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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 the

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?
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  > Did you ever compare the Dell device with other ultrabook hardware, such as Asus Zenbook, HP, etc? No other Ultrabooks, no, though I've owned both an HP Envy 14 and an HP Pavilion before that. Both always ran Linux well for me. I've tested out other Ultrabooks in the store (all running Windows), and the XPS13 was one of the ones I liked more, though I remember liking one of the Asus models too. Other hardware may be fine; the big difference for me is the official support (even if I don't use it, it's nice to know it exists). The XPS13 hardware hasn't given me any reason to complain, but I'm also not very particular.
emehrkay 14y ago
Can you post some pictures of it? Thanks
voltagex_ 14y ago
I just think the resolution is too low for development work.
kragen 14y ago
Does it require any proprietary software (drivers, firmware blobs) for all the hardware to work? I'd like to have a machine I can keep upgrading into the future.
- 1tsmeagain 14y ago
  LTE support is for 5 years. I have'nt kept laptops longer than that... they are functional to an extent, but newer better ones come along...
  - kragen 14y ago
    I don't want to have to be running a five-year-old version of Ubuntu five years from now!
shmerl 14y ago
How are custom drivers set up there? I.e. can one use other distros there easily (let's say Debian or Fedora), or it's tied to that custom version of Ubuntu only?
samstokes 14y ago
I see it comes with Ubuntu 12.04 - did you try upgrading (or replacing) that with 12.10? I understand the appeal of the LTS versions, but I'd rather stay up to date, and I'd like to know if things continue to work well if you stray from the officially supported OS version.
shock 14y ago
How much battery life are you getting on it? I'm also in the market for a linux ultrabook, but considering the price difference I'll prolly go with the samsung chromebook or even with the thinkpad x1 carbon (yes, I'd pay a lot for a better screen resolution/specs-wise).
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  I mentioned this in another comment - I don't have an exact number, but I can take it to an all-day conference and use it normally without worrying, which is probably more indicative than "batter tests", anyway. I was considering the Chromebook at one point, but I've heard mixed things about its support for ssh (connection reliability), so the Ultrabook seemed like a better choice even as a dumb remote terminal.
jjcm 14y ago
Battery life in hours?
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  Long enough for me to use at an all-day conference without worrying about recharging. I'd estimate somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. It's hard to say because I've never actually run it down fully, but it still estimates another couple hours' worth after I've been using it for 5 hours or so. Estimates should be taken with a grain of salt, but for comparison, that's more than I get on my larger laptop, and comparable to what I get on my Macbook Air.
  - bergie 14y ago
    The Verge's review for XPS13 with Windows said 4:55, so with Linux it could be slightly better.
thomaslutz 14y ago
Sorry, but this reads like a paid review (which you disclosed in the last sentence). One of the most important things for a developer is a screen with as much vertical resolution as possible. Why didn't they put the 1440x900 in it? The Macbook Air still seems to be the best (developer) Ultrabook when I consider all specs. And it is by far not the most expensive.
- bitbckt 14y ago
  The X1 Carbon is 1600 x 900 IPS, and works great with Linux (typing this on one running wheezy, now).
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- sigkill 14y ago
  I wonder why no one speaks much about the Asus Zenbook prime with it's 1920x1080 display. All reviews rave about it. Is there something bad about that notebook that I should know?
  - fatbat 14y ago
    I got a brand new UX31A recently and the keyboard does not even work... As in, the "backspace", "d", and few other keys will not even register. Tried updating and rebooting too. I returned it for another unit so let's hope it is just a few odd batches that has this mfg defect. Googling this problem should give you more details.
    - 3825 14y ago
      Thank you very much for this. At least one other person has mentioned it on Amazon[1] which I found after reading your concern. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/review/R26SUGNEEZ4UDK/ http://www.amazon.com/review/R26SUGNEEZ4UDK/
  - glogla 14y ago
    I'm curious about this too. Could someone please compare the screens?
lucasmoellers 14y ago
How well does it support multiple monitors? I like to be able to plug in two monitors and use the laptop screen to have three total displays.
