Dell’s Linux Ultrabook gets more pixels, European availability | Hacker News Reader

Dell’s Linux Ultrabook gets more pixels, European availability

arstechnica.com

177 pointsrecoiledsnake138 comments

I sit here in awe that they are selling a Developer Edition laptop without providing a single top view of the keyboard.

https://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?refid=xps...

Maybe I'm being way too picky, but the layout and feel of the keyboard is, aside from the screen, the other massively important thing that you don't get to change on a laptop.

I mean we are typists before we are programmers. Isn't it worth letting me see how the ins/del/home/end cluster is laid out?!

~~~

edit: It looks to be agreeable. Ctrl occupies the bottom-left and Del occupies the top right, which I've found very reasonable in the past (easy to find quickly when hopping onto a new device)

The Home/End/PageUp/PageDown are loacted on the arrow keys, which actually seems pretty reasonable:

http://www.cdn2.loopygadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/...

Note that the Thinkpad X1 does not have Ctrl in the bottom left, instead its the Fn key. On the plus side, the X1 kept Home and End keys up top, with dedicated PageUp/PageDown near the arrow keys.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/...

> Note that the Thinkpad X1 does not have Ctrl in the bottom left, instead its the Fn key. On the plus side, the X1 kept Home and End keys up top, with dedicated PageUp/PageDown near the arrow keys.

For the most part, Lenovo's Thinkpads have a BIOS setting that allows you to switch the Fn and Ctrl keys. This has been around for a while now and is still an option on newer Thinkpads (although, I can't confirm that this option exists in the X1).

I can confirm this. It's also a setting in the Lenovo toolkit (in Windows) if you want on top of the BIOS setting.

Not just that, but on any computer running Linux, you can just use loadkeys.

You can also use xmodmap, but that's not going to work outside X11 (if you tend to do much work without X)

The Fn key is not sent to the OS at all, this would not be remappable via OS mechanisms.

That depends on the laptop. On my Thinkpad X220, pressing the Fn key triggers a normal KeyPress event with keycode 151, so no problem remapping.

On my T41 too, with the same keycode, but not on my old Samsung. Considering I almost exclusively use ThinkPads, I just left Fn where it is.

> For the most part, Lenovo's Thinkpads have a BIOS setting that allows you to switch the Fn and Ctrl keys. This has been around for a while now and is still an option on newer Thinkpads (although, I can't confirm that this option exists in the X1).

I have both a Dell and a Thinkpad, and it's definitely much more convenient to have Ctl readily accessible with the left pinky than Fn, which you get on the Thinkpad.

I also own a Thinkpad and while the Fn/Ctrl position is annoying I haven't been using the default left Ctrl key in a while anyway, simply because I map Caps-Lock as a Ctrl key.

The Ctrl key is so often used by developers, especially when one uses Emacs shortcuts (not only in Emacs itself, but also in Readline-enabled shells or other software), that you can easily get RSI. Remaping Caps-Lock as a Ctrl is a necessity and once you use it you'll never want to go back to the default left Ctrl.

I've adapted my environment to my preferences: most of the stuff I use has vim shortcuts (+ Windows key modifier for XMonad). Besides, you don't have many things you need to access in a hurry with Fn anyway (since you have proper home/end/etc. keys).

The Ctrl is still readily accessible with the left pinky. I've never had problem with this om my Thinkpad. It just took some time to getting used to. They keyboard was phenomenal compared to cheap asus books I've tried (both feel and horrible layout were a cause).

Then I got Dell (E6400) and liked the keyboard even more. The feel was better. Only thing I missed was the light from Thinkpad. While the keyboard was backlit, I found the top light to be more convenient.

> The Ctrl is still readily accessible with the left pinky.

What I meant is that it's easier to access on a Lenovo keyboard than on a non-Lenovo keyboard, since it's closer. I have a hard time hitting Left Ctrl on the Dell keyboard than on my Lenovo keyboards.

Is it only me or are the half-size arrow keys a really big problem? I use the arrows to get around a lot, in basically everything but vi, making them half the size has always annoyed me (at least on whatever Chromebook I've used).

Dell's Vostro V131 has my favorite keyboard I've ever used on a laptop, it's been perfect for me since whenever I got it. http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/1486/dell-vostro-v131-...

I prefer the x230's keyboard [1], which extends the arrows downward into the unused palm rest area. I've used a similar keyboard as the vostro, and I found myself frequently fatfingering home instead of pageup and end instead of pagedown.

[1] http://cdn.gottabemobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/thin...

The funky Fn/Ctrl placement is a Thinkpad thing[1].

