How is your battery life?

I also installed ubuntu on my xps, and I'm only getting about 2 hours max, although I always keep it plugged in, so it's not a real issue for me.

As for hardware issues, I had to download wireless drivers, which was a slight pain since there is no ethernet port.

I was able to get my video card working with optimus, but that wasn't non trivial.

I wound up disabling my track pad and using a mouse since I couldn't type without the cursor doing something, and it seems like one of the trackpads buttons broke after a days use.