I'm going with this Dell and returning my Lenovo Slim 7 Pro. In my previous thread saying I switched to Windows I read that Dells offer great compatibility. I ordered this Dell XPS 13 and plan on going with Pop OS. Thoughts on this? Good choice?
Edit: Apparently it's certified with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. I assume I should go with This particular Ubuntu version then?
If you don't care about using a webcam (it's very unstable on linux), the machine is good. However, if you want to use a linux laptop, get a linux laptop, not something conceived for windows with linux as an afterthought. https://linuxpreloaded.com/ has a list of shops that sell linux first hardware
If you do however insist on buying something that's windows first, it's advisable to check the linux hardware database with your model first. For example, here's the model you're buying. Somewhat consistently, these components aren't recognized across distros:
- Alder Lake Imaging Signal Processor
- Goodix USB2.0 MISC
- USB Bridge
and no webcam is detected at all. Having one of the Dell XPS 13s myself, I'd rather go for a TuxedoComputers laptop if given the choice, but if you don't have that option and don't care about the webcam, then it's good choice.
What was your issue with the webcam? It may depend on the distro but mine works well even though I almost always use an external camera instead because most webcam quality sucks on any laptop and OS anyway.
Supporting Linux/open-source companies is certainly a plus. Not that there machines will work better but it makes more sense if you really want to adhere to the global philosophy of open-source. For the record I still didn't go that route because either I couldn't find the right machine or the price was significantly higher for similar products and I didn't take the "risk" to spend more without enough certainty on the build quality. Experience varies and I'm sad to say that I convinced a friend to switch to Linux and he immediately jump on a Tuxedo machine but unfortunately it had a lot of issues out of the box. One remains but I will not blame the company for this one (compatibility with a hiDPI external monitor).
The webcam straight up doesn't work on ubuntu and debian, which are supposed to be supported. I've tried multiple things from around the web ("add this apt repo", "enable/disable this kernel module", "use this git repo with
dkms", ...) and consistently ran into issues. Now I just use an external camera.
Other people around me with the same or similar models had the exact same problem and there are many posts online about Dell's weird camera choice. It sours the experience quite a bit, IMO.Tuxedo Computers has been a painless experience for me. Even got a relative one and after updating, everything works without issues and has been for a while now. Haven't heard any complaints.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Always interesting to hear how things are (not) working for others. The only negative side of Linux - which is at the same time a good thing in other aspects - is the behavior difference across distros. Arch is working smoothly on the XPS 13 and the Razer Book 13 which is a very similar machine.
I have no doubt Tuxedo is great. My friend was just not lucky with his laptop. Like any brands there're various positive and negative stories about their machines. Just here we have different experiences with Dell and Tuxedo. That's just frustrating when you're trying to collect info to help you decide on a buy. Ending up with issues while you did your best to prevent them is really a killer to the excitement you should have with your new laptop.
Ending up with issues while you did your best to prevent them is really a killer to the excitement you should have with your new laptop.
Yeah, that's true. I do think it'll take a while before there's a truly good linux laptop brand that people will recognize and that'll show up in general ads. The brands closest to that atm are slimbook, purism, and tuxedocomputers, I think. But time will tell.
Get a framework. I have a Dell and upgrading the kernel breaks the trackpad /wifi/bluetooth sometimes. I had to hold the kernel package. Really regret not getting a framework
I have great experience with my framework AMD, excellent Linux hardware support and excellent support team. I have never encountered less problem on any system I own, including dell and hp.
Linux specific manufactures like system 76, tuxedo, slimbook, starlab, and nova custom are also great options, but I cannot endorse them since I never used any of them.
With framework, you get:
- assembled in Taiwan, with many components made in Taiwan
- more "cutting-edge" hardware (might require some minor tweaking, like running couple commands; but they have extremely detailed documentations on these tweaks).
- better upgradablity (upgrade CPU, main board and battery)
- 3:2 display with reasonable DPI (but need fractional scaling)
With other linux manufacture, you have
- (some) coreboot, system76 even has intel ME disabled.
- standard screen resolution (1080P is bit grainy for me but you dont need fractional scaling)
- preconfigured and preinstalled linux distro; 100% works out of the box, no tweaking or command.
BTW, I think most of these laptops have great windows support as well (but check before you buy), so you are not locked into linux.
If you want to use Linux on your laptop, is there any reason not to go for 'dedicated' Linux laptops?
FWIW, I haven't seen these Linux-first vendors being mentioned under your post yet: NovaCustom and Star Labs.
Brand does not matter. You will likely get in trouble with any new laptop model. Install the latest kernel, and probably most of them will be gone. But some can be fixed only after a year or so.
My Dell with preinstalled Ubuntu had a fingerprint scanner not working, wifi chip losing connection and disabled "subwoofer" (lol). After a year or two of upgrading a distro everything works (well, I mapped subwoofer output in config and idk if this still needed or not).
For Linux compatibility, something like this https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/ would be better than Dell XPS 13.
I can finance through Best Buy via their credit card which is why I'm going with the Dell.
Dell XPS 13 with the "developer" label is also pretty nice so it's all good, but check that it has the "developer" label, or it will be not designed to be compatible, if I'm not wrong, the main difference is the Wi-Fi adapter. Also, out of this topic, careful with the finance and credit card, it's always a scam unless you really need it to work I wouldn't spend money that I don't have.
EDIT: About the compatibility, on this Reddit post, people are saying there is not really any difference https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/fjb9na/difference_between_the_standard_and_developer/, and I think the Wi-Fi adapter was only on the old versions (years ago when I bought mine). Haha... 😛
XPS13 has very highly positive reviews from several sources. I've had the same dilemma as you 3 years ago and went with the XPS13 9310 and I'm extremely happy with it. So much that I bought an on sale Razer Book 13 for my wife since it's almost an XPS 13 with a different name.
Note that I don't have the "developer" version of the XPS but it runs with no issues at all. I can install Linux myself, don't need someone to do that for me and I'm not using Ubuntu anyway. Also, the delivery delay were insane when I bought it and I was extremely lucky to find a "regular" version in one of my local stores.I've tried a lot of laptops over 30 years and no brand was convincing enough to get me returning to them every time. I just go where I can find the hardware I need enclosed in a well-enough robust case and I'm done. All the parts are sold by the same manufacturers anyway. The difference between brands is just which parts are assembled together and how well it's done.
As a bonus, it's also nice that the firmware of the XPS 13 (including the bios) can be updated with fwupd.