IMO, the classic thinkpad layout nailed it. Unfortunately, this has been replaced by the chicklet layout. I love the big delete button on the x220[2].

[1] http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/01/500x_l...

[2] http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/story/30/40/092594/thinkpad_x2...

    >The funky Fn/Ctrl placement is a Thinkpad thing

Mac as well. Small Mac keyboards has this, big has ctrl in the "correct" position. On the Mac there is no setting "bios" or otherwise to remap it though.

On the other hand, you can trivially remap CapsLock to control, and then why would you care about the bottom-left control when you've got a big one right in the (vertical) center of the left-hand side?

Probably because those of us who grew up with PC keyboards instead of workstation keyboards are used to pressing Ctrl with our pinky or palm. Still, Caps Lock remains an essentially useless key ripe for remapping.

> pressing Ctrl with our palm.

Probably the piece I was missing. I grew up on PC keyboards but never hit Ctrl with my palm (I can't even figure out how I'd do it). And thus never understood the love some have for a control key in the bottom-left corner (with Fn between Alt and Control): even without the Caps remap, Ctrl next to Alt (as on thinkpads and macs) means easier pinkie travel (almost solely vertical versus an awkward stretch to the bottom and side) compared to a Ctrl stuffed in the far corner.

I guess it's not exactly my palm that I use, but the first joint where the pinky meets the hand. It's more difficult to do this on a laptop keyboard than my Model M.

> I guess it's not exactly my palm that I use, but the first joint where the pinky meets the hand.

Yes, that's how I figured it'd work (as the palm would require having the fingers over the top of the keyboard), but I still find it odd.

Then again, my "desktop" keyboard has been an MS Natural Ergo 4000 for the last decade or so, so it's got a very small control key with precious little definition compared to the surrounding keys, can't help either.

>On the Mac there is no setting "bios" or otherwise to remap it though.

That might be literally true for some sense of the word "setting", but its certainly misleading: in the lower levels of OS X, the function key can almost certainly be remapped to control.

The only reason I had to add the qualifier "almost certainly" is that I never had to learn how to use OS X's analog to loadkeys or xmodmap because for my purposes it sufficed for Emacs to swap function with control.

But since Emacs has access to the "raw scancode" for the function key, OS X must have it, too.

In other words, the Mac is not like one of those PC laptops where the interpretation of "the function modifier bit" takes place at a level lower than the OS. Consequently I would be shocked if there were no way to swap function with control OS-wide if one is willing to research the question on the net.

Recently started using the chicklet one. The layout is ok, but not as good as the classic, for me, mainly because the home/end keys are harder to find and they are quite useful. Apart from that, it's not bad, although I preferred having a menu button on my thumb than a print screen button.

I preferred the feel slightly on the classic thinkpad keyboards, but these keys feel bigger in use which is nice too. Having the arrow keys separated slightly is a big win. So yeah, while I do slightly prefer the classic keyboard, I don't think there's much in it, and the underlighting is quite nice.

I'm sitting here in front of an X1 loaded with Ubuntu and the experience so far isn't great.

The build quality wouldn't be quite ok for a $1000 laptop and is infuriating for a $1700 one. And the screen is just ok

About the linux experience: I don't mind the placement of the left ctrl key, but PrtScr sitting next to right alt is extremely annoying in Ubuntu.

Battery life in Linux is quite shorter than in Windows, wake up from suspension randomly takes longer than a full boot and there's quite a lot of battery drain while suspended.

And I just manually upgraded to the new 3.8 kernel to see if some new driver version there fixes the random full freezes i've been getting.

So I kinda wish I had waited for the Dell. I knew it was coming but got tempted by the black sexyness of this thing.

I have a new Dell E6330 which is certified to run with Ubuntu, and came with it pre-installed: http://www.ubuntu.com/certification//hardware/201202-10559/

I immediately wiped it to install Debian (I'm not accepting a Dell EULA to run Linux) and found that the touchpad wasn't detected as such. Some digging revealed that there was a third party patch to linux reverse engineered from the Windows driver, not one contributed by Dell.

So it seems that their efforts to upstream code required to run their hardware on other distros than the OEM image are non-existant. The Ubuntu image that comes with them also possibly contains binarf blobs (didn't check since I didn't install it, but the Ubuntu page mentions than only the OEM image is certified, not stock Ubuntu).

from the article: Code for the Cypress trackpad, one of the most fiddly bits, has even been made available upstream.

http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1212.1/00834....