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  Perfectly - I implied that when I mentioned presentations, but I guess that wasn't clear. If you want only a second monitor, it's completely plug-and-play, with auto-detection. I've only tried n = 2 monitors with this computer, which works, but in my experience with Linux, if you have any issues it'll be with going from 1->2, not 2->3 (or more). Ubuntu's had good support for this for a while.
  - singlow 14y ago
    This is entirely dependent on the video hardware. Some laptops video cards can support two external displays while the internal display is active and others cannot. While the Intel HD 4000 supports 3 displays, according to the docs, it only supports them when used with series 7 chipsets and the specs on this ultrabook say it uses the QS67 which is a series 6 chipset. So I would bet that the answer is NO. EDIT: REFERENCE LINKS http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intelhdgraphics4000_2500/sb/CS-033714.htm http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intelhdgraphics4000_25... http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/mobile-chipset-qs67.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-...
    - chimeracoder 14y ago
      Interesting - in the past I've only ever tried 2 external displays when I've turned the internal display off, come to think of it. So the XPS13 definitely works with 1 external + 1 internal, but maybe it won't work with a second external after all.
      - sahaskatta 14y ago
        How are you connecting TWO external displays? I only see one DisplayPort on the specs. Is that via a USB display or can you daisy chain a DisplayPort?
2mur 14y ago
How is the sleep support? Can you close the lid and go? Whenever I have tried to use linux on a laptop, I've never had this working right. One of the big reasons why I've always gone back to a macbook (that and the hardware).
- rbanffy 14y ago
  Failed with me once, in 2006. None of my laptops since then had any issues with sleep.
- bitbckt 14y ago
  Works great on my X1 Carbon.
- mediocregopher 14y ago
  It's a bit funny.... the biggest problem I have with my current laptop and linux is that I can't get it to NOT sleep when I close the lid. No matter what I do it just wants to sleep. Seems to be the opposite of the problem everyone else has....
  - gwern 14y ago
    I had a similar problem with hibernation. I wound up doing slocate for 'acpi' and 'hiber' and then manually editing the script to do nothing.
    - mediocregopher 14y ago
      I tried that, but the scripts already weren't doing anything. Turns out systemd handles those things now, edited my logind.conf file and everything is fine now :)
- fdr 14y ago
  There is a PPA containing a series of workarounds, fixes, and hacks maintained for this hardware in the partnership between Dell and Canonical: https://launchpad.net/~canonical-hwe-team/+archive/sputnik-kernel https://launchpad.net/~canonical-hwe-team/+archive/sputnik-k... Color me impressed, if it is kept up over a three year time scale minimum. Also, here's an example bug report resolved with a kernel fix: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/t/19468422.aspx http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/46... Use of Launchpad is preferred, though, and one can see open and closed bugs here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell-sputnik https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell-sputnik
albertzeyer 14y ago
I totally don't get your display argument - how can a display with higher resolution and which can be brighter in any way be a disadvantage? Also, but that might be subjective: 1366x768 would be way too less for me...
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  > I totally don't get your display argument - how can a display with higher resolution and which can be brighter in any way be a disadvantage? I'd rather not sideline this with a discussion about resolution and brightness, because frankly, it's one of those subjective, "try it yourself and see what works best for you" sort of things. In short, I view high brightness as a drawback, not a feature, and the resolution + font size is more important on OS X, where I have a much harder time getting everything to a reasonable size for me in concert. I'm willing to bet none of that sounds familiar - as I said, it's one of those things where, if you have to ask, it's not an issue for you. All I can recommend in your case is that, if you're considering an XPS13, take look at one of the XPS13 models and seeing if that display works for you or not.
  - albertzeyer 14y ago
    You can always increase the font size or lower the brightness... You can't do the opposite if the display does not support it.
    - Evbn 14y ago
      Mac min brightness is too bright in a dark room. Mac UI chrome does not scale neatly to large font sizes.
