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Dell XPS 13 Kabylake Makes For A Great Linux Laptop

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  • Dell XPS 13 Kabylake Makes For A Great Linux Laptop

    Phoronix: Dell XPS 13 Kabylake Makes For A Great Linux Laptop

    When it comes to new laptops for the summer of 2018 that are Linux-friendly, the latest-generation Dell XPS 13 with Intel Kabylake-R processor ranks high on that list. Recent in upgrading my main production workstation, I decided to go with the Dell XPS 13 9370 while using Fedora Workstation 28 and it's been a phenomenal combination. Here are my thoughts on the current Dell XPS 13 as well as some benchmarks and other information.

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Does the laptop itself have some "flex" when holding it from one side? I've found the Dell laptops seem "flimsy" that way. The hardware itself is good, but if I grab one side and move it around, I like the laptop to feel very solid. Something that most ultrabooks don't do. The old thinkpads, they might have been bulky, but they felt solid, and feel is important when you're moving a laptop around, as in a meeting, etc.

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    • #3
      How is the panel responsiveness to work, 60fps video playback etc? 4K panel, but 1080p as well have some ghosting because of the slow screen response rate, at least according to some tests and user experiences. I am considering 4K version, but I am wary of the slow panel, I believe Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th generation with 14" WQHD 500 nits wide color gamut screen might be a better choice though Dell looks prettier.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Cerberus View Post
        How is the panel responsiveness to work, 60fps video playback etc? 4K panel, but 1080p as well have some ghosting because of the slow screen response rate, at least according to some tests and user experiences. I am considering 4K version, but I am wary of the slow panel, I believe Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th generation with 14" WQHD 500 nits wide color gamut screen might be a better choice though Dell looks prettier.
        I don't have any display complaints, at least with the 1080p panel.
        Michael Larabel
        https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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        • #5
          Originally posted by AndyChow View Post
          Does the laptop itself have some "flex" when holding it from one side? I've found the Dell laptops seem "flimsy" that way. The hardware itself is good, but if I grab one side and move it around, I like the laptop to feel very solid. Something that most ultrabooks don't do. The old thinkpads, they might have been bulky, but they felt solid, and feel is important when you're moving a laptop around, as in a meeting, etc.
          I wouldn't call there any flex with this model. I was concerned initially going for the Dell XPS after long succeses with ThinkPads and other hardware, but was pleasantly confident in using this as my main production system.
          Michael Larabel
          https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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          • #6
            Micheal;

            thanks for the great review! It looks like Kaby Lake has come a long way now.

            I might interject that Ryzen mobile has gotten much better in the last few up dates for Fedora 28. It is good enough for me that i wiped Windows 10 from the machine. Windows 10 just feels extremely buggy to me and poorly design. Coming from a Mac i couldn't handle Windows 10 at all. Now good enough doesn't mean that Linux is bug free on Ryzen Mobile yet, just that it is good enough to be highly preferable to Windows 10.

            By the way im not even sure the bugs im seeing are AMD specific as ive seen reports of Intel based machines having the occasional keyboard track pad hang. The other long standing bug, not suspending properly, comes and goes and again im not sure it is an AMD only problem.

            In any event these new laptops with enhanced GPUs do make for a far better user experience. The extra cores are also a big factor but for over all feel this rather cheap hardware out classes my old MBP 13" that wasn't even two years old.

            In a nut shell it is good to see value improving on new hardware again!

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            • #7
              Michael

              I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 5570 with the i7 8550U CPU. I was affected by the following problem, which from what I have read is a problem in general of the intel CPUs past Skylake.

              https://forums.fedoraforum.org/showt...lems-Fedora-27

              https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...x/+bug/1521173

              Keep an eye on the kernel log.
              Last edited by zoomblab; 31 July 2018, 01:06 PM.

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              • #8
                wizard69

                The situation with Ryzen mobile and linux is rather hopeless. I wanted to buy one and done my hoework. If you search for it you will find the same problems from owners of all brands such as HP, Acer and Lenovo, random freezes. E.g.,

                I recently got an Acer Swift 3 powered by AMD ryzen 2500u and currently setup with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I get frequent dead freeze on the laptop, at least 2-3 times a day, where even ALT + PrntScn + REISUB also doesn't work. I tried upgrading my kernel to 4.17.2-041702-generic also, still no avail. Please help with this. I did a journalctl --since "1 hour ago" but the error seems to change from crash to another. Here is the log - https://pastebin.com/wJWY7RNg (crashed around 17:06). Thank you for

                Last edited by zoomblab; 31 July 2018, 01:04 PM.

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                • #9
                  I recently purchased a Dell Latitude 7250. The thing is 12.5" 1080p screen, broadwell i7 CPU, backlit keyboard, 8GB of ram, expandable to 16GB and 256gb of SSD storage. I am running Pop!_OS on it and I love it. At $350, it fit my needs and bill much better, and I love the ability to replace/upgrade the storage and memory still on it. My biggest beef with the XPS 13 is the memory and storage on built into the main board. Cost of going so thin. I gladly take the slightly thicker size for the ability to upgrade.

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                  • #10
                    If anyone from Dell read this, plz help: https://www.dell.com/community/Latit...ue/m-p/6125388

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