I currently have a previous-generation MBP 15" (the last one before the retina), as far as I can tell pretty max'ed out on the specs. I really don't like OSX and want to run Linux instead, and running Linux with poor hardware support on the MBP is not really appealing (This is my primary work machine, I don't have time or patience to fiddle with things, I particularly don't have time to deal with something acting up in a meeting -- works out of the box is a deal breaker, this is why this offering is appealing).

What am I going to miss if I get the XPS 13 with the 1080p screen?

Assuming you have the Early 2011 Macbook Pro, the change will be as follows:

CPU - Quad Core 45w to Dual Core low voltage (big change for CPU intense work, but for 90% of what people do you won't notice the difference)

GPU - The Dell only has integrated Graphics - so any gaming will be worse than on the Macbook.

Screen - Increase in resolution from either 1440x900 or 1680x1050 to 1920x1080, and gaining the IPS panel. Going from 16x10 to 16x9 (this really annoys some people)

HDD - change from traditional drive to SSD (assuming you didn't put an SSD into your Macbook). If you already had an original Apple SSD in the Macbook, then it will just be faster.

Memory - lose the potential for 16gb, limited to 8gb.

Optical bay - lose the optical drive, lose the potential for dual drives.

Battery life - can't give you a good answer on this, without a review in Linux. In Windows, the Dell can loop video for 325 minutes, which is similar to the Macbook Pro. Under heavier load, the Dell would last longer but do less processing work during that time. Once you add Linux to the mix, I'd guess a 30% decrease in battery life.

Build quality - the Dell is good, but not great. I would give a slight advantage to the Macbook.

Without seeing the XPS 13 dev edition, Dells in general have significantly worse trackpads and keyboards than MacBooks. If you don't use them often, not such a deal breaker.

However, Linus himself uses Linux on a MacBook so the support mustn't be too awful now. I'd recommend giving it a try inside Bootcamp first.

> Dells in general have significantly worse trackpads and keyboards than MacBooks

I would agree with the trackpad, however I don't use it (I prefer trackpoint). But significantly worse keyboard? No way. I assume we talk about "business" notebooks when comparing to apple, not some plastic media books with glossy screen.

That's a fair comment, I have used a number of the Dell business level laptops and found that for my tastes the keyboards have been significantly worse. I really like the Macbook keyboards, I find they've got just the right amount of travel to resistance and clickyness for me.

Keyboards are possibly the hardware equal of text editors.

I got a Dell Latitude E5520 (http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201011-6894/) about 18 months ago. The screen is better than what I could get from Apple at the time.

I wish I had gotten a Mac Pro instead, mostly for stupid hardware details like the sensitive power contact (the mac magnetic one is superior) and the too sensitive trackpad. Apple is the only competition for Thinkpads, imho.

If I had gotten a Mac I planned to run Linux in a virtual machine all the time, mostly because apt is superior to the native alternatives.

Why is that not an alternative for you?

Reading the comments in this thread one can only wonder why more manufacturers aren't targeting the Linux user market. They're missing out on so many cleverly snarky comments and discerning I-actually-prefer-ctrl-in-light-grey users that must be such a joy to work with.

It's quite funny really, the first time round the comments were all about screen resolution, now it's about "Well I like my keys.."

Proof that the road to perfection is never-ending ... at least if you're trying to sell something to developers!

Why are these Linux machines that appear on HN always sold at MBP price ranges? This one has a good reason -- the high-def screen, but OEMs like system76 stump me with their over-the-top prices.

I actually got an Ubuntu-certified Dell Inspiron N5050 from Dubai for about $450 (AED 1650 for the laptop + AED 50 for a RAM upgrade to be exact.) Its specs are; 8GB RAM, 320G HDD, 15" screen, Core i3-2370M 2.4GHz. It's really not that bad for the price. I should have gotten an i5 17-inch (Inspiron 17R), in retrospect, but oh well - this is still great.

Forgot to mention, the Linux support on the Ubuntu-certified Dell _rocks_. Every little thing from the integrated webcam to the wifi/bluetooth drivers all work; which is really the main thing I was after in a laptop.

This is an ultrabook, you can't expect prices to be anywhere near those of a bulky 15".

The System76 Gazelle is $875 with a 1080p screen and Ivy Bridge 4-core i7. They offer a screen upgrade with wider color gamut for $50. Upgrade to 8GB RAM is $45. It's not that over-the-top, especially for a small OEM. But an ultrabook, it's not.

You're right, this is quite good!

I might consider buying this... The screen upgrade is $80 b.t.w. (not that big of a difference.)

