
Dell releases powerful, well-supported Linux Ultrabook - iProject
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/dell-releases-powerful-well-supported-linux-ultrabook/
======
chimeracoder
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.

~~~
2mur
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).

~~~
balac
On my Asus Zenbook this works perfectly.

~~~
glogla
As a Zenbook owner, how would you compare the screen with Macbook Air's?

~~~
balac
My first gen Zenbook has a higher resolution (1600 x 900) than the Mackook
Air, but the colours / view angles aren't as good. That being said the newer
Zenbook prime is supposed to have much improved colours / viewing angles, and
also comes with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

------
dkhenry
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.

~~~
w1ntermute
I just got a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon[0] ultrabook 2 days ago and installed
Xubuntu 12.10. It really is stunning how the hardware _just works_. I didn't
have to fiddle with any of it - I had out of the box support for the video
card, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Even multitouch trackpad gestures work (although
I personally prefer the trackpoint). The laptop itself is nothing short of
amazing[1], especially once you wipe Windows from it. In fact, Lenovo
TrackPoints have never worked the way I like in Windows (where you can use the
middle mouse button for both middle-clicking and scrolling), but they do in
Linux.

I thought I would dislike the new chiclet keyboard, which deviates from
IBM/Lenovo's two-decade old keyboard design, but unbelievably, I _actually
like it_. Having used chiclet keyboards on MacBooks, I never liked them, but
Lenovo seems to have done it right.

Edit: there's one other issue, but this seems to be a (depressing) trend in
the industry: decline in user serviceability of laptops. You can't replace the
SSD (it's soldered onto the mobo), and replacing the RAM is not recommended.
The price is quite high, especially if you upgrade the SSD (not recommended;
just get a 2.5" USB 3.0-powered external HDD - I got a 1 TB one for $70 just a
few days ago) or RAM (recommended; 8 GB is always good to have these days, and
there's only one slot, so if you replace it later, you'll still have to buy 8
GB), so watch for sales/coupon codes (there was a good one for Black Friday)
or use your college .edu address to get a student discount.

Edit 2: Lenovo also changed the power connector to a rectangular shaped one,
because the X1 Carbon's profile is too thin to use the old, circular one. This
means all your old ThinkPad power cables are now useless.

0:
[http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/thinkpad/x-series/x...](http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/)

1: [http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/13/3232132/lenovo-
thinkpad-x1...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/13/3232132/lenovo-
thinkpad-x1-carbon-review)

~~~
Stratoscope
> You can't replace the SSD (it's soldered onto the mobo), and replacing the
> RAM is not recommended.

That's not quite correct. The SSD is not soldered, it is replaceable. The
problem with the SSD is that it's not a standard mSATA part. The RAM does
appear to be soldered to the motherboard.

Source: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Hardware Maintenance Manual -
[http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides-and-
manuals/detail.pa...](http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides-and-
manuals/detail.page?DocID=UM015748) \- SSD replacement instructions on p62;
note the absence of RAM replacement instructions, indicating that it is not a
Field Replaceable Unit (FRU).

~~~
w1ntermute
Huh, I watched a review that said the SSD is soldered to the mobo.

As for the RAM, its absence from the hardware maintenance manual is because
Lenovo doesn't recommend/support its replacement. You need to remove 7 screws
and the entire bottom base of the laptop to do so.

~~~
robotmay
I'd consider that reasonably servicable, but then I did once replace a hard
disk in a G4 iBook.

56\. 56 goddamn screws.

------
irahul
> 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>

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).

------
jwcacces
Nice, but that screen resolution is awful!

How did 1366x768 ever become acceptable?

I know it's a 13" screen but still...

~~~
threedaymonk
_How did 1366x768 ever become acceptable?_

I think it's a combination of two factors.

First, at the low end, manufacturers emphasise the screen size, but avoid
mentioning resolution, so in my local supermarket there are cheap laptops
prominently advertised as 15", but they only have 1366x768 resolution. Perhaps
that's what the customers want: a big screen that they can use to watch videos
in their bedrooms.

Second, even if you do care about resolution, it's hard to find out what it
is. It's usually advertised as some cryptic series of letters ending in GA.
QWERTYUGA; ASDFXGA; WTFGA. Look at this madness!
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_display_resolution>

I wish they'd specify screens in size, aspect ratio, pixel density, and
megapixels. (I know some of those are redundant, but shoppers shouldn't need a
calculator.)

~~~
CitizenKane
If this were a low end laptop destined to be used by everyone I could
understand. But this is a high end computer meant to be used by developers and
it's just a hair under the price of Retina Mac Book Pros and right up with the
price of a Mac Book Air. The offering isn't quite as competitive as I would
have hoped and for that cost there are a multitude of other options available
that are better.

------
danboarder
"... 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> ).

