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Comment by codezero | Hacker News Reader

I followed the link hoping I could point out how wrong you are. Nope, that's a pretty beautiful laptop. Thin, light, great screen, etc...

In the end, you can look at the 12 inch MacBook as being a new notebook for people who care about running Mac OS/don't want to switch to Windows. It's a big deal because the Dell isn't an option most people want to consider :)

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I have to admit that, even as a "no Windows" person at this point, I'm a little on the fence about this vs. waiting for the Ubuntu version of the New XPS 13. So Dell's got at least that much going for them.

I had no idea they were still doing that. The last time I purchased a laptop for personal use was the ~2007 Inspiron 1420n Ubuntu Edition. I generally prefer to work on desktops, but having the option for portability is nice.

I still actually used that laptop until recently. Now I'm in the market and have been eying the XPS 13 and waiting for details about the Macbook Air.

Any idea/rumors about when the Ubuntu edition will launch?

I'd really like to spend less than a thousand bucks, because I just want something light that I can carry in addition to my work Macbook Pro. I like to use my commute-time on the train for side projects, but I'm concerned about using my work machine for various reasons.

The new offerings from Apple today are certainly appealing, but I'm still on the fence. I don't draw arbitrary allegiances with corporations, so I have no blind brand loyalty...

You can check Dell's Project Sputnik community: https://plus.google.com/communities/114528776750711434800

Based on the latest update from Project Sputnik lead Barton George, it sounds like the release is drawing near: http://bartongeorge.net/2015/02/23/update-2-dell-xps-13-lapt...

I was told by a Dell person (via the chat thing, naturally) that it would be released in about a week.

If I bought either the Windows model or the official Linux one I'd wipe it and install Debian or Arch or Mint, but I'd still prefer to wait for the Linux one so that I don't contribute money and a +1 sales statistic to Microsoft for something I don't want.

Thanks for chiming in with that info. I wasn't able to get a date from Dell, but they did send me to the same blog that yohui pointed out.

I'm definitely waiting for the developer edition, precisely for the reason you mentioned, to do my part in signalling to Dell and the industry that Windows vs OS X is a false dilemma.

Disregarding for the moment subjective issues like design and operating system, I would ask two important questions. How is the battery life, and how is the build quality? That's usually where Windows PCs quickly lose any desirability (to me) compared to Macs.

Also, I notice that this XPS is 0.6-0.8 pounds heavier than the new MacBook, and as far as I can tell the XPS has a fan.

Battery life is supposed to be excellent[1]. TL;DR 15+ hours of light usage for the 1080p screen (tested and confirmed by Anandtech), supposedly 11+ hours light usage for the QHD+ screen with an i7.

1: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8983/dell-xps-13-review/6

I have a maxxed out XPS 13 and its a love-hate relationship. The screen and build quality is great, the keyboard ok and the touchpad as well. There's very little to match it in that form factor right now

It's noisy as hell though, I can't say that battery life is great and I have some weird problems with music stuttering when I compile, also Visual Studio ocassionally locks up on deploy for some reason.

If I could have a Zenbook with the same screen thought I'd take that any day.

This seems to be what I hear about getting the maxed out version of this laptop. Does anyone know if the fan is still really loud on the more moderate version (i5, touchscreen,256GB SSD)?

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