A lot of my work involves compiling AOSP code, which takes way too long (and AOSP's one shot makefile doesn't work for me for some reason); so even a faster processor would def make a difference in my productivity when building locally on my laptop...

> But an ultrabook, it's not.

It is indeed quite thick, and not per-se that visually appealing (they could do with some better design). I do want to check though, if there are any vents on the underside/bottom of the laptop. Some laptop designers stupidly put vents on the bottom breaking the very designation of "laptop" :-|

Very nice. My only wish now would be to include a full keyboard (with pgup, pgdown, home, del in their own row). That's what's stopping me from buying it, and the X1 Carbon too. I've said it before and I'll say it again, for a laptop aimed at developers it's really surprising they decided to copy Apple and ditch those super-important keys.

It's extra surprising when you note that laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 13, which is aimed at consumers and not developers, managed to fit a full keyboard in the same (slightly smaller?!) form factor.

I'd pay a fortune for a 14 inch, IPS laptop with a full keyboard. Seriously, a fortune. I spend so much time at my laptop that I'm more than willing to invest in quality.

I'd love to know more on why you said Lenovo Yoga 13 is aimed for consumers. I'm a python coder myself and I'll be getting this convertible ultrabook in the next few weeks. I've come across videos and site reviews but never heard that this laptop is more for consumers than developers.

I think the assertion may be that it's an IdeaPad and not a ThinkPad, lending to the consumer train of thought. I haven't ever heard good things about IdeaPad in the past, while the ThinkPad line seems to do a good job of maintaining core values of build quality and ruggedness. I'm not sure Lenovo did much for trying to carry over that line of thinking into the Idea lineup...

Maybe that has changed, but I'd have a hard time pulling the trigger on anything within that line unless I could use it first.

My reasoning was that it's the in the IdeaPad line, and that the whole tablet-conversion gimmick is more oriented towards iPad-style media consumption than productivity.

Actually I was really close to buying one myself as a dev machine--it has an IPS screen, a full keyboard, and the tablet thing is a nice, if not strictly needed, bonus. My deal-breaker was no backlit keyboard, because I work a lot at night, and that the wifi card has zero Linux support (as in, you have to connect to ethernet to download the wifi drivers first).

To a lesser extent I would have preferred a 14-inch screen and dedicated graphics, but I was willing to live without those because the Yoga was so nice otherwise.

Will there ever be a perfect machine?! :)

"But it only costs the price of learning a new keyboard shortcut," the easily dismissed voice from the Internet whispers, "easier to press than a non-homerow key..."

"A keyboard shortcut involves pressing at least two keys" mumbles the voice of the veteran, "those four keys were invented for a reason (try multi-tapping your shortcut, as is common with pgup/pgdown)..."

I get what you're saying, but I use those keys to navigate so often that constantly contorting my pinky to reach fn is going to wreck my wrist. With the keys on their own row I can drift my right hand over and comfortably scroll through long documents with one hand, and without having to constantly be aiming for and possibly missing a modifier key. (And possibly fat-fingering the arrow keys because they're so tiny on this model.)

Plus, some people (me) are comfortable with their keyboard layout and shortcuts and don't want to be forced to change their typing habits for no significant gain, when the alternative (full row) is entirely possible and in fact present in similarly-sized laptops like the Yoga.

I ask myself, "Why would Dell change their keyboard like that, given literally all their other laptop models are otherwise?" and the only answer I can think of is, "To look more like Apple." That's not a great reason.

> My only wish now would be to include a full keyboard (with pgup, pgdown, home, del in their own row)

Curious, why do you prefer them in their own row? I look explicitly for keyboards with them overlaid onto the arrow keys, so I don't need to move my hands (just use the fn key) to navigate text.

Not having to push a modifier (fn) is the big winner for me, plus having slightly bigger buttons for things like the arrows.

I too do prefer them layered over the arrow keys. But, hey, I'm an Emacs junkie, so, I love modifier keys :D

I frequently use modified versions of those keys, such as ctrl-home/ctrl-end to go to the beginning/end of the document or text area, or ctrl-shift-home/ctrl-shift-end to select to the beginning/end. That's already two or three modifier keys; I don't want to make that three or four.

almost all apps: apple trackpad scrolling, with awesome speed sensitivity (even a less pager inside a terminal in a linux VM.)

that one app (nano - don't judge me, I use GUI editors for programming): has its own shortcuts (Ctrl+V for pgdown and Ctrl+Y for pgup.)

On the other hand, don't get me started on OS X home/end keys...

I do a lot of navigation and reading via keyboard, and being able to drift my right hand over and press pgup, pgdown, home, end to navigate documents is much more convenient than trying to contort my already-achy left pinky to find the fn key (and maybe miss it for ctrl or super), or worse, having to move my left hand away from home to press fn with my index finger.