    - chimeracoder 14y ago
      > You can always increase the font size As I said, that doesn't solve the problem. > You can't do the opposite if the display does not support it. Sure, but this display works for me, and there are plenty of things I can do on Linux which I can't on OS X (and which I care about much more). If my problems aren't issues for you (which they're not) and you really care about display/rendering/etc., then yes, you probably want a Mac and this computer probably isn't for you. I like it because I've never been happy with a Macbook Air, and this is a Linux Ultrabook that "just works".
llimllib 14y ago
I also am a beta tester for this laptop. I use my retina macbook for everything, and have not found myself using the dell at all, even when traveling. I didn't consider bringing it because I like the Mac so much more. It is really nice hardware, with the exception that the screen has a much narrower viewing angle than either my macbook or my wife's macbook air. Also the trackpad is not as smooth as my macbook's, and more frequently registers the wrong kind of click. Ubuntu has worked very well, and seems to be completely supported. I greatly prefer the mac hardware, and would recommend an Air over the Dell. edit: since parent disclosed that he got 20% off, I'll disclose that I was very fortunate to receive one for free at a conference raffle.
- ekianjo 14y ago
  Simple question but how do you get to be a beta tester for such products?
- Surio 14y ago
  Please don't get me wrong or take it the wrong way, But I just can't seem to get over the fact that you are obviously not a Linux person (you seem to have strong preferences and by the looks of it, you know well that you are very much a Mac person), who won a Linux laptop for free and hasn't used it at all. Had you but magnanimously declined the offer and passed it on, someone else could have used it happily all along....
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    Yeah, that's the first thing I thought when I read his post. What a waste - I know several people who would have been delighted to get this laptop.
    - steevdave 14y ago
      I would be one of those people, but at 1500 dollars, seems a bit steep, for the hardware involved. I just got my Chromebook (ARM, 3G) and I'm amazed at just how well everything runs on it. But I don't think that the Dell is my target anyway, as I'm more of a u-boot, and kernel work is more my area of expertise rather than shoving things off into the cloud. Kudos to Dell for doing this, hopefully more vendors will follow suit.
pseut 14y ago
Thanks for mentioning the keyboard, I use the Das Keyboard too and the (imo) terrible Mac keyboard has kept me from buying one for serious use. How much have you used Lenovo's laptops? Can you make a comparison to their keyboards? Edit: the older Lenovo keyboards; reading more comments has informed me that Lenovo's using chiclet keyboards now too.
- ineedtosleep 14y ago
  I feel like I have to chime in whenever the newer Lenovo keyboards get mentioned: I've owned a T61 for over 6 years now and I bit the bullet and bought a W530 when it came out this year despite the complaints about the missing top row of keys and the chiclet-style keyboard. It's been almost 6 months now and, honestly, these days when I got back to do stuff on my T61 it's a world of difference. The W530's key presses are much more substantial and have a better feel; the quality of the keys seem much better; and the seemingly awkward placement of they keys (excluding the Print Screen key) seem highly justified to me now. And more importantly, the chiclet-style keys are grew on me almost immediately. I've used the MBA and other chiclet-style keys and the main difference to note is that the Lenovo keys are slightly concave. This, to me, makes the keys feel less chiclet-y and more normal, though they do have the visually noticeable spaces between each key. Compared to the MBA, the MBA's flat keys just don't feel right and I feel make typing less accurate.
  - pseut 14y ago
    That's great to know; I just haven't used the new keyboards so a direct comparison wouldn't have helped me much. The last laptop keyboard I've really liked was the Thinkpad T43 (I might be off by one or two on the model number), but it died a long time ago.
- hollerith 14y ago
  I wouldn't lump all "chiclet" keyboards together. I really disliked Macbook keys (and I gave them a good long try) but the "chiclet" keys on my Logitech K750 are better than any non-mechanical keys I've used. I suspect that it helps that the K750's keys are slightly concave and (unlike Macbook keys) have the standard, .75-inch spacing between rows.
gst 14y ago
How robust is it? Does it use plastic or aluminum? How well does the trackpad work under Linux (e.g., does it detect that one finger is resting only resting on it, while you use the trackpad with another finger)?

