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Comment by mixmastamyk | Hacker News Reader

Reminds me of the lack of non-wide hi-dpi monitors. Nothing at 4:3, 3:2, or 16:10 exists anymore—even if you were willing to pay $10,000+.

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Check the new dell XPS 13 to be released today [1]:

> Screen resolution on the XPS 13 has jumped accordingly, now up to 1,920 x 1,200 on the FHD model, and 3,840 x 2,400 on the 4K model. Dell calls this FHD+ and 4K+ for the added aspect ratio, but it should be noted that touch is still an optional feature and isn’t standard.

[1] https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dell-xps-13-2020-eve...

I saw that and am happy about it. But, until they come out with a 15" supporting Linux it is still a no-go. Maybe next year.

> supporting Linux

Wait, the Dell XPS 15 doesn't work well with Linux? Could you share a bit on why?

(I was actually thinking of getting a XPS 15 myself, and putting Linux on it.)

I had the newest Xps 15 at my last job two month ago. With a new enough kernel (5.1 or 5.2) got everything but the fingerprint reader working

Most probably due to that Nvidia gpu in there.

Probably, but they usually come out with a Precision dev edition with Linux installed, no MS tax. That’s what I usually buy.

I, and every developer in my company have been running Linux in various flavours in XPS 15s for several years now; it works just as well as on any other device I've used it on.

I use an XPS 13 at home also running Linux (Ubuntu/Manjaro) and have no unusual issues there that I haven't also seen in my desktop.

Saying it doesn't work well in Linux is either bad luck with a particular model or just plain misrepresentation.

I think it's bad luck with a particular model for me, and I can't even put my finger on why, exactly. The wireless and graphics are really unstable, though. Many live USBs will not boot into a GUI mode.

It was really aggravating for a brief period, then I decided that I'd just relegate that machine to being "the windows box" and moved on.

That's unfortunate. Which model do you have? We use models from the past 5 or so years, all with Nvidia cards, the only recent issue we've had was with a new model that arrived yesterday and Ubuntu 18.04 didn't have a wireless driver, but quick connection over ethernet and an update fixed that.

You also have to switch RAID to AHCI out of the box (if it came with Windows) but it's otherwise been smooth sailing from there.

As for graphics, Prime/Primus/Optimus (which ever it is, I'm never sure) is an issue with all machines and not a DELL issue, Linux support, in my experience, for switchable graphics is just terrible.

The machine I'm on now (XPS 15 9560) has nvidia always on, I used it plugged in 99% of the time anyway, I'm running Ubuntu 18.04 for work.

I think mine is a 9570.

Agreed on the switchable graphics issue. I think mine was compounded by a nouveau issue with this particular nvidia part. One fix I'd have been happy with would've been to have intel graphics always on. That matches what I do better anyway. But I could not find a stable way to do that.

I found that installing the nvidia proprietary driver and switching to intel mode kept it happily locked to intel, then there is a fix for intel graphics for Xorg (conf change) to stop tearing in videos like YouTube. Performance for things that use GPU rendering (like certain IDEs :() wasn't great so I switched back on Nvidia.

We are all in various states of Nvidia/Intel proprietary/nouveau drivers/modes here depending on personal preference but none of us have any real day to day issues (On Ubuntu 18.04 at least, which is our preferred distro).

I'll have to give that a try. Fedora's the (very slightly) preferred option here mostly because we're usually deploying to red hat stuff. But that is not a religion and would take a back seat to a working laptop. If the XPS15 worked at native resolution with good wireless, it'd be much nicer than my current linux machine.

A bunch of the Ops guys here run Fedora, I've heard it runs better than Ubuntu, particularly Gnome, but in the dev team we're debian so I've not tried running Fedora.

I tried initially Debian, but it didn't really work. Fedora works much better, didn't have any problems, and it's just the much better distro (a >10 year happy debian and darwin user)

Mine does not. Service tag 35CRPQ2 (a late 2018 model). I've tried Fedora 29, 30 and 31 and Pop OS 19.04 and 19.10.