In general I think a lot of programmers including myself map their keyboards in unique and complicated ways. There's no reason to have fewer keys when you can have more, especially considering how others like the Lenovo Yoga have managed to fit more keys in the same space and still maintain the island layout.

I agree about the 14 inch. I currently use a 13.3" with a keyboard to die for, but I've found that 13.3" is a little too small, and 15+" is too big. Finding a replacement is a royal pain.

Dream setup:

14" screen- 1920x1080 IPS

Full keyboard with ThinkPad-style keys (none of that flat crap)

GPU capable of OpenCL, latest OpenGL and WebGL

2.4+ GHz CPU

5-6 hours battery life

<4 lbs (preferably <3)

Complete driver support for Linux (and preferably FreeBSD as well)

I don't think this is too much to ask, and I'm willing to pay...

1080p still isn't all that impressive though. It's a decent density for a display of that size but right now it seems only Apple is pushing laptops beyond the HDTV standard.

Desktop monitors over 1080p are really overpriced as well. I don't understand why a TV standard should set the norm for computers but if that's what it takes I'm hopping that 4K TV gets some traction.

Well, the size of the screen matters as well. The Nexus 10 would be a better example in my opinion.

A common argument is that it's easier to manufacture High-DPI displays for tablets and smart phones because you get fewer defects over a small surface.

But we're talking about a 13″ 1920×1080 laptop display here. The screen is not that big compared to the 10″ Nexus at 2560x1600.

Laptops really have to catch on.

Before laptops will catch on, Windows will have to - Windows on a small screen at a very high resolution really doesn't work well.

It might be ok if you got up to a multiple of 1366 x 768 pixels, so you could scale icons up to 2x size, but lots of Windows applications simply don't cope with very high resolution screens, so icons, buttons, etc, are rendered far too small.

That's why we have keyboard shortcuts..... Harrrr.

Buying tip: instead of buying the "Developer Edition" for $1550, you can get the "Windows version" with a slightly slower processor for $1400: see the 3rd configuration from the left here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn

The only diff between the 2 processors is that the i7-3537U runs at 2GHz and has 4MB cache, whereas the i5-3337U runs at 1.8GHz and has 3MB cache.

If Dell offered the "Developer Edition" with the i5-3337U, they would be able to shave off another $50 from the Windows licensing fees and sell it at $1350.

The only thing I don't like about that is that I wish there was a box I could check that says "I'm buying a Windows laptop, but I'm really planning to run Linux on it. Please keep investing in Linux hardware support for this line of laptops."

Actually, the world might be better if all manufacturers had that checkbox.

The manufacturers can't hear what you're saying over the sound of the ringing cash register. You've already bought the Windows laptop, proving that Linux support from their part wasn't that important after all.

The only way I'd see this working is if you could use the magical checkbox to say "I'm preordering this laptop only after you get all hardware properly working in Linux". Get enough Linux preorders like that and they might even task someone with prodding the component manufacturers to come up with proper drivers.

As tga says the vendor is unlikely to hear that since they're concerned about actual sales. It's more likely that they'd be aware if you at least phoned them and told someone during the ordering process, but I doubt it would make its way through. Overall, if you want to send the signal that Linux compatibility is important you have to buy a machine with Linux on it.

You are paying the price for not having loads of stickers and crapware. Im fine with it, and I want Dell to know that there are Linux consumers ...

Windows doesn't cost Dell money; Windows and piles of pre-installed software save Dell money. Shipping a version without Windows costs more.

Of course Windows costs Dell money. There is an exact same Windows version of this laptop with the same CPU that sells for $50 more than the Linux version (see the fourth configuration in my link).

Or one could argue that Windows costs nothing to Dell, because they just pass the licensing fee (the $50) to the consumer.

Windows costs Dell money, but Windows+all the extra crap they're paid to install earns Dell money. Any price difference between Windows and Linux laptops is purely a marketing move.

I have one of the current Dell Ubuntu laptops, the XPS 13. I really like it! Except.

Except the thing literally freezes - completely locks up - several times a day. I've upgraded the BIOS and I've updated the kernel from the Sputnik repositories. No luck. (Has anyone else had this experience? Or suggestions?)

It is very frustrating, for what is otherwise a pretty decent, durable, nice to use laptop where the hardware Just Works. But my current experience leaves me very wary of wanting to purchase another one of these!