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?

chimeracoder 14y ago
> Did you ever compare the Dell device with other ultrabook hardware, such as Asus Zenbook, HP, etc? No other Ultrabooks, no, though I've owned both an HP Envy 14 and an HP Pavilion before that. Both always ran Linux well for me. I've tested out other Ultrabooks in the store (all running Windows), and the XPS13 was one of the ones I liked more, though I remember liking one of the Asus models too. Other hardware may be fine; the big difference for me is the official support (even if I don't use it, it's nice to know it exists). The XPS13 hardware hasn't given me any reason to complain, but I'm also not very particular.

emehrkay 14y ago

Can you post some pictures of it? Thanks

voltagex_ 14y ago

I just think the resolution is too low for development work.

kragen 14y ago

Does it require any proprietary software (drivers, firmware blobs) for all the hardware to work? I'd like to have a machine I can keep upgrading into the future.

1tsmeagain 14y ago
LTE support is for 5 years. I have'nt kept laptops longer than that... they are functional to an extent, but newer better ones come along...
- kragen 14y ago
  I don't want to have to be running a five-year-old version of Ubuntu five years from now!

shmerl 14y ago

How are custom drivers set up there? I.e. can one use other distros there easily (let's say Debian or Fedora), or it's tied to that custom version of Ubuntu only?

samstokes 14y ago

I see it comes with Ubuntu 12.04 - did you try upgrading (or replacing) that with 12.10? I understand the appeal of the LTS versions, but I'd rather stay up to date, and I'd like to know if things continue to work well if you stray from the officially supported OS version.

shock 14y ago

How much battery life are you getting on it? I'm also in the market for a linux ultrabook, but considering the price difference I'll prolly go with the samsung chromebook or even with the thinkpad x1 carbon (yes, I'd pay a lot for a better screen resolution/specs-wise).

chimeracoder 14y ago
I mentioned this in another comment - I don't have an exact number, but I can take it to an all-day conference and use it normally without worrying, which is probably more indicative than "batter tests", anyway. I was considering the Chromebook at one point, but I've heard mixed things about its support for ssh (connection reliability), so the Ultrabook seemed like a better choice even as a dumb remote terminal.

jjcm 14y ago

Battery life in hours?

chimeracoder 14y ago
Long enough for me to use at an all-day conference without worrying about recharging. I'd estimate somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. It's hard to say because I've never actually run it down fully, but it still estimates another couple hours' worth after I've been using it for 5 hours or so. Estimates should be taken with a grain of salt, but for comparison, that's more than I get on my larger laptop, and comparable to what I get on my Macbook Air.
- bergie 14y ago
  The Verge's review for XPS13 with Windows said 4:55, so with Linux it could be slightly better.

thomaslutz 14y ago

Sorry, but this reads like a paid review (which you disclosed in the last sentence). One of the most important things for a developer is a screen with as much vertical resolution as possible. Why didn't they put the 1440x900 in it? The Macbook Air still seems to be the best (developer) Ultrabook when I consider all specs. And it is by far not the most expensive.

bitbckt 14y ago
The X1 Carbon is 1600 x 900 IPS, and works great with Linux (typing this on one running wheezy, now).
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
sigkill 14y ago
I wonder why no one speaks much about the Asus Zenbook prime with it's 1920x1080 display. All reviews rave about it. Is there something bad about that notebook that I should know?
- fatbat 14y ago
  I got a brand new UX31A recently and the keyboard does not even work... As in, the "backspace", "d", and few other keys will not even register. Tried updating and rebooting too. I returned it for another unit so let's hope it is just a few odd batches that has this mfg defect. Googling this problem should give you more details.
  - 3825 14y ago
    Thank you very much for this. At least one other person has mentioned it on Amazon[1] which I found after reading your concern. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/review/R26SUGNEEZ4UDK/ http://www.amazon.com/review/R26SUGNEEZ4UDK/
- glogla 14y ago
  I'm curious about this too. Could someone please compare the screens?

lucasmoellers 14y ago

How well does it support multiple monitors? I like to be able to plug in two monitors and use the laptop screen to have three total displays.

