You'd typically want the flagship device to be at least mid-tier to show off the best features and support for new mainstream technology, like the HiDPI stuff other people are talking about.
If you ship it to Australia it's over the $1000AUD gst threshold so it picks up an extra 10% as it crosses the boarder.
If you ship it to Iceland it picks up ~30% in VAT and other taxes, and you have to pay tax on the shipping as well. If the Icelandic customs decide what you've bought was a "luxury good", it could pick up as much as 50% more tax in the process[1].
The USA is not the world. The base price tends to multiply when you ship it elsewhere.
[1] I don't think anyone understands how the Icelandic Customs applies tax, including customs themselves
What on earth /are/ you talking about? Laptops are laptops. With the exception of the international space station, they work the same everywhere.
The best laptop for Australia and Iceland is the same laptop that is the best laptop for the USA, and the XPS is pretty up there wherever you live.
What I'm saying is that there's a lot of value in picking something that /isn't/ the best if the logistics and legalities of shipping it globally are better.
Just trying to follow what you're saying... It seems like you described what's wrong with selecting the XPS, then here you describe why the XPS would be a good choice after all.
But his suggestion has merit: in addition to the high-end dev laptop that their team will just fix because they use it, it would be good to _publicly_ announce a mid-level consumer laptop at the time of release. It doesn't have to be a sponsorship. They can put disclaimers all over the announcement. etc. etc.
We don't have a "company blessed developer laptop" on purpose - we're small (compared to other companies with similar reach), so that's the only way we can cover enough ground.
Every technical employee works from home, and buys his/her own gear. People are expected to report (and fix, when relevant. Some teams do a better job at that than others, certainly) their issues with gear that is relevant to their own profile and market.
The company gives out money bonus for people to buy what they want and stay current every once in a while.
Source: I'm a Canonical employee (not working on the desktop - but expected to at least report my desktop bugs on the particular brand of laptop that I use).
I did indeed just mean clustering of laptop choices in the past, with no "company blessed" laptop to date.
I then went with the idea that the company could bless one in the future. Thanks for explaining how it really works!