I have been using the current-generation XPS-13 (bought with Ubuntu pre-installed) and have not had hard lockups. I did have one kind of bug that seemed to make X completely lose its mind, but the virtual terminals still worked.

I have upgraded to Quantal.

I'd ask Dell for a swap.

More likely it's a software issue.

Hey, my HP DM1z does this too. Try this: in the grub boot options, type:

    thermal.off=1

At the second last line (I forget what its called, but basically its the options for the kernel). That fixed it on my HP, try it and let me know.

unfortunately, this was a no-go for me! (fascinating reading on this particular option, though, so thank you!)

I'd be sending it back for a hardware replacement, CPU, memory, who knows what, but complete lockups shouldn't be happening.

Wow, I am really close on getting this one. I have been looking for a new laptop to run Mint on for a while. The display is a huge plus on this, but the lackluster i7-3537U, the second slowest of the i7's, makes it hard to justify the price.

The price is the biggest sticking point for me, it's basically the same cost as a 13" MBP Retina. It is very clear that Dell is purposefully positioning it in that exact market. For me, one advantage of using Linux is usually I get to spend less on my computers. This laptop seems overpriced to me, I think I will wait for something better.

Very tempting... I've been considering a Lenovo Carbon X1 for a while, but the 1080P panel is proving hard to resist. Anyone have any honest feedback regarding the older version? Price seems a bit steep for the hardware included.

I've used the XPS 13 (the Windows 8 version, with a 1440x900 screen) as well as the X1 Carbon (touch and non-touch). The X1 is a better machine overall, though most users find the XPS to be better looking.

My biggest complaints with the XPS 13 are the screen (terrible viewing angles) which won't be the same in this developer edition, and the trackpad, which has abysmal palm rejection and multi-touch gestures.

In a never-ending quest to find the MacBook Air equivalent for users who refuse to use a Mac, the X1 Carbon is the closest I've found.

Can you elaborate on why you refuse the MacBook Air?

Personally I HATE using the operating system. Mac OSX seems so backwards to me.

What stops you from installing [your favorite OS here] on it?

There are a few reasons I prefer my T430s to my MBP, and would probably also prefer an X1 Carbon to a MBA:

* Trackpoint!

* Keyboard feel. Even the chiclet ThinkPad keypads still have "IT" for me.

* No more fn-key chording needed for Home, End, Delete, Page Up, Page Down.

Plus a non-technical, possibly silly, reason of "it's not what everyone else and their mum has." I also like the looks more (black is the new black!), though on that I realize I'm in a minority (I did love the rounded original MBAs, however).

On the other hand, my MBP's screen has much better colors than the T430s's. :(

BTW I have moved from t420 to x220 (smaller display, but IPS) and, having quickly adapted to a bit less real estate, could not be happier. x220 IPS screen blows away everything save for retina.

And yes, no proper laptop should ever be sold without a trackpoint and a proper keyboard! :)

> * Keyboard feel. Even the chiclet ThinkPad keypads still have "IT" for me.

Having both a standalone, "classic" Thinkpad keyboard and a Thinkpad with the chiclet keyboard, I find the resistance on the chiclet much more satisfying. Best keyboard I have used so far.

If [your favorite OS] is Linux, the fact that doing so roughly halves your battery life (or, more precisely, nearly doubles the idle power draw) is certainly a factor — it's a lot of why I'm not running Linux on my (4,2 — 2011 13") Air. I have no data as to how battery life fares under Windows of any version.

EDIT: For clarification on power consumption, the best idle draw I've seen anyone get in my moderately extensive research into running Linux on this machine is 7W; under OSX, it's fairly easy to get down to 4W.

Windows battery life tends to be really good because the manufacturer/vendor has put a lot of effort into optimizing the drivers. Which is also the only reason Linux has more power draw.

But Windows is a terrible environment for developing almost anything other than Windows-only stuff like .NET and PowerShell

How about games, audio apps, 3d packages?

Oh, I love the MacBook Air (typing this on one). I'm a sysadmin and we have users (mostly devs) who prefer Linux or otherwise don't like Apple products but desire a similar form factor.

Thank you! Since the screen seems to be your biggest peeve that makes it a tough decision. I do like the build quality of Lenovo. I've just found their service on hardware to be abysmal for replacement or fix. I had a T430 that I spent over 1 month trying to RMA the box.

> I've just found their service on hardware to be abysmal for replacement or fix. I had a T430 that I spent over 1 month trying to RMA the box.

I've owned a number of thinkpads (t41p,t61p,x220) and all have been depo repaired under warranty at one time or another. Turn around has NEVER exceeded 4 business days from time of calling the support center. Replacements include the logic board, screen, or just them sending me a replacement hard drive.

