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.
Just want to add that Framework isn’t quite Linux first, more like Linux second / Linux conscious. With some tweaking it works great but there are sometimes little issues that crop up, especially if you’re using the newest machines.
For example, when I got my Intel 12th gen Framework last year, X was super laggy (opening a terminal and typing a few characters might take several seconds). You’d have to end up disabling some kernel power management setting. That was fixed in later kernel releases and was because it was new hardware, but their focus pre-release was making sure Windows worked well on it, not Linux. Technically even now there’s some kind of conflict between the ambient light sensor and the screen brightness keys and the fix has always been to disable the light sensor, so I’ve never actually used that feature on my laptop (unsure why Windows is unaffected).
It’s still a great laptop and I absolutely love them, but I think other shops like System76 should get credit for their top-tier Linux support.
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.
ThinkPad. Dell is not exactly comparable and is garbage, unless you get the developer edition.
I think the XPS 13 is a nice device.
For reference: I think your mistake was buying a Lenovo laptop without the word “ThinkPad” in the name. There are Lenovo Thinkpad something devices. They are (usually) more likely to support Linux. And there are Lenovo comsumer devices and they’re a mixed bag.
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Get a thinkpad (I’ve been liking my T14)
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.
Another vote for the framework. They are the only manufacturer actively supporting Windows and Linux.
I have Lenovo and not happy with it. Weird issues like unable to start it when battery has run out and it’s plugged into docking station. Need to wait like 15 mins before it even turns on.
Also issues with docking stations (from Dell) not showing external screen unless i unplug the cable at boot and then put it in during boot.
I guess all this could be because I run Linux though but I’m just not happy with the laptop.
I would get a framework laptop as a next one.
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.
That should work, though you may want to look into Framework instead.
I ended up getting a System 76 laptop. The Lemur Pro to be exact.
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
Out of curiosity, why not go for something that supports Linux out of the box? Why stock to mainstream?
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).
From what I heard, the Dell XPS 13 is one option to run a Linux distro, but it isn’t the only option. Should it not work for you, another alternative you could consider is the Acer Swift 3. That’s the laptop I currently own, and I run Arch Linux on it. I have not yet encountered any issues with it. Prior to running Arch, I have tried Linux Mint and Pop OS on it. I wouldn’t recommend Linux Mint on a laptop, not because it’s a bad distro (Linux Mint is quite good as a beginner distro), but because the Cinnamon DE isn’t great for laptops. The GNOME and Cosmic DE are more suited for laptop workflows.
On kbin the thumbnail for this post is a nude woman sucking a lollipop. WTF
For Linux compatibility, something like this https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/ would be better than Dell XPS 13.
The XPS 13 series (with the “developer” name addition that has nothing to do with development, but hey …) has official Linux support (Ubuntu).
Dell maintains an own repo for it and provides all drivers and first installation images for the devices.
Yeah, I knew it, I still would get a TUXEDO computer, something like TUXEDO InfinityBook S 15 - Gen8, the DELL XPS 13 is very small, small keyboard, very portable but not really nice to work with. And TUXEDO looks much more into Linux than DELL.
