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Comment by trzeci | Hacker News Reader

Hi, I've had lots of problems with the previous version of XPS15 - 9550 (More info @ https://trzeci.eu/dell-xps-15-9550-was-the-most-problematic-... )

It was included: problem with CPU and random freezes, Coil Whine, Swollen Battery, SSD problem and problem with misaligned Jack port with a hole in case.

In total, my device was repaired 3 times (within 10 months) and from the original device I have a case, touch-pad and screen only.

I'm not here to complain, because after the battery fix was done, it works perfectly. The Dell Service is super helpful and reactive, D2D warranty is just awesome.

My question is: Have somebody seen any indicators of problems listed above in 9560?

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/r/dell lists serious issues with the Killer NIC, coil whine, thermal limitations (when playing), speakers are bad ("average android 4.0 device sounds"), Win10 scaling make 4K display still not great (especially with external low-density displays), backlit keyboard disabling itself, some people get absolutely dreadful battery life.

I really don't know why anyone would order a laptop from Dell, or any other OEM for that matter.

Dell and their like, obviously, aren't at the for-front of laptop design. They are still using plastic and calling Carbon fiber a "premium" laptop material (it isn't). They are using second rate network adapters. They are using second rate SSDs which have terrible write speeds. Windows trackpads arent any better than they were 10 years ago.

To top it all off? You'll need to do a whole damn Windows reinstall to get rid of the tons of bloatware they pack in.

What vendor would you recommend?

If one doesn't want Mac OS the usual vendors are HP, Dell, Lenovo, maybe Toshiba, in the order suggested by a repairman to a colleague of mine.

I've always been lucky with touchpads on high end HPs. I've been using Ubuntu since 2009, maybe it's a Windows problem.

That order is pretty much spot on and it's been that way for 20 years.

HP's competitor to the 9560 would likely be the just-released Zbook Studio G4 but it does not offer a 4k touch screen option. Lenovo doesn't really have a competitor right now, the closest would likely be the P51s but it's only dual core...I think the regular P51 (not the slim) is at least one pound heavier.

Mine has had only had flaky wifi (killer) and a driver install from Killer's site remedied that. Other than that it's been a flawless machine. Windows 10 still doesn't have all of its' HiDpi issues worked out but I love this laptop.

I also had the swollen battery problem but my 9550 - my trackpad eventually got pushed up 1/4 of an inch or so. The bummer was that my laptop was out of warranty and the battery is not a "user serviceable option" on the 9550 so I couldn't just order a replacement battery from Dell -- they wanted me to send it in and wait two weeks which was a non-starter as it is my main development machine. I ended up buying a used battery off of some guy on Amazon along with a screwdriver kit with a T5 bit. It took me all of 10 minutes to replace the battery.

I haven't had any other problems but the fact that they won't allow end-users to replace such a simple part as the battery will make me think hard when I replace this laptop.

> they wanted me to send it in and wait two weeks which was a non-starter as it is my main development machine

Pro equipment means pro support. Why is only Apple getting this ?

Hah, what?

My rMBP, fully loaded, had an issue with the logic board (one of the many that affected the 2013 rMBP).

Took it to an Apple Store. They wanted it for a week and a half for "replacement and testing".

Dell absolutely has Pro Support, up to and including same day replacement if you need it.

Sure, mine had BSOD's space bar double-tap, choppy sound and laggy 3D mouse (I mean 1 sec lag) right out of the box. I wasn't as patient as you, I sent it back. On Linux most was fine except the keyboard, but I was too afraid that HW was crap (also, searching for solutions was throwing me a lot of other people's issues with the HW). It seems like I was right.

Did you get yours near the launch ? Maybe it was a manufacturing issue ? Hopefully ?

They're definitely not all of them that bad, a colleague has one which functions perfectly and overall reviews seem on the positive side. But yeah, once in a while sh*t happens. E.g. I've had/used multiple Dell devices without any problems whatsoever but I recommended some Dell precision latop to a friend and it came basically DOA.

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