As always, YMMV.

Thinkpads, and any non-apple products, don't have logic boards.

thanks for your comment, I'm also trying to find an equivalent of a MacBook air which does not involve giving my money to Apple, even if it costs me more. the x1 is very tempting, but since I don't have a urgent need, I guess I'm going to wait for its successor!

Have you considered the Zenbook Prime? They have touch and non-touch models at 13 inches with a full HD display.

A great, very in depth, review of the Carbon X1: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Carbo...

The glare of the gorilla glass in the XPS is my concern, and overall screen size is also larger in the X1. IPS vs the TN panel... I really just want to see them side by side.

So, for the price of a MacBook Air you get a Dell...

Not to say I don't like them - I have a couple Dell boxes around - but they are not really on the same level here. And, with the Mac, I still have the option to run Linux. A Dell can't run OSX.

unless there is a compelling price difference, this doesn't look like a great deal.

Actually, it costs more than a MBP 13 w/ Retina

I guess I wouldn't say the Linux coverage on a MBA is all that great from rev to rev. I've tried in the past and with mixed luck.

Resolution for MB Air is lower. Not many will be installing Linux on a Mac, so that point isn't really important for the general consumer.

> A Dell can't run OSX.

Ha! Tell that to my hackintoshed Dell Mini 10v :-P

I'm glad you pointed this out because it was also my blink-one-second reaction.

> A Dell can't run OSX.

If I wanted to run Lawsuit OS, I would be funneling my money towards a Cupertino based patent-troll.

As I'm not really interested in funding such ventures, I'm happy other vendors which has served me excellently in the past are giving me interesting options for the future.

Besides, it's not a normal Dell. It's Dell XPS. That's the premium line of products.

Ultimately, the issue you have is that Apple doesn't care about Linux support. So they're not going to guarantee that their hardware works well with Ubuntu or anything else. That may not be an issue for you - but if you care about Linux working well on the hardware you need to _tell_ the vendor that - the best signal is by buying hardware that comes with Linux preloaded.

Buy now before Microsoft kills the project.

Great. Now, when can I get one with a screen taller/squarer than 16:9? I really dislike TV aspect ratios for code.

Everyone does. But due to users being told to love wide displays (and they are good for movies) these are the only one in production. If they were to put 4:3 in it, it would probably get really expensive.

PS: wide is not a problem on big screens, but for 13", 14" or even 15" it just doesn't make much sense (except for watching movies).

I'm inclined to think that this is more a matter of commodity PC manufacturers lacking the courage to do anything different. I'm sure if Dell wanted a large number of good-quality high-resolution 4:3 IPS panels, they could get a reasonable price. Yes, they'd be more expensive than 16:9. Even if the quantity was high, 4:3 is inherently a little more because it's more area for the same diagonal measurement. Everyone's strategy for the past few years seems to be "watch what Apple does and try to make a cheaper version of it".

There actually are two current production laptops I know of with 4:3 screens: the OLPC XO, and the Panasonic Toughbook 31.

I quite like wide screens for programming, I just have two panes of code side by side.

I have two panes of code side by side on a 15" 1600x1200 laptop. I've used 15.4" 1680x1050 laptops for programming and find them to be worse. I imagine 15.6" 1600x900 or 1920x1080 would be worse still.

Maybe the wider format works better in the 13" size, but at 15" it gains me nothing I want at a loss of valuable height.

For the same width you get a smaller device, as long as you find the height acceptable. I tend to like that at both 13" and 15".

For the same height, you get a larger device. Either way, we're stating the obvious: if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for you, it's a good trade. If they don't, it's not.

System76 and you're there.

(Very impressed with a new system76 laptop so far.)

I've been looking into them, and i like what they are trying to do. their laptop are just too awful though

Their battery life has usually been pretty low, has that changed?

getting 4 hours minimum with lemur ultra i7 ssd 8gb ram. I'm satisfied with that.

I've looked into them, and they make pretty good products, but I'm just too hooked onto Thinkpads' timeless design, and of course, the TrackPoint, to switch.

Yes, the TrackPoint is a serious problem. Once you're addicted, there is no going back to a lesser solution.

Agreed. I tried the Retina MBP at the Apple Store when I was getting my iPhone fixed and kept hitting the G and H keys out of habit. I tried to get used to the multi-touch trackpad; after all Apple does make the best in the business, but it just didn't suit me. I just don't see how repeatedly swiping your finger several times to move across the screen is more efficient than a simple shift of weight across a red dot.