The wireless and graphics are not stable.

I tried for a brief period to get something working, then decided to designate it as my "windows box" and move on. It's been quite a nice Windows 10 system, to the extent that that's a thing. I'd probably even like it if I could bend telemetry, the auto-installed/advertised store apps and updates completely to my will.

Dell officially supports Linux on all of its Developer Edition (Project Sputnik) computers. The current lineup includes the XPS 13/15 and many Precision laptop/desktop models:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystem...

They don't seem to have any AMD processors. :( I'm thinking about system76 but I don't know anybody who has one.

you mean intel system76, right ? Yeah, they are worth looking into now since they ship with coreboot.

No I was thinking about an AMD system from https://system76.com/desktops

Oh, I don't think there is enough to differentiate system76 in desktops other than aesthetics right now. You can probably get better bang for buck with supermicro parts if you forego the aesthetics. They are doing interesting work with coreboot in the laptop space though.

Ok thanks for the heads up.

Last year Dell's lineup was leaked and seems to be on track, so expect a new XPS 15" around June.

XPS 15 works great with Ubuntu 18.04 thus far. I've been running it for a year now without any problems I can recall.

Isn't the windows surface book's screen 3:2?

edit: Apparently it's called the windows surface laptop and yes it has a 3:2 aspect ratio

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/surface-laptop-3/8VFGGH1R9...

I need a Linux laptop or standalone monitor.

15 years ago I had a Dell laptop with a 15.4 1920x1200 (16:10) screen. Nowadays you can't find something like that except on esoteric "Toughbooks" by Panasonic...

Coincidentally enough, Dell's recent upgrade to the XPS 13 includes a 16:10 monitor. Announced only a few days ago, available today.

https://www.arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/01/dell-updates-xps...

I have a similar Dell Pentium 3, still works, from 2002. 1600x1200 15" 4:3 screen. I still occasionally use the thing for nostalgia's sake.

I remember it! Awesome.

I had that laptop. Amazing screen (and a tank of a laptop).

Back then other other cool thing was the 17" MacBook Pro. It was glorious.

16:10 was the perfect aspect ratio. I held onto my 24" 1920x1200 Dell Monitor until just last year. I recently tried to upgrade to a new 16:10 and it was impossible. Disappointing.

God yes. Why can't screen manufacturers make 3:2 desktop screens. We can't all be gamers or movie watchers.

i have a huawei with a 3:2 13" display it so much smaller compared to the same 13" zenbook with "no bezels"

and the keyboard is the old "2015 macbook" keyboard.

https://imgur.com/xGES3Wz

Try finding 5:4 monitors

I want a 1:√2 ratio, like an A4 sheet. But irrational pixel sizes aren't invented yet.

16:9 is quite common and not too far from 16:10. It also happens to match up with popular consumers HD video standards (1080p, "4k" 2160p), which is probably a good portion of why it has enduring popularity.

Popularity has nothing to do with why its more popular. The industry decided as a whole to go with 16:9 screens due to them costing less, and consumers had no choice. Similar to how most flagship smartphones have lost their headphone jacks even though no customer is running to buy a phone just because it doesn't have a headphone jack.

But consumers do run for ever thinner devices, and a 3.5mm jack will always make the device at least 4mm high (probably more to account for front display and backside assembly).

And when they got too thin and started bending in pockets folks complained until they got sturdier and thicker again.

The wider the panel the, the smaller area it has, while still preserving the diagonal (i.e. 14" 16:9 has smaller area than 14" 16:10), allowing more panels to be cut from the same material and increasing the yields in case of material defects.

I.e. making of wider panels is cheaper, and because in advertisement there's diagonal and not area, it still allows advertising in a way that doesn't put the manufacturer or oem to disadvantage.

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