(edit - fixed resolution typo)

~~~
keidian
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 :(

------
driverdan
> The launch hardware costs $1,549

For the same price you can get a MacBook Air with a 1440x900 screen.

~~~
jonhohle
Which also seems to have very good hardware support:
<https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookAir4-2>

~~~
JulianK
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
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>

[2]: <http://uselessuseofcat.com/?p=74>

------
memset
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/>) 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!

~~~
dpezely
For the near-1kg range: Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3C-A01US)

Ubuntu 12.04.1 installs & runs without modification, but some minor Fn keys
didn't work (e.g., WiFi toggle button).

Arch Linux with systemd installs & runs fine, and it had great battery life
because 'rfkill block all' seems to more thoroughly power-down those circuits
on Arch than Ubuntu. (well over 7 hours with wired ethernet, plus Emacs and
Firefox in heavy use)

~~~
maratd
I have the NP900X3C-A04US which is similar, but has slightly upgraded specs.

> Ubuntu 12.04.1 installs & runs without modification, but some minor Fn keys
> didn't work (e.g., WiFi toggle button).

This doesn't even work on Windows without their crap-ware.

I made a copy of their installation files, uninstalled it, and now run it only
when I need to use those FN keys (that is - very rarely).

Other than this and the 4GB of RAM ... this is absolutely the most perfect
laptop I have ever put my hands on and even beats out the Apple MacBook Air
(which I sold after getting this).

------
technomancy
> ... retains the pilot version's 1366x768 display resolution.

Close tab.

~~~
marshray
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.

------
weej
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

------
jiggy2011
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.

------
rm999
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.

~~~
recoiledsnake
>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
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.

------
emehrkay
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

------
cllns
The Windows version of the same laptop is $50 less. Uh, what?

[1] <http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd>

[2] <http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx>

~~~
phaemon
The Linux one comes with Pro Support, rather than the standard. I suspect
that's the difference.

~~~
cllns
Ah, I see. That makes sense.

------
PhrosTT
Dell releases i5, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, 3 lb., 1366x768, $1500 laptop. (price
includes cost of $0 OS).

Wow what a deal. /s

~~~
ZoFreX
(price includes costs of ensuring OS works flawlessly with hardware and
delivering updates in the future to keep it that way)

------
zmmmmm
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.

------
edtechdev
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/> ), 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
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.

------
makmanalp
The laptop itself looks great, but what are the opinions on the profile tool?
Doesn't something like <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.

------
niels_olson
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.

------
vostrocity
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/>

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.

------
lobo_tuerto
I really liked what I read here: The Last PC Laptop (codinghorror.com)

<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

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

------
JanezStupar
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.

------
kibwen
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
They've been stepping in this direction for about ten years now. Nothing has
come of it yet.

------
winter_blue
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.

------
jonpaul
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.

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

------
happywolf
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.

------
nicholassmith
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.

------
sergiotapia
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?

------
danso
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.

------
jrussbowman
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.

------
jwblackwell
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.

------
niels_olson
> Display: 13.3" HD 720p

Erm, gotta go, bye.

------
Surio
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-extrem...](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-
gaming-laptop)

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)

------
grannyg00se
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
> 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
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.

------
lambda
> 1366x768 display resolution

Bleh. What's so "ultra" about such a lousy resolution?

------
politician
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?

~~~
Random_Person
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
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.

------
CoffeeDregs
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.

------
lvillani
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/>

(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).

------
scott00
Interesting thing I noticed on the tech specs
(<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>) is the difference in
battery life between Linux and Windows. IIRC Linux was 6:13, and Windows was
8:53. Thoughts anyone?

------
cavilling_elite
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.

------
acabal
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.)

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

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

------
Nursie
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
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
[http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extrem...](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/system76-unviel-17-extreme-
gaming-laptop)

You mean this is _not_ available in the UK? (Genuine question.)

So why is omg ubuntu covering it? (genuine Q)

~~~
takluyver
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.

------
dedsm
so my phone has the same resolution than this laptop

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

------
klepra
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.

------
johnward
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>

*edit: plus the vizio TVs are really nice.

------
berserkpi
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.

------
macco
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.

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

------
brudgers
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
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
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.

------
droithomme
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.

------
ttflee
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.

------
Lambdanaut
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! )

------
ankitaggarwal
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.

------
xradionut
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
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
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.

------
JohnHaugeland
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."

------
jimrandomh
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.

------
hdra
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...

------
1tsmeagain
* are the keyboard keys backlit? * Does clicking the trackpad make a loud noise? What about regular keyboard clicks?

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

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

~~~
johnward
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.

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

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

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

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

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

------
bad_user
Awesome. I really want one.

When will this be available?

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

------
drivebyacct2
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.

------
wildranter
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.

------
wissler
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.