It's like the convenience of a mouse and the versatility of a trackball, just better. I got so addicted to it that I had to buy one of these (http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/55Y9003/460/60AC6A0372...) for my desktop.

Why, this looks like the very same keyboard I'm typing on :) Except I bought it before the laptop out of curiosity.

The CD/DVD optical drive is a nice touch, if it were 2005. Seriously, why would anyone ever need an optical drive on a laptop? You can bundle an external one for much lover price if you want and save the space for something better: battery, better dimensions/weight, 2nd hard drive, cooling, whatever.. just not this device straight from the 90s.

(It does not say anywhere that I can replace it with battery or hard drive bay as I can on Lenovo/Dell notebooks).

This is on my list next time I do a laptop refresh, though that's a little ways away. Traded in a 13" MBP for an Alienware m14xr2 about 9 months ago, still very happy with the Alienware. Bit gaudy, but it is a solid case, two hard drives, and very snappy.

Has anyone tried the touchpad ? I have two Dells with a plastic touchpad - almost unusable when I need to scroll. I hate to carry a mouse with me when I have a portable laptop.

I support the idea of a laptop for developers and congratulate Dell for this bold step in the right direction. However I personally would not consider buying this machine because it lacks a Trackpoint.

Waiting for the successor of Thinkpad X1 Carbon in the hope that it will have higher screen resolution and maybe more vertical screen space.

I'd really rather something in the 11 inch range.

Still trucking on an eee PC 1000h, but I'm leaning towards the MBA 11 inch over this.

How can you do any real work on a 11" screen? I'd get a tablet if I need something that small.

I guess you can: http://imgur.com/8SndTkZ

Its the portability of a tablet + the keyboard and fully capable OS that makes it possible.

It was admittedly hard to get used to.

For myself, I find I can do almost all my work on my ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, a 10" Android tablet with keyboard dock; so much so that it's become my primary machine for most things (which I certainly didn't expect when I got it—I picked it up second hand at around a third of the regular retail price; I never would have paid full for it with my expectations of it at the time). It's got a decent keyboard and marvellous battery life.

Most of my work is done in Ubuntu, installed inside Android via Debian Kit (http://sven-ola.dyndns.org/repo/debian-kit-en.html). From a terminal emulator, I can then run proper versions of Vim, Python, Mercurial, etc. as required, and have it all just work marvellously. (Before going with Debian Kit, I'd had clumsy parboiled editions of Vim, Python and Mercurial.) It's great for web development. Not a particularly speedy machine (the TF700 or even the TF300 would be considerably better than the TF101), but quite sufficient for most things.

One of the benefits of the Lenovo X1 over the Dell is the inclusion of a WWAN card on the higher end machines. With an embedded SIM card, you never have to worry about tethering again! It's rather surreal to have access to the Internet as soon as you boot-up in a remote location.

As usual, they're selling in Europe, for small values of the term. Does anyone know if it can be bought in non-listed European countries?

Hi,

Dell will be enabling online purchases for European countries in the next couple of weeks. There's a blog post from them here: http://bartongeorge.net/2013/02/18/spuntik-2-is-here-xps-13-...

Short version is that the following countries will be added:

France, Germany, UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

You'll be able to buy through a sales person for these countries:

Israel, Luxembourg, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE

Hi, thanks for the reply, but my problem is that I live in Portugal, which isn't listed. Despite the news, some of us can still afford the odd laptop :)

Damn it, couldn't they have waited for Haswell?

Wouldn't that mean a 3+ month wait?

Maybe they'll pop out another version in a couple months?

If it uses a Synaptics touchpad, I'm not interested.

It's Cypress. It says this in the article.

Yet it still looks like it has a glossy screen...

I was so ready to snap one of these up, but it turns out Ubuntu 13.04 runs so well on my MBA that I have no need to switch hardware to stick with my Linux setup. That having been said, the Dell now represents a step-up for screen resolution.

Now if only this Dell or the X1 Carbon would rip off MagSafe, my decisions would be easier.

When you say "runs so well" do you mean a straight Ubuntu install, or did you need to start playing around in the terminal and generally faffing about to get it going? (Nothing against the terminal, but a straight install is likely to be more reliable, long term...)

The only thing I ran in the terminal after install was my script that apt-gets all the software I like. No drivers, no macfanctl, just a straight install. Media keys work, etc.

Is it retina? I'm worried about how tiny everything will be... I haven't found anything concrete about how Unity handles high dpi

Edit: you said MBA, I read MBP... Nevermind, no retina :)

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