chimeracoder 14y ago
Perfectly - I implied that when I mentioned presentations, but I guess that wasn't clear. If you want only a second monitor, it's completely plug-and-play, with auto-detection. I've only tried n = 2 monitors with this computer, which works, but in my experience with Linux, if you have any issues it'll be with going from 1->2, not 2->3 (or more). Ubuntu's had good support for this for a while.
- singlow 14y ago
  This is entirely dependent on the video hardware. Some laptops video cards can support two external displays while the internal display is active and others cannot. While the Intel HD 4000 supports 3 displays, according to the docs, it only supports them when used with series 7 chipsets and the specs on this ultrabook say it uses the QS67 which is a series 6 chipset. So I would bet that the answer is NO. EDIT: REFERENCE LINKS http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intelhdgraphics4000_2500/sb/CS-033714.htm http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intelhdgraphics4000_25... http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/mobile-chipset-qs67.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-...
  - chimeracoder 14y ago
    Interesting - in the past I've only ever tried 2 external displays when I've turned the internal display off, come to think of it. So the XPS13 definitely works with 1 external + 1 internal, but maybe it won't work with a second external after all.
    - sahaskatta 14y ago
      How are you connecting TWO external displays? I only see one DisplayPort on the specs. Is that via a USB display or can you daisy chain a DisplayPort?

2mur 14y ago

How is the sleep support? Can you close the lid and go? Whenever I have tried to use linux on a laptop, I've never had this working right. One of the big reasons why I've always gone back to a macbook (that and the hardware).

rbanffy 14y ago
Failed with me once, in 2006. None of my laptops since then had any issues with sleep.
bitbckt 14y ago
Works great on my X1 Carbon.
mediocregopher 14y ago
It's a bit funny.... the biggest problem I have with my current laptop and linux is that I can't get it to NOT sleep when I close the lid. No matter what I do it just wants to sleep. Seems to be the opposite of the problem everyone else has....
- gwern 14y ago
  I had a similar problem with hibernation. I wound up doing slocate for 'acpi' and 'hiber' and then manually editing the script to do nothing.
  - mediocregopher 14y ago
    I tried that, but the scripts already weren't doing anything. Turns out systemd handles those things now, edited my logind.conf file and everything is fine now :)
fdr 14y ago
There is a PPA containing a series of workarounds, fixes, and hacks maintained for this hardware in the partnership between Dell and Canonical: https://launchpad.net/~canonical-hwe-team/+archive/sputnik-kernel https://launchpad.net/~canonical-hwe-team/+archive/sputnik-k... Color me impressed, if it is kept up over a three year time scale minimum. Also, here's an example bug report resolved with a kernel fix: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/t/19468422.aspx http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/46... Use of Launchpad is preferred, though, and one can see open and closed bugs here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell-sputnik https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell-sputnik

albertzeyer 14y ago

I totally don't get your display argument - how can a display with higher resolution and which can be brighter in any way be a disadvantage? Also, but that might be subjective: 1366x768 would be way too less for me...

chimeracoder 14y ago
> I totally don't get your display argument - how can a display with higher resolution and which can be brighter in any way be a disadvantage? I'd rather not sideline this with a discussion about resolution and brightness, because frankly, it's one of those subjective, "try it yourself and see what works best for you" sort of things. In short, I view high brightness as a drawback, not a feature, and the resolution + font size is more important on OS X, where I have a much harder time getting everything to a reasonable size for me in concert. I'm willing to bet none of that sounds familiar - as I said, it's one of those things where, if you have to ask, it's not an issue for you. All I can recommend in your case is that, if you're considering an XPS13, take look at one of the XPS13 models and seeing if that display works for you or not.
- albertzeyer 14y ago
  You can always increase the font size or lower the brightness... You can't do the opposite if the display does not support it.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    Mac min brightness is too bright in a dark room. Mac UI chrome does not scale neatly to large font sizes.
  - chimeracoder 14y ago
    > You can always increase the font size As I said, that doesn't solve the problem. > You can't do the opposite if the display does not support it. Sure, but this display works for me, and there are plenty of things I can do on Linux which I can't on OS X (and which I care about much more). If my problems aren't issues for you (which they're not) and you really care about display/rendering/etc., then yes, you probably want a Mac and this computer probably isn't for you. I like it because I've never been happy with a Macbook Air, and this is a Linux Ultrabook that "just works".

llimllib 14y ago

I also am a beta tester for this laptop. I use my retina macbook for everything, and have not found myself using the dell at all, even when traveling. I didn't consider bringing it because I like the Mac so much more. It is really nice hardware, with the exception that the screen has a much narrower viewing angle than either my macbook or my wife's macbook air. Also the trackpad is not as smooth as my macbook's, and more frequently registers the wrong kind of click. Ubuntu has worked very well, and seems to be completely supported. I greatly prefer the mac hardware, and would recommend an Air over the Dell. edit: since parent disclosed that he got 20% off, I'll disclose that I was very fortunate to receive one for free at a conference raffle.

ekianjo 14y ago
Simple question but how do you get to be a beta tester for such products?
Surio 14y ago
Please don't get me wrong or take it the wrong way, But I just can't seem to get over the fact that you are obviously not a Linux person (you seem to have strong preferences and by the looks of it, you know well that you are very much a Mac person), who won a Linux laptop for free and hasn't used it at all. Had you but magnanimously declined the offer and passed it on, someone else could have used it happily all along....
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  Yeah, that's the first thing I thought when I read his post. What a waste - I know several people who would have been delighted to get this laptop.
  - steevdave 14y ago
    I would be one of those people, but at 1500 dollars, seems a bit steep, for the hardware involved. I just got my Chromebook (ARM, 3G) and I'm amazed at just how well everything runs on it. But I don't think that the Dell is my target anyway, as I'm more of a u-boot, and kernel work is more my area of expertise rather than shoving things off into the cloud. Kudos to Dell for doing this, hopefully more vendors will follow suit.

pseut 14y ago

Thanks for mentioning the keyboard, I use the Das Keyboard too and the (imo) terrible Mac keyboard has kept me from buying one for serious use. How much have you used Lenovo's laptops? Can you make a comparison to their keyboards? Edit: the older Lenovo keyboards; reading more comments has informed me that Lenovo's using chiclet keyboards now too.

ineedtosleep 14y ago
I feel like I have to chime in whenever the newer Lenovo keyboards get mentioned: I've owned a T61 for over 6 years now and I bit the bullet and bought a W530 when it came out this year despite the complaints about the missing top row of keys and the chiclet-style keyboard. It's been almost 6 months now and, honestly, these days when I got back to do stuff on my T61 it's a world of difference. The W530's key presses are much more substantial and have a better feel; the quality of the keys seem much better; and the seemingly awkward placement of they keys (excluding the Print Screen key) seem highly justified to me now. And more importantly, the chiclet-style keys are grew on me almost immediately. I've used the MBA and other chiclet-style keys and the main difference to note is that the Lenovo keys are slightly concave. This, to me, makes the keys feel less chiclet-y and more normal, though they do have the visually noticeable spaces between each key. Compared to the MBA, the MBA's flat keys just don't feel right and I feel make typing less accurate.
- pseut 14y ago
  That's great to know; I just haven't used the new keyboards so a direct comparison wouldn't have helped me much. The last laptop keyboard I've really liked was the Thinkpad T43 (I might be off by one or two on the model number), but it died a long time ago.
hollerith 14y ago
I wouldn't lump all "chiclet" keyboards together. I really disliked Macbook keys (and I gave them a good long try) but the "chiclet" keys on my Logitech K750 are better than any non-mechanical keys I've used. I suspect that it helps that the K750's keys are slightly concave and (unlike Macbook keys) have the standard, .75-inch spacing between rows.

gst 14y ago

How robust is it? Does it use plastic or aluminum? How well does the trackpad work under Linux (e.g., does it detect that one finger is resting only resting on it, while you use the trackpad with another finger)?