues I've had with laptops in the past have been hinges. I have yet to experience any issues with the hinges on this laptop. Over all the resolution is the one knock I'd give the system for a developer system, especially with the developer edition having more memory and cpu that the model I have. If you already have a monitor and plan to use it for extended sessions with the laptop I think you'll find it great.