<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGxYMJdm1c" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGxYMJdm1c</a><p>It affects the E7x40, E6x40, E5x40, E5x50, M4800, M6800, E7450 & XPS 13 2015 under Linux/VMs.<p>So basically Dell took a few months to fix the keyboard de bouncing under Windows and when they finally released a BIOS update they made the situation a lot worse for linux users (keys would appear to get stuck). After waiting a few more months, they finally released another BIOS update to "fix" the anomaly under Linux (they fixed the "stuck" key problem but many users are still reporting a de bouncing issue, see the latest pages of this thread if you are interested <a href="http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19593360" rel="nofollow">http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/...</a> )<p>There's also a touchpad & trackpoint issue that is still not fixed after more than a year and It looks like a BIOS/EC/firmware issue: <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1258837" rel="nofollow">https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1258837</a><p>Dell also broke USB3 support in the latest BIOS update for the E6540 and on the E6440 <a href="http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19610392" rel="nofollow">http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/...</a><p>They also released a botched BIOS update (when UEFI netwokrk stack is enabled) fairly recently that necessitated the removal of the CMOS battery in order to boot... <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2m6u4s/dell_latitude_e7440_a11_bios_update_bricks_machine/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2m6u4s/dell_latit...</a><p>Also their fan control & thermal management is a sad joke. <a href="http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19593697" rel="nofollow">http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/...</a><p>Their BIOS testing process is broken if not in -existing.<p>So, if you want to buy a Dell machine, just make sure that you know what you're getting into... Once the initial BIOS is declared gold it can take several months to see an issue resolved.
Lack of a 16GB RAM option on a "developer edition" machine is very disappointing. Looks like a Chromebook LS + Crouton is the best Linux development environment one could aspire for right now.
I actually tried to buy one of these. Unfortunately I live in Scandinavia, but I wanted an English keyboard (Scandinavian keyboards are a pain to write code on). Since it wasn't possible to specify this via the order form, I tried to ring them, only to find that the only support available for private consumers is via their website, which doesn't allow me to specify this!
Developer edition, and still no option to get it with 16GB of ram. This is the only thing that I dislike about this laptop, other than that it's a very cool little machine.
This is perfect timing for a link to "developer edition" laptops. I've currently been scouring, trying to find something I can be happy developing on for the next 5+ years.<p>The big selling features for me [and most developers, I'd assume] are the screen and the keyboard. These 2 things are my feedback loop for developing, and need to be of a certain quality or I'll feel 'off'.<p>I find so many companies get close to creating my ideal development laptop, only to lack in critical ways.<p>While I don't detest them, I find a lot of island style keyboards don't provide a resistance for typing. The scissor switches under the beveled keys on the older Thinkpads left me with a good experience for long periods of typing. Feeling that resistance is so much nicer than pushing flat tabs down (most often on spongy keys).<p>I do understand a lot of people watch movies on their laptops, but unless a screen is 1080 or higher, I find a 16:9 ratio screen limiting. My 12 inch SXGA+ screen goes up to 1050px height. Almost all "modern" screens are 16:9 and only go up to 900px height for the ~12" width. So unless a company makes a 1080 12" laptop, I still feel I'm missing out on those extra 150 pixels.<p>Soldering RAM, SSDs, etc. to the mobo. Like was mentioned here, "planned obsolescence" is everywhere, but I don't want to be a part of it. My old x61 Thinkpad still performs beautifully, even after nearly 8 years of service. Why? Because 8GB of RAM is still a nice thing to have, even if DDR2 RAM is mind blowingly expensive. And the ability to change wifi cards, throw in a CrystalHD card to play videos on, or just switch to an SSD. These little upgrades help keep my old workhorse alive, and makes me wish Lenovo would come out with an upgraded version, rather than changing to just hit the wider market of people.<p>And this is what it comes down to, I feel. So many companies blindly target the lowest-threshold-needs to hit the widest target group; not really thinking (or maybe just not caring) that every other company is doing the same thing. Perhaps it's the notion that 5% of a $1bn market is bigger than 80% of a $50mm. But at that point, you reduce your company's reputation to being just another brand, rather than being a master in a particular field.
The second model seems like a really good deal for a fairly powerful Linux laptop with a really nice screen.<p>Will probably wait for an Ars review but definitely looks promising. Way more affordable than the Precision model they released recently.
French link for this product.
<a href="http://www.dell.com/fr/p/xps-13-linux/pd" rel="nofollow">http://www.dell.com/fr/p/xps-13-linux/pd</a>
note that the ubuntu version is noticeably cheaper (-70€) than the windows version with identical configuration. This is appreciable.
I have the previous edition of this laptop, and I'm very happy with it. I'm a Linux guy through and through, and I'm happy to put my money where my mouth is, rather than buying some Windows machine and hoping Linux runs well on it.<p>I'll probably pick one of these up later this year.
The m3800 they sell has 16gb of ram, fwiw.<p><a href="http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=cump3800w7p8&model_id=precision-m3800-workstation&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&" rel="nofollow">http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=cump38...</a>
I expected to change some hardware components via Customize & Buy, such as adding more RAM, however it only allows adding support or some accessories. Expected more from a "Developer Edition". Do you recommend any other laptops for Linux with full support and lasts more than 4-5 hours?
Seems Dell is a mess in ACPI and will need firmware updates: <a href="http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/34542.html" rel="nofollow">http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/34542.html</a>
I had the previous version of the DELL XPS 13 Developer Edition and I always had problems with USB 3 devices.<p>And Dell assistance is now a joke... four maintenance works (one of them broke the display) changing random pieces and at the end the problem was still there. I wouldn't suggest to anybody to